Regional Factors in the Formation of Religious Identity Among the Students of East-Kazakhstan (Based on Results of Sociological Research)

In the context of globalization, the problem of religious identity has become a focus of interdisciplinary research. The interest is due to the general destabilizing phenomena associated with non-traditional religious movements. The post-Soviet space, including Kazakhstan, has not escaped the activation and politicization of ethno-confessional processes. There is a hypothesis that permanent residence and primary socialization do not affect the religious identity formation in Kazakhstan. In order to confirm or disprove this hypothesis, we conducted a pilot study. The study participants were three groups of university students from the East-Kazakhstan region. The paper presents the results of the first stage of our research to identify similarities and dissimilarities in students’ religious identity in the Eastern and Southern regions of Kazakhstan. The study showed that regional differences in socio-economic and cultural-historical nature are possible factors influencing the religious identity of youth.