«Modernization Processes in Central Asia (XVIII – Early XXI st Centuries): Problems and Prospects of Study»

On October 24–25, 2025, the Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk) held an international academic conference, «Modernization Processes in Central Asia (XVIII th – Early XXI st Centuries): Problems and Prospects of Study». The conference focused on the modernization experiences of the contemporary Central Asian states. The conference focused on three areas: the role of the state in economic and social modernization; infrastructure drivers of modernization; and modernization as a social process: Central Asian specifics. S.I. Kovalskaya, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Professor of the Department History of Kazakhstan, presented a paper «Foreign Historiography on the Choice between Tradition and Innovation in the Modernization of Traditional Kazakh Society». The paper focused on the characteristics of such channels of modernization as music, painting, and literature. Using these examples, it was possible to demonstrate the choice between tradition and innovation during the modernization process. It also explored what influenced this choice, how innovations penetrated the cultural life of society, and why some forms took hold, while others disappeared almost immediately after their first appearance.