Modern Kazakhstan: problems of forming a national identity

The article examines the problems of transformation of national identity in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Identification processes in post-Soviet Kazakhstan are analyzed, forming a new identity under the influence of both external and internal factors of state development. In these conditions, a national identity can be a factor in the positive inclusion of an individual in the activities of the state, the development of activity in establishing social ties and a reasonable attitude to resources. Attention is focused on the competition of two types of identification projects – the formation and strengthening of Kazakhstani identity on the principle of citizenship and on the principle of ethnicity. The contradiction of ethnocultural and civic modality of identification processes is a fundamental contradiction of nationwide identity. The purpose of the study is to establish and identify the features of the formation of a national identity in Kazakhstani society. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were obtained: 1) the foundation of Kazakhstani identity and unity – national values based on cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity; 2) Kazakhstani identity and unity is a continuous generational process. It is based on the fact that every citizen, regardless of ethnic origin, connects his fate and future with Kazakhstan; 3) Kazakhstanis in most cases prefer ethnic and religious identity. Civic identity is mostly declarative and included at the primary level of self-perception.