Involvement of Kazakhstani Women in the ISIS Terrorist Organisation: Identity Factor

Abstract

The article considers the influence of the identity factor on the involvement of Kazakhstani women in the terrorist organization ISIS, as a significant number of women and children were among the citizens who left for the ‘Islamic State’. The role of the identity factor is explored on the basis of the famous psychologist E. Erikson`s concept of identity formation, who focuses on age-related identity crises in interaction with historical and social contexts. The research method was interviews with the women returned from Syria as part of the humanitarian operation ‘Jusan’. The application of E. Erikson’s approach to the Kazakhstani material allowed us to conclude that the identity formation of many women occurred through the stages of age-related identity crises and accumulation of unresolved conflicts, which led to “identity confusion” and a negative identity. These identities were based on alienation from society and on a generational gap with family, with ethnic and cultural traditions, which contributed to vulnerability to the ISIS ideology. In the post-Soviet context of ideological crisis and the protracted search for a new state ideology and constant reform of the socialization institutions, ISIS offered young people a simplified ideological system with clear guidelines and a new Islamic identity. This study has identified problems in socialization institutions that the society and the state should take into consideration to reduce the risks of involving young people, including young women, in religiously motivated extremist ideology.

Key words: identity, Kazakhstani women, ISIS, ideology, post-Soviet context.