NATIONALISM IN PRIMORSKY KRAY

1

• Авторы
• Файлы

Potekhina E. Статья в формате PDF 323 KB

Nationalism is an ideology and orientation of policy the bedrock principle of which is the thesis that values the nation as the highest form of public unity and prioritizes the process of state formation. As a political movement, nationalism aspires to the protection of national community interests in relationships with the government.

The problem of mass migration appears in any society, faced with the problem of the coexistence of «native people» with «newcomers» - visitors who stay for a long time. This problem is especially true for Primorye which has become more and more attractive to our neighbours from the nearby countries. In end of itself it is quite well, as there has been a labour shortage in the region for a long time, and it has become felt especially critical in the preparation period of Vladivostok for the APEC summit. Migrants from Central Asia and China work on construction take out garbage in our towns and cities and put down asphalt. It is difficult to find a line of business where migrants don´t work today.

At the same time the increase in the quantity of migrants leads to growth of a nationalist attitude among the local people. Until recently nationalism wasn´t peculiar to local people. Representatives of 119 nationalities live in Primorye; more than thirty national diasporas were officially registered. Among them there are also quite small ones, for example, a diaspora of the people of Tibet. But there are also very large and active communities. For instance, the Korean diaspora numbers 30 thousand people, Azerbaijanis have the same number of countrymen here.

The Uzbek diaspora has become one of the most numerous. Its representatives formed two thirds

of the stream of migrants in the last few years. Vladivostok became hostile to foreigners about ten years ago. It coincided with a period of active movement of Russian people from the Far East to safer and more comfortable places. And Primorsky Kray is basically abandoned by people with higher education, who have become specialists.

According to the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion, every third person of Russia admits to his hostility to expatriates from the former Soviet Union republics, living and working in Russian cities. But in everyday life very few other people contacts them directly. In the mind of Russian people, the stereotype "«newcomers» take their jobs, and in the near future the time when the Russian-speaking population may be the minority" is widely believed. Where are the roots of racial animosity concealed? Let´s speak about different types of migrants.

1. Economic migrants.

There are few Russian people who don´t have a higher education and are ready to work at lowpaid, unprestigious work. That´s why visitors from the former union republics basically work in construction, road work, premises cleaning, and markets.

For identical work the Russian will request 20 thousand rubles, and the Uzbek - 10. Certainly, it is more profitable for an employer to accept for employment the foreigner, than the compatriot. To live in Russia is very problematic. Hence you can see the increase in unemployment among the Russian population and, as a consequence, hostility to migrants.

2. Businessmen and politicians.

Among Azerbaijanians «marketable talent» is more developed: uniting in diasporas, they open shops and public catering establishments. In Primorskiy Kray they own the majority of wholesale warehouses. Unlike Uzbeks, they don´t go off in search of just making a living in Russia, but to migrate permanently. And as a rule, they move with their whole families. The total money earned by Azerbaijanians in Russia is about 25 billion dollars. Approximately half of it is from Moscow. It is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of Azerbaijan.

***yzing the nationalism problem in Primorsky Kray, a questionnaire poll was studied among the students of the 3d course of specialities «Social and Cultural Service and Tourism» of Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service. 96 students took part in this poll. Our students are not against foreigners of coming to our region. As the future representatives of brainpower, they consider that it is necessary to establish cultural and social contacts between people of different nationalities. But many students notice that «newcomers» don´t want to make contact with native Russians and to establish these relations, continuing to live separately and creating «branches» of their old countries in Russia.

To their mind the main reasons for the nationalistic attitudes are the following:

• Foreigners coming to Russia to work or study, don´t join in the Russian cultural-historical surroundings, and therefore a certain isolation of an ethnic group is created at once. They live separately, communicating with representatives of their people, because to create community with their own group is much easier.
• It´s very important how migrants from other countries (especially natives from Caucasus) treat Russian people. In public places they often behave very aggressively, and defiantly.

Experts from Primorye are unified in their opinions that the problem of ethnic hatred won´t be solved by an increase in the standard of living. Organizing the social adaptation of migrants is very important for decreasing a hostile nationalistic attitude in society. Poor knowledge of the Russian legislation system, language, culture and way of life account for the fact that not each migrant can be named a real member of society. It is necessary to teach them Russian, help them to adapt to new social and cultural conditions. It is necessary to cooperate actively with leaders of national-cultural associations in a constant information interchange with diasporas.

However this process can´t be one-sided, integration should go in both directions: not only should foreigners adapt to new conditions, but native people shouldn´t discriminate and show intolerance to migrants either.

Until the culture of Russia becomes more tolerant, it is impossible to overcome international disagreement. In the last ten years the population of the Far East, like other Russian people, has lost tolerance and respect for other cultures. However, if we want to live in a civilized society, instead of in a "hoi polloi" group, we should learn these concepts all over again.

---