Interethnic Relations and Migration Processes on the Regional Level: Current Issues and Trends

Abstract

The article discusses the issues and trends of interethnic relations on the regional level. We suppose that migration processes have a direct influence upon them. Our hypothesis is that interethnic relations between the communities that traditionally reside in a specific region are fundamentally different from those established by recent migrants. For the former, the role of ethnicity is less important while the priority is given to the civil identity, which leads to the formation of supraethnic integrative images, mitigating interethnic conflicts. For the latter category of communities, the ethno-cultural boundaries are still strong, ethnic identity is prioritized and interethnic tension is aggravated by language and social barriers. We believe that when the regional authorities are seeking to harmonize interethnic relations, they are making a fundamental mistake by focusing on the first category of ethnic groups and ignoring the second. Interethnic tension mostly results from migration and the negative public perception of migrants, which causes a number of social and psychological problems. Our analysis explores the key factors shaping the attitude towards migrants and thus, creating interethnic tensions. We carried out a questionnaire survey in 2011 and also analyzed the results of the surveys conducted between 2008 and 2015, censuses and analytical reports on migration. Regional authorities may bene t from the results of our research by modifying their national and migration policies. This study may also be useful to other governmental agencies engaged in social and economic forecasting, especially concerning social tensions in the region.