Illusory Transition? Elite Reconstitution in Kazakhstan, 1989 – 2002

Abstract

Changes in elite composition during the post-Soviet transition in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe have received significant scholarly attention, but corollary developments in other former ‘Communist’ countries, including Kazakhstan, have attracted much less scrutiny, or have been attributed to organic features of Central Asian society. We examine the trajectory of the Kazakhstan elite in the light of three key perspectives on elite transformation: the first claims that the country has reverted to traditional clan social structures, the second proposes the conquest of power by a nascent ‘acquisition class’, and the third argues that the Soviet-era elite was largely successful in maintaining power during the economic reorganisation. We find that Kazakhstan's experience most closely matches the third explanation.