Abstract

This study intends to explore the salience of national identity for young people from the perspective of ‘commitment and loyalty’ to their nation. The uniqueness of this study is that it provides the opportunity to observe the salience of civic, ethnic, and cultural features of national identity in Kazakhstan.
This article has examined the importance of national identity theoretically and critically reviewed the literature on this theme. For the case study, a small survey was conducted in order to evaluate the salience of membership to national identity among young students.
An academic implication of this research entails further research on the salience of belonging and sense of attachment to national identity among young people in other cosmopolitan cities of Kazakhstan, such as Almaty, Astana, and Atyrau, where the effect of globalisation is more prevalent and the Kazakh customs and traditions less noticeable in order to make a comparative evaluation.
In this context, this research will consider the importance of national identity for young individuals by analysing the theories on nations and nationalism, specifically emphasising the relation between individuals and their nations. This will then be complemented by a primary source in the form of a short survey on the subject of national identity, which will be carried out among students of the Kazakh-Turkish International University in Turkestan, Kazakhstan. Subsequently, the findings will be evaluated and discussed to address the research question. Finally, the results of the survey will be summarised in the conclusion.