Soviet echoes and shifting sands: unravelling anger work among Kazakhstan’s first post-Soviet generation in a state school

This article explores the emotional dynamics shaping ideological change in post-Soviet Kazakhstan through the lens of school ethnography. It examines the intense conflicts between the last Soviet generation of teachers and the first post-Soviet generation of parents. The conflict between teachers and parents appears to be a predictable class struggle set against the backdrop of market transition and ideological change. And a deeper analysis of emotionally charged incidents in a Russian-medium state school in Almaty reveals that the process of shaping new moralities remains embedded in existing feeling rules, demonstrating a degree of intergenerational continuity within an authoritarian regime. This paper highlights the psychological and agentive dimensions of social change in post-Soviet contexts.