Unveiling Perceptions: Identity and Values Across Central Asia

​Grant Funding for Young Researchers 2025-2027

This project explores the evolving perceptions of shared and divergent values and identities shaping regional cooperation in Central Asia. Long perceived as one of the least connected regions globally, Central Asia has undergone significant transformation in recent years. Political reforms initiated by regional leaders have marked a pivotal shift, fostering a new era of collaboration that emphasizes unifying factors such as geography, history, religion, culture, and tradition. Geopolitical turbulence, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, has further propelled this momentum. For the first time, the idea of a common regional identity was introduced into the agenda of Central Asian leaders in 2024, signaling a critical evolution in the region’s vision for cooperation. Despite these significant developments, research on how historical narratives shape regional integration and how citizens perceive the underlying values and identities remains limited. This study aims to uncover citizens’ perspectives on regional cooperation, focusing on the ethnic, political, social, historical, and intersectional factors that shape these views. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the project combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies, integrating analysis of the existing surveys with original data collected through interviews, focus groups, and discourse analysis of historical narratives from textbooks and historical works. The research contributes to scholarly debates on regionalism by shifting the focus from state-centered and external perspectives to a bottom-up analysis of societal viewpoints. It explores how shared values, identities, and historical narratives shape citizens’ perceptions of cooperation, addressing critical gaps in the literature. The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers, guiding efforts to foster collaboration, build a shared regional identity, and strengthen the foundations of regional integration in Central Asia. This project ultimately seeks to illuminate the role of public attitudes and historical consciousness in shaping the region’s evolving dynamics. Drawing on the project’s findings, the team plans to publish multiple scholarly articles in top-tier journals indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus (Q1 and Q2 categories) databases. Additionally, the results will be widely shared at prestigious international conferences.