Yessenzhol K. Aliyarov

Dinara Zh. Zhanguzhekova

• Occupation: Researcher; PhD student
• Affiliation: Association for Political Studies of Kazakhstan
  
• Address: Kazakhstan, Almaty

Marhabbat Nurov

• Occupation: Researcher; PhD student
• Affiliation: The Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University
  
• Address: Kazakhstan, Almaty

Since the end of the twentieth-century majority of humankind is allegedly living under conditions of modernity. This all-embracing shift has resulted in different effects and different phenomena. In some cases, the government-led modernization of traditional societies led to the destabilization of some institutions. However, it would be a mistake to assert that modernization became a denominator for the unfavorable processes. The result of the large-scale transformations brought about an emergence of compensatory reactions. Specifically, irrational aspirations became active in society. In recent years, once tabooed occultism has become popular, which entailed intense yet expected attention from academia. Despite transition to modern forms of social structure, such as the strengthening of rationalism, technologization, the advancement of science, a certain layer in society is inclined to believe in the «miraculous powers of occultism» or takes it quite seriously as a science. Observed interest in society for the irrational is analyzed in the context of the chosen path of the country's development. It is also assessed as concurrently transpiring multicomponent and contradictory trends in the global arena. The study examines the question of the significance of the statement «collective neurosis» in modern society. It argues that whether revitalization, if any, of occultism reflects societal tensions related to dissatisfaction with reality and distrust towards certain state institutions.