Abstract
The article is devoted to the disclosure of the content and meaning of the phenomenon of modernization both in general and in relation to the task of modernization of Kazakhstan’s public consciousness facing the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is shown that the concept of modernization originally arose in the course of Western scientists’ understanding of the process and consequences of the transition of Western Europe from the feudal system to the capitalist one. Since the end of the XIX century and especially in the XX century, modernization began to be understood as the transfer of European standards of living and institutions to states and societies with a traditional way of life. It is noted that in connection with the task of modernization of Kazakhstan’s public consciousness, the phenomenon of modernization should be interpreted somewhat differently. Modernization of public consciousness should not subject it to a complete modernization. It should synthesize the positive that has been accumulated for centuries with the positive that has been formed today, after Kazakhstan gained state independence