Skip to main content

The Environmental Legacy of the Soviet Regime

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Kazakhstan and the Soviet Legacy

Abstract

This chapter discusses prominent ways in which Soviet economic and defence policy generated ecological issues that are still affecting independent Kazakhstan. It argues that the Soviet legacy on the environment still exists in contemporary Kazakhstan, namely, in the political discourse about ecological problems, both officially and at the grassroots level. Such discourse—and the underpinning economic policy assumptions—was shaped not only by Soviet decision-making patterns but also by the emergence of ecological movements in the last two decades of the USSR.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdurasulov, U. 2017. The Aral Region and Geopolitical Agenda of the Early Qunghrats. Eurasian Studies 13 (1–2): 3–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C. 2016. Nettoyer et Tourner La Page: La ‘renaissance Nucléaire’ du Kazakhstan. In Les Chantiers Du Nucléaire, ed. by Romain Garcier and Françoise Lafaye. Paris: Archives Contemporaines.

    Google Scholar 

  • AN KSSR. 1988. Effektivnost’ Prirodookhranitel’nogo Zakonodatel’stva (Na Materialakh Kazakhskoi SSR). Alma-Ata: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, L.S. 1905. Vysykhaet Li Sredniaia Aziia? IRGO. In Turkestanskii Sbornik, t. 490, pp. 1–15, 41 (3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. 2001. Gridded Lives: Why Kazakhstan and Montana are Nearly the Same Place. The American Historical Review 106 (1): 17–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunn, S.D. 2011. Fifty Years of Soviet Nuclear Testing in Semipalatinsk, Kazakstan: Juxtaposed Worlds of Blasts and Silences, Security and Risks, Denials and Memory. In Engineering Earth, ed. Stanley D. Brunn, 1789–1818. Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9920-4_101.

  • Carlsen, T.M., Leif E. Peterson, Brant A. Ulsh, Cynthia A. Werner, Kathleen L. Purvis, and Anna C. Sharber. 2001. Radionuclide Contamination at Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk Test Site: Implications on Human and Ecological Health. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 7 (4): 943–955.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chida, T. 2013. Science, Development and Modernization in the Brezhnev Time. Cahiers Du Monde Russe 54 (1–2): 239–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clines, F.X. 1990. Disaster Zone Is Urged After Soviet Nuclear Blast. The New York Times, 29 September 29, sec. World. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/29/world/disaster-zone-is-urged-after-soviet-nuclear-blast.html.

  • Datta, A. 2012. India’s Ecocity? Environment, Urbanisation, and Mobility in the Making of Lavasa. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 30 (6): 982–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. New Urban Utopias of Postcolonial India ‘Entrepreneurial Urbanization’ in Dholera Smart City, Gujarat. Dialogues in Human Geography 5 (1): 3–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elie, M. 2013. Coping with the ‘Black Dragon’: Mudflow Hazards and the Controversy over the Medeo Dam in Kazakhstan, 1958–66. Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 14 (2): 313–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Expo-2017. 2016. Project Concept. Accessed 7 December. https://expo2017astana.com/en/energy/zamyisel-proekta.

  • Fauve, A. 2015. Global Astana: Nation Branding as a Legitimization Tool for Authoritarian Regimes. Central Asian Survey 34 (1): 110–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filonov, K.P. 1986. Razvitie Printsipov Zapovednogo Dela v SSSR. In Itogi I Perspektivy Zapovednogo Dela v SSSR, 13–47. Moskva: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gestwa, K. 2005. Das Besitzergreifen von Natur Und Gesellschaft Im Stalinismus. Saeculum 56 (1): 105–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glantz, M., ed. 1999. Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/creeping-environmental-problems-and-sustainable-development-in-the-aral-sea-basin/87385456B63B99DE479F8BACDF5BE383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, M.I. 1972. The Spoils of Progress: Environmental Pollution in the Soviet Union. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, P.R., and R.C. Stuart. 2000. Russian and Soviet Economic Performance and Structure. 7th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunin, P.D., and V.N. Neronov. 1986. Ekologicheskie Printsipy Okhrany Genofonda I Problemy Organizatsii Monitoringa Opustynivania v Aridnoi Zone Azii. In Itogi I Perspektivy Zapovednogo Dela v SSSR. Moscow: Nauka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, D. 1996. Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939–1956: Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939–56. New ed. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press UK SR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josephson, P. 2013. An Environmental History of Russia. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kazakhmys, P.L.C. 2014. Proposed Transfer of Certain of the Company’s Subsidiaries Owning Mature Assets. 23 March. https://www.kazminerals.com/media/2658/shareholder_circular_english_2014.pdf.

  • Khlevniuk, O.V. 2004. The History of the Gulag: From Collectivization to the Great Terror. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, N. 2016. Why No ‘Water Wars’ in Central Asia? Lessons Learned from the Aral Sea Disaster. PONARS Eurasia, Policy Memo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlova, M. 2006. Lake Balkhash’s Disappearing Act: Is Central Asia’s Second-Largest Lake Destined to Become Another Aral Sea? Transitions Online, December: 1–1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melnikov, D. 2016. From the Virgin Lands City to Astana: Toward the Afterlife of Soviet Utopia? Paper presented at the 17th Annual CESS Conference, 3–6 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Micklin, P.P. 1988. Desiccation of the Aral Sea: A Water Management Disaster in the Soviet Union. Science 241: 1170–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Micklin, P. 2016. The Future Aral Sea: Hope and Despair. Environmental Earth Sciences 75 (9): 844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirzabaev, A., M. Ahmed, J. Werner, John Pender, and Mounir Louhaichi. 2016. Rangelands of Central Asia: Challenges and Opportunities. Journal of Arid Land 8 (1): 93–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mnatsakanian, R. 2002. L’héritage écologique du communisme dans les Républiques de l’ex-URSS. Paris: Editions Frison-Roche.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moor-Stahl, J., and J. Allaman. 2000. L’exception écologique russe: Systèmes et acteurs de 1917 à nos jours. Paris: Editions L’Harmattan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narama, C., J. Kubota, V.I. Shatravin, M. Duishonakulov, G. Moholt, K. Abdrakhmanov, and Kicengge. 2010. The Lake-Level Changes in Central Asia during the Last 1000 Years Based on Historical Map. In Reconceptualizing Cultural and Environmental Change in Central Asia: An [Sic] Historical Perspective on the Future, ed. M. Watanabe and J. Kubota. Kyoto: RIHN. http://archives.chikyu.ac.jp/archives/AnnualReport/Viewer.do?prkbn=R&jekbn=E&id=49.

  • NASA. 2016. World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea. Accessed 17 November. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/aral_sea.php.

  • Nuklear Forum Schweiz. 2004. Lancement Du Projet France-Kazakhstan En Production D’uranium. NuklearForum Schweiz. http://www.nuklearforum.ch/fr/actualites/e-bulletin/production-duranium-nouvelle-collaboration-entre-la-france-et-le-kazakhstan.

  • ———. 2009. Production D’uranium: Nouvelle Collaboration Entre La France et Le Kazakhstan. NuklearForum Schweiz. http://www.nuklearforum.ch/fr/actualites/e-bulletin/production-duranium-nouvelle-collaboration-entre-la-france-et-le-kazakhstan.

  • Obertreis, J. 2008. Der “Angriff Auf Die Wüste” in Zentralasien. Zur Umweltgeschichte Der Sowjetunion. Osteuropa 58 (4–5): 37–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck, A.E. 2003. Economic Development in Kazakhstan: The Role of Large Enterprises and Foreign Investment. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penati, B. 2013. The Cotton Boom and the Land Tax in Russian Turkestan (1880s–1915). Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 14 (4): 741–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prilutskaya, X. 2016. Juggling Risk: Lay Perceptions of Ecological and Health Risk in post-Soviet Industrial Temirtau. Master diss., Nazarbayev University, Astana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pryde, P. 2009. Environmental Management in the Soviet Union. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Purvis-Roberts, K.L., Cynthia A. Werner, and I. Frank. 2007. Perceived Risks from Radiation and Nuclear Testing Near Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan: A Comparison between Physicians, Scientists, and the Public. Risk Analysis 27 (2): 291–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reuters. 2012. KAZAKHSTAN: Copper Plant Tries to Reduce Pollution of Lake Balkhash. 20 June. http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist/RTV/2012/06/20/RTV1916312/?v=2.

  • Robinson, S., E.J. Milner-Gulland, and I. Alimaev. 2003. Rangeland Degradation in Kazakhstan during the Soviet Era: Re-Examining the Evidence. Journal of Arid Environments 53 (3): 419–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schatz, E.A.D. 1999. Notes on the ‘Dog That Didn’t Bark’: Eco-Internationalism in Late Soviet Kazakstan. Ethnic and Racial Studies 22 (1): 136–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J. 2001. Mao’s War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Small, I., J. van der Meer, and R.E.G. Upshur. 2001. Acting on an Environmental Health Disaster: The Case of the Aral Sea. Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (6): 547–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stawkowski, M.E. 2016. ‘I Am a Radioactive Mutant’: Emergent Biological Subjectivities at Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site. American Ethnologist 43 (1): 144–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strategy 2050. 2016. Strategia Kazakhstan 2050—Ekologia. Accessed 7 December. http://strategy2050.kz/en/news/category/125/.

  • Synnott, M. 2015. Sins of the Aral Sea: For Millennia the Aral Sea Reigned as One of the Planet’s Largest Inland Bodies of Water, Straddling What Is Now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Today Its Decline Serves as a Cautionary Tale. National Geographic 227 (6): 114–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uatkhanov, Y. 2016. Ulba Metallurgical Plant Leads in World Uranium Production. The Astana Times, 26 July. http://astanatimes.com/2016/07/ulba-metallurgical-plant-leads-in-world-uranium-production/.

  • Urankayeva, Z. 2016. Building Low Enriched Uranium Bank at Ulba Metallurgical Plant to Cost $150 Million. The Astana Times, 25 October. http://astanatimes.com/2016/10/building-low-enriched-uranium-bank-at-ulba-metallurgical-plant-to-cost-150-million/.

  • Werner, C., and K. Purvis-Roberts. 2006. After the Cold War: International Politics, Domestic Policy and the Nuclear Legacy in Kazakhstan. Central Asian Survey 25 (4): 461–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WNN. 2016. Kazakhstan Mulls Construction of Two Nuclear Plants. Accessed 6 December. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Kazakhstan-mulls-construction-of-two-nuclear-plants-26011501.html.

  • Wojnowski, Z. 2016. De-Stalinization and the Failure of Soviet Identity Building in Kazakhstan. Journal of Contemporary History 52 (4): 999–1021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beatrice Penati .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Penati, B. (2019). The Environmental Legacy of the Soviet Regime. In: Caron, JF. (eds) Kazakhstan and the Soviet Legacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6693-2_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics