A few days ago I wrote about the way in which Russia’s long colonial rule in #Kazakhstan warped my own relationship to the #Kazakh language and culture. The responses to the thread were both eye-opening and thought-provoking. The original🧵:
Growing up in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, I was taught that Russia’s presence in Central Asia was a noble gift of modernity and civilization. Full stop. The word “colonialism” was NEVER used. The strength and staying power of this narrative is hard to exaggerate.
To this day, describing Moscow’s control of Central Asia as #RussianColonialism is likely to generate irate responses from otherwise liberal Russians. Or at least a tinge of disappointment about the lack of gratitude for “roads and schools and hospitals”.
From the “regular folk” I have heard such priceless gems as “we taught you how to piss standing up.” In this version of history, colonialism is something that other nations are guilty of, not the great and unfailingly benevolent Russia.
Yet, looking over the responses to my recent thread, I was struck by the undeniable similarity of experiences among colonized people everywhere.
Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Basque, Polish, Czech, Indian, Pakistani, East German, Volga Tatar, and Aboriginal folks from Canada and the US wrote about the erasure of their indigenous languages. And learning to be embarrassed by one’s own culture.
It appears that colonization produces similar patterns/dynamics in wildly different places and cultures. And Russian presence in Central Asia is most accurately described as colonization. Even if we weren’t allowed to use this term.
As @BotakozKassymb1 and @EricaMarat argue in their powerful essay for @ponarseurasia Russia’s horrific attack against Ukraine is rooted in large part in the unexamined and unchallenged view of itself as benevolent nation defined by its own “imperial innocence.”
Right now #Ukraine is heroically resisting Russian aggression. Because of the obvious similarities in Russian rhetoric aimed against both Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the sense that Ukrainians are fighting for all of us is tangible in Kazakhstan.
As the well-known adage goes, “admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery.” None of Russia’s neighbors are safe until enough Russians are able to see their own country’s as a brutal colonial power and abandon the imperial idea altogether. But is this realistic?
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
