The topic of rethinking our colonial, Soviet and post-colonial (post-Soviet) experience is long overdue, and it is of interest not only to the academic, but also to a wider reading audience, who is shaping a current agenda and who needs in high quality content about the socio-cultural shifts that have taken place in Kazakhstani society since its independence. Our collection of articles responds precisely to this internal intellectual demand of Kazakh society for reflection on the problems of postcoloniality, for rethinking the (Soviet) past and understanding its current “place in the world” as a “small” (from the point of view of geopolitical influence) country, torn apart by cultural contradictions. There is a lot of public discussion on this matter: How to talk about the “inconvenient past”, how to find one’s own identity and one’s own voice despite the “pressure of the metropoles”, and how to get rid of post-colonial complexes? All these issues are hotly debated in the public arena. The authors of the book, in their research, have intensely worked and reflected on many of these issues, and the time has come to present their thoughts and reflections to the judgment of an interested reader. 

The authors of the book already have a name and a reputation in the public intellectual sphere. All the authors are connected to each other in a different way: Alima Bissenova and Kulshat Medeuova have been working together for a long time and have co-authored several articles. Zira Naurzbayeva is a well-known cultural specialist, an author of several books on nomadic culture and mythology of Kazakhs. Dmitry Melnikov and Merey Otan were students in the Eurasian Studies programme at Nazarbayev University, and their master's theses formed the basis of their authored chapters in the collection of articles. Asel Mukasheva is a columnist, curator and researcher. Aliya Kadyrova is a Russian language teacher who runs a creative writing course for teenagers and her own YouTube programme.

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