Ethnicity, Modernity and Nationalism in Central Asia : Nation Building Experiences in Kazakhstan/Manish Jha. Delhi, Academic Excellence, 2007, xii, 276 p., ISBN 81-89901-14-1.

    Contents: Acknowledgement. Preface. 1. Introduction: land, people and history. 2. Theoretical perspectives on ethnicity and nation building. 3. Ethnicity in post Soviet Kazakhstan. 4. Islam and post Soviet Kazakhstan. 5. Nation building process in post Soviet Kazakhstan. 6. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

    "With the disintegration of former Soviet Union, the model of 'sovereign nation state system' was thrust upon the Central Asian Republics including Kazakhstan to which they were largely unwilling and unprepared as well. The Republic of Kazakhstan in its historicity is devoid of nationalist exercises and responses of any kind. The Kazakh society and polity is structured predominantly on clan based systems which is largely traditional in response. On the other, the predominant presence of the Russians in Kazakhstan has constituted it into competitive bi-ethnic society' at large.

    Since the inception of Kazakhstan as an independent Republic, the quest for an exclusive Kazakh identity has become an indomitable task for the nation builders in the republic. Nation building exercises, therefore unsurprisingly, gains prominence while exploring the present polity of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

    The present study is an attempt to trace the contours of the nation building exercises in the Republic and seeks to delineate the impact and extent of ethnic and religious elements over the on going nation building exercises. The author has tried to unravel the content and intent of these exercises and has made an effort to grapple with the future trajectory of Kazakhstan as a true nation state." (jacket)

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