90s Shame, Kinship & Decolonial Futures with Zarina Mukanova

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with cultural and social anthropologist Zarina Mukanova for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, memory, and what decolonization really looks like in Central Asia. Together, they unpack why so many Kazakh and Kyrgyz kids of the 1990s grew up feeling ashamed of who they were, had their names changed to Russian versions, internalized the idea that “modern” meant “not us,” and learned early that colonial hierarchies shape belonging. Zarina reflects on decolonization not as a fixed destination but as a continuous, shifting process, one where transformation itself is the only constant. In today’s rapidly changing world, she argues, the nomadic worldview may offer the most accurate metaphor for navigating identity, power, and history.

The conversation touches on kinship systems, the role of women and gender in shaping identities, and how colonialism has altered our relationship to memory and community. How do we reclaim stories that were muted? How do we understand ourselves when the ground beneath us is always moving?