Central Asia's Gulag: Mapping and Managing Penal Heritage in Kazakhstan

Collaborative Research Program 2024-2026

The project asks the following broad questions: What impact have the geographies and practices of punishment had historically on the economic and social development of Northern and Central Kazakhstan? How might these geographies be studied and preserved as part of national and world heritage? The project has three strands - using archival maps to create a digital database of Kazakhstan's Gulag sites, producing an archaeological survey at one of the sites, and analysing the educational presentation of the history in Kazakhstani schools.