{"id":80414,"date":"2025-08-06T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/blog-post\/decolonial-and-feminist-turn-in-the-nuclear-discourse-of-kazakhstans-radioactive-past\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T11:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T09:22:21","slug":"decolonial-and-feminist-turn-in-the-nuclear-discourse-of-kazakhstans-radioactive-past","status":"publish","type":"blog-post","link":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/blog-post\/decolonial-and-feminist-turn-in-the-nuclear-discourse-of-kazakhstans-radioactive-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Decolonial and feminist turn in the nuclear discourse of Kazakhstan\u2019s radioactive past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Global) Hibakusha and nuclear weapons use and testing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Nuclear Bodies, Global Hibakusha<\/a><\/span> Robert A. Jacobs expands the utilisation of the term Hibakusha to other communities worldwide impacted by the nuclear weapons \u2018testing\u2019, referring to them as global hibakusha. He questions the notion of nuclear testing as such and argues that testing can be considered as the \u2018use\u2019 of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By applying the term global Hibakusha, the author amplifies the voices and stories of the people, whose bodies, land, and sea served as an experimental ground, or rather a \u2018radiobiological laboratory\u2019, to test the capacity of those arms in the pursuit of militaristic objectives and ambitions by nuclear powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the Ban Treaty: dominance of state-monopolized discourses on the Soviet-era nuclear tests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official<\/a><\/span> nuclear disarmament policy of Kazakhstan was constructed on two main discursive elements of the Soviet nuclear past, before the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW<\/a><\/span>)<\/u> in January 2021. On one hand, mainstreaming<\/a><\/span> the humanitarian impact narrative in the aftermath of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS)<\/a><\/span>, where the Soviets developed the first atomic program and tested over 400 bombs for 40 years during the Cold War in the Kazakh steppe between 1949 and 1989. On the other hand, emphasizing the role of Kazakhstan as a nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation champion, having relinquished inherited Soviet nuclear arms after the collapse of the USSR, which briefly made it the 4th biggest arsenal of any nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soviet nuclear colonial<\/a><\/span> and <\/u>imperial history and legacy of Kazakhstan resulted in a strong opposition towards nuclear weapons. In contrast to a state nuclear policy, anti-nuclear resistance on a civil society level with the grassroots locally-formed Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement<\/a><\/span> in 1989. The movement made a significant contribution to efforts to stop the nuclear explosions at the SNTS, which represents a decolonial practice <\/a><\/span>or a step towards decolonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what united both at the state and civil society levels was the domination of male and patriarchal identity-based public figures in leading anti-nuclear resistance during the Soviet regime and anti-nuclear activism in pre-ban treaty Kazakhstan (starting with the leader <\/a><\/span>of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement, the first president<\/a><\/span> of Kazakhstan, a state-supported nuclear 2nd generation victim<\/a><\/span>\/survivor). By this, the role of women and youth activism was overlooked in the formation of modern-day Kazakh nuclear disarmament policy. Especially given that young girls and women across generations disproportionately suffer<\/a><\/span> from the devastating humanitarian consequences of exposure to ionising radiation. The gendered impact of the nuclear legacy was rarely addressed<\/a><\/span>, taking into account a sensitive approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Ban Treaty: meetings of state parties (MSP) – a space for new voices and justice discourse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current official\u00a0stance<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in dealing with the radioactive past neither applies a\u00a0(de)colonial<\/a><\/span>\u00a0reflective approach towards addressing the Soviet nuclear legacy, nor seeks nuclear justice explicitly from Russia, as the successor of the Soviet Union, and\u00a0according to Togzhan Kassenova\u00a0a responsible country for committed nuclear crimes<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0experiments on the population of the Kazakh steppe<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0Whereas Kazakh civil society<\/a><\/span> is more vocal about the loss, damage, pain and trauma inflicted upon residents and downwinders in consecutive generations, as well as the natural ecosystem destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially youth and feminist activism<\/a> are at the forefront in reclaiming agency by bringing forward survivors\u2019 voices<\/a>, taking a distance from victimhood identity and the state-monopolized humanitarian tragedy discourse. Still, the colonial roots of the first Soviet nuclear weapons program are acknowledged, and the intergenerational and transgenerational impact of enduring detrimental humanitarian and environmental consequences are taken into consideration in an intersectional manner.\u00a0 For example, at the 3rd<\/sup> MSP, Qazaq Nuclear Frontline Coalition (QNFC) submitted a working paper<\/a> with policy recommendations to establish an international trust fund to address the consequences of nuclear testing. As the 15th<\/sup> anniversary of the International Day against Nuclear Tests<\/a>, commemorated on the 29th of August, approaches, the decolonial and feminist turn in the nuclear discourse of Kazakhstan\u2019s radioactive past becomes even more present and evident. Indeed, TPNW created<\/a> a platform for the Global South once again to challenge<\/a> the existing global nuclear order. TPNW fostered an inclusive nuclear policy environment<\/a> for Indigenous people, marginalised groups and affected communities to seek victim assistance and environmental remediation<\/a>, at the MSP<\/a> and Nuclear Survivors Forum<\/a>.\u00a0 TPNW paved<\/a> the way to premise for nuclear justice, as in the instance of Kazakh<\/a> young<\/a> feminist<\/a> changemakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":68883,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"archive-status":[],"region":[],"custom-themes":[1817,1826],"class_list":["post-80414","blog-post","type-blog-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","custom-themes-frieden-sicherheit","custom-themes-gender-diversity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-post\/80414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog-post"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"archive-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive-status?post=80414"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=80414"},{"taxonomy":"custom-themes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foraus.ch\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom-themes?post=80414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}