Episode Four. On Kazakh Famine 1931-1933 and the politics of collective memory

Central Asia Inside/Out

In the fourth last episode, we discuss the Kazakh Famine in 1931-1933 and the political aspects of the term ‘genocide.’ The historical tragedy of the Stalinist era remains a controversial debate in the public discourse in Kazakhstan due to internal and international politics. Who defines genocide? What are the legal categories for that definition? What implications do follow once the terms are clarified? This and many other questions we, CEU MA students, Grace Garette, Elmira Kakabayeva, Thijs Korsten, and Alexander Thatcher discussed during the seminar on the history of Central Asia and this episode.