In Almaty, which didn’t lose its status of a capital even after the administrative capital of Kazakhstan has officially been moved to the city of Astana-Nursultan, there is such a word, used by locals – the mambets. The word is commonly referred to as semi-destitute, undereducated citizens of Kazakhstan, who have lost touch with the pastoralist traditions and rushed to the big cities in search of happiness – meaning to find a job for sustenance and survival. Something like the Ukrainian version of rednecks, but really deprived and marginalized. And this is the real future for the Ukrainian “rednecks” after the Ukrainian agricultural lands have been sold.
