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1НАСЛЕДИЕ КЛАССИКОВ ЭТНОСОЦИОЛОГИИ
От редакции. Специальный выпуск журнала, посвященный этносоциальным процессам в современном городе, открывается переводом статьи Л.М. Дробижевой «Исчезает ли этнич-ность в городской среде? Некоторые ответы на загадки большого города». Публикация призвана представить мировой научной общественности взгляд знаменитого российского ученого - признанного классика отечественной этносоциологии - на городскую этносоциальную проблематику. Журнал благодарит Главного редактора издания «Известия высших учебных заведений. Поволжский регион. Общественные науки», в котором работа была опубликована на русском языке, Виталия Владимировича Гошуляка за любезно предоставленную возможность перевести ее на английский язык (См.: Дробижева Л.М. Исчезает ли этничность в городской среде? Некоторые ответы на загадки большого города // Известия высших учебных заведений. Поволжский регион. Общественные науки. 2013. № 3 (27). С. 73-83. URL: https://izvuz_on.pnzgu.ru/files/izvuz_on.pnzgu.ru/09313.pdf).
From the editor. A special issue of the journal dedicated to ethnosocial processes in the modern city opens with a translation of the paper by L.M. Drobizheva "Does ethnicity remain in the urban environment? Some answers to the mysteries of the big city". The publication is intended to present to the global academic community of the famous Russian scholar, a recognised Russian ethnosociology classic's the view on urban ethnosocial issues. The journal expresses gratitude to Vitaly Vladimirovich Goshulyak, the editor-in-chief of the publication News of higher educational
institutions. Volga region. Social sciences, in which the paper was published in Russian, for the courtesy to translate it into English (See: Drobizheva L.M. (2013) Does ethnicity remain in the urban environment? Some answers to the mysteries of the big city. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Obshchestvennyye nauki. [News of higher education institutions. Volga region. Social sciences]. No. 3 (27): 73-83. URL: https://izvuz_on.pnzgu.ru/files/izvuz_on. pnzgu.ru/09313.pdf).
Переводная статья / Translated paper https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2024-9-3.336-348
Does ethnicity remain in the urban environment? Some answers to the mysteries of the big city
L.M. Drobizheva
Abstract. Background. The processes of industrialisation and modernisation, according to classical sociologists, should lead to the blurring of ethnic differences, but practice shows the opposite trend. The purpose of the paper is to identify the level of civil and ethnic identity in the settlements of different types (metropolis, town, village), and the impact of various factors on its formation. Materials and methods. The implementation of the research tasks has been achieved on the basis of analysing the data of the nationwide research by the RAS Institute of Sociology "20 years of reform as viewed by Russians", a series of studies by the International Relations Research Center of the RAS Institute of Sociology in Moscow and the republics on a representative sample, a study conducted by the subdepartment of sociology and personnel management" of Penza State University
© Дробижева Л.М., Шарифуллина Д.Р. (перевод), 2024
under the grant "Dynamics of students' values and attitudes in the Volga Federal District under Russian sociocultural modernisation", as well as data of the European Social Survey. Sociological survey and secondary analysis methods have been used.
Results. The analysis of the research results showed that civil and ethnic identity in the cities not only lower than in the rural areas, but the significance of ethnic identity in the cities is even a little higher.
Conclusions. The nature of interethnic relations is influenced by many factors, such as the level of education, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with one's life, the assessment of what people gained or lost in the last decade, the collapse of hopes, anger against corruption and injustice in life. In addition, each factor in conjunction with the others "works" in different ways on every territory.
Keywords: civil identity, ethnic identity, xenophobia, identity matrix, ethnic tensions, immigrants.
For citation: Drobizheva L.M. (2024) Does ethnicity remain in the urban environment? Some answers to the mysteries of the big city. Transl. by D.R. Sharifullina. Istoricheskaya etnologiya [Historical Ethnology]. Vol. 9. No. 3: 336-348. https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2024-9-3.336-348
Исчезает ли этничность в городской среде? Некоторые ответы на загадки большого города
Л.М. Дробижева
Резюме. Актуальность и цели. Процессы индустриализации и модернизации, по мнению классиков социологии, должны привести к стиранию межэтнических различий, однако практика демонстрирует противоположные тренды. Цель работы - выявить уровень гражданской и этнической идентичности в поселениях различного типа (мегаполис, город, село), а также влияние различных факторов на ее формирование.
Материалы и методы. Реализация исследовательских задач была достигнута на основе анализа материалов всероссийского исследования Института социологии РАН «20 лет реформ глазами россиян», ряда исследований Центра исследования межнациональных отношений Института социологии РАН в Москве и республиках по репрезентативным выборкам, исследования, проведенного кафедрой «Социология и управление персоналом» Пензенского государственного университета в рамках гранта «Динамика ценностей и ориентаций студенческой молодежи Приволжского федерального округа в условиях социокультурной модернизации России», а также данных Европейского социального исследования. Использовались социологические методы опроса и вторичного анализа.
Результаты. Анализ результатов проведенных исследований показал, что гражданская и этническая идентичность в городах не только не меньше, чем в сельской среде, но по значимости этническая идентичность в городах даже чуть выше.
Выводы. На характер межэтнических отношений влияет множество факторов: уровень образования, удовлетворенность или неудовлетворенность своей жизнью, оценка того, что люди приобрели или потеряли в последние десятилетия, нереализованность надежд, раздражение от коррупции и несправедливостей в жизни. При этом каждый фактор в связке с другими в каждой локальности «работает» по-разному.
Ключевые слова: гражданская идентичность, этническая идентичность, ксенофобия, матрица идентичности, межэтническая напряженность, иммигранты.
Для цитирования: Drobizheva L.M. Does ethnicity remain in the urban environment? Some answers to the mysteries of the big city / пер. Д.Р. Шарифуллиной. Историческая этнология. 2024. Т. 9. № 3. С. 336-348. https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2024-9-3.336-348
Max Weber, when analysing the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation, predicted blurring of interethnic differences. Experts on globalisation of our time -Archer, Albrow, and Giddens also based their concepts on the fact that "global values and guidelines receive priority dominance over local values, including the ethnic factor, which is being eliminated..." (Pokrovskiy, 2001: 51). However, actual social practice does not confirm the predictions of the classics. Sociological research data demonstrate opposite trends. We have to give answers to challenging questions: why, when and how people perceive the world and interpret problems in ethnic, racial, national terms, and not in some others; why we encounter ethnic rhetoric in political projects, reproduced meanings, events, discursive frames, in various everyday circumstances when interpreting people's interactions?
We are going to make an attempt to approach the explanation of some of these issues by analysing the results of studies in the focus of the urban environment influence of varying degrees of urban load.
As a source, we use materials from an all-Russian study by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences "20 years of reforms through the eyes of Russians", series of studies by the Center for Interethnic Relations Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Sociology in Moscow and the republics based on representative samples, a study conducted by the Department of Sociology and Personnel Management at Penza State University as part of the grant "Dynamics of values and orientations of student youth in the Volga Federal District in the context of sociocultural modernisation of Russia", as well as data from the European Social Survey.
First of all, the unexpected result is that ethnic identity in cities is not only as important as in rural environments, but its significance for people in the city is approximately the same as for rural residents (Fig. 1).
Actually, in the city, people's identity matrix is certainly more diversified. The concept of an identity matrix was introduced into scientific lexis by the famous French psychologist S. Moscovici when substantiating the theory of social representations. The famous American psychologist T. Shibutani used the concept of identity matrix as a combination of "self-images" integrated into the "self-concept". In the city, a person definitely has more identities and "self-images". With all the "fluidity," as they say now, of the given categories, they are present; and the ones to which significance and meaning are attached in the matrix, naturally, avoided levelling and have potential. Thus, according to the study, civil identity has high potential (Fig. 2).
100
80
60
40
20
96,7
89
90,5
Megacities Regional capitals Rural areas
Ethnic identity in general ■ Strong ethnic association
0
Figure 1. Ethnic identity in settlements of different types (proportion of respondents who answered that they feel a connection to people of the same nationality, as a percentage of respondents)
100
80
60
40
20
97,3
96,7
94,5
Megacities Regional capitals Rural areas
■ Civil identity in general ■ Strong civil identity
Figure 2. Civil identity in settlements of different types (proportion of respondents who answered that they feel a connection with the citizens of the country, as a percentage of respondents)
0
Civil identity should be stronger in comparison with ethnic identity in the city, but the given hypothesis is not confirmed in a straightforward manner. In regional cities, both civil identity in general and the share of people with a significant urban identity are indeed slightly larger than in rural areas. However, in megacities there are
slightly fewer people for whom civil identity is significant and strong - 58% versus 72% in rural areas. Overall, civil identity in cities and villages does not differ significantly between people, and ethnic identity in cities is even slightly higher. Why? To answer this question, we have to make assumptions which need to be tested.
Naturally, in cities, and particularly in metropolises, there is a larger proportion of educated people, who are included in the global Internet space (Fig. 3).
Megacites
65
Regional capitals
68
Rural areas
37
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 3. Distribution of answers to the question about the use of computers (as a percentage of respondents)
They critically evaluate categorical prescriptiveness, are able to apply a stricter filter to stereotypical ideas (such as "we are all people of such and such nationality", "we are citizens"); they are more prone to identifying themselves with different communities dynamically (their identity matrix is more versatile and more flexible). If today a person acts more as a member of a professional community, tomorrow he or she is a supporter of a political movement, the day after tomorrow - a citizen, etc. Every time the place and meaning of the identities which interest us - ethnic, civil, each of which is associated with interethnic relations - can change. For example, let us say, today, a person acts as a businessman who does not need country or republic borders; and tomorrow he understands that the country or the territory where he lives is losing resources, and he begins to think through actions from the point of view of a representative of certain people and the country as a whole.
Ethnic identity, despite the traditional nature of its presence among people, is fluid in its significance, particularly in cities - metropolises and regional capitals. It would seem that it is supposed to be calmer here, less relevant. After all, the number of high-achieving people in large cities is higher (Table 1).
Table 1
Self-assessment of the qualities of economic success. Distribution of answers to the question "Do you relate or not relate to the following statement: 'It seems to me that I have few qualities which are valued in the present-day economic situation'"? (as a percentage of the number of respondents)
Russia as a whole Moscow Saint Petersburg Krasnodar
Agree 46.3 42.4 43.0 48.2
Do not agree 41.7 50.3 46.0 45.3
Neither agree nor disagree 12.1 7.3 10.6 6.5
In large cities, there are more residents who are satisfied with their labour compensation (Table 2).
Table 2
Degree of satisfaction with wages in Russian regions. Distribution of answers to the question "How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the payment for your work?" (as a percentage of the number of respondents)
Russia as a whole Moscow Saint Petersburg Krasnodar
Satisfied 21.6 34.7 22.9 19.1
Both satisfied and dissatisfied 17.4 13.9 20.3 17.0
Not satisfied 59.3 50.2 53.4 61.7
Judging by the results of the surveys in Moscow, life satisfaction makes an impact on identity. Among those who are satisfied with life, there are more people who often feel like Russian nationals and fewer people who feel connected to representatives of their own nationality (Table 3).
Table 3
Updated ethnic and Russian identities in groups with different degrees of life satisfaction (as a percentage of the number of respondents)
I often feel unity with people... Satisfied with life (among the employed) Unsatisfied with life (among the employed)
We are citizens of Russia 60.9 49.3
We are people of a certain nationality 48.3 73.3
It must be said that in cities not many people have personally encountered the kind of problems which can be interpreted as infringements based on national origin: 96% have not encountered infringements of rights based on ethnic origin when apply-
ing for a job or a school; 85% did not feel discriminated against in everyday life, even though it is in shops and public transport where citizens of different ethnicities usually come into contact with each other and it is the area with the least social control.
All positive conditions are present. Nevertheless, specifically in cities, and even more often in megacities, we observe people who feel the need for ethnic solidarity (Fig. 4) and have negative attitudes towards people of a different national origin (Fig. 5).
100
90 85,8
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Nowadays, a person needs to feel oneself a I never forget about my ethnicity (answer part of his nationality (the sum of the answers option "completely agree")
"totally agree" and "rather agree")
■ Megacities ■ Regional capitals ■ Rural areas
Figure 4. Solidaristic tendencies (based on the results of the project "20 years of reforms through the eyes of Russians") [2].
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 5. Irritation and hostility towards representatives of other nationalities (based on the results of the project "20 years of reforms through the eyes of Russians") [2]
Moreover, on the account of megacities, this negative tendencies in Russia (68%) is higher than in a number of republics, in particular in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (14-37%). Research among the student youth in the regions showed different results compared with the general population. Most of all, hostility towards people of other ethnicities is expressed in Mordovia (24%); in the Penza region, and Tatarstan - 22% each; in Bashkortostan - only 7%.
A study conducted among the student youth in the Volga region showed the following: only 8% feel hostility towards people of other national origin; 75% do not feel hostility; 7% find it difficult to answer. Distribution by nationality: among Russians, 19% feel hostility; among Tatars - 13%; among Mordvins - 28%; Bashkirs -6%; among Russians 73% do not experience it, among Tatars - 80%, Mordovians -72%, Bashkirs - 92%. Besides, if in the first year at university 29% feel hostility, then by the fifth year only 13% of students with such attitudes remain. Students from rural areas also experience greater hostility towards people of other nationalities compared to people from large cities (24% versus 16%, respectively). Thus, it can be concluded that the student youth are more tolerant of other nations than the older generation.
Studies show that interethnic tension in recent years has been associated mainly with the influx of foreign migrants. 63% of respondents approve of the forced eviction of migrants from megacities, almost half as much in regional centers and villages (Fig. 6).
Megacites
63
Regional capitals
38
Rural areas
32
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Figure 6. Attitudes towards forced eviction of migrants (as a percentage of respondents)
It often concerns people who came from the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. It is a known fact that Russia is not alone in anti-migrant sentiments. According to the data of the European Social Survey (ESS), 22% of the respondents
0
in the Russian Federation agree with the opinion that "no migrants are to be allowed to enter the country" (21.7%). In the following countries the data on this marker in 2010 was higher than in Russia: Israel (33.3%), Hungary (32.1%), Czech Republic (24.4%), and Portugal (22.6%).
However, we must admit that it is in cities, and particularly in metropolises, where negative attitudes are often considered to be xenophobia.
From the data of the survey which examines the attitude of Muscovites towards immigrants, it can be observed that people who attach less importance to the ethnicity of others are more tolerant, including their attitude towards immigrants, and are less likely to support ideas of advantages for themselves compared to people of other nationalities. Attitudes toward, for example, immigrants are simply transferred to all "others", including people of other national origin. However, xenophobia, a fear of the other, is far from a purely psychological, spontaneous reaction. We have observed how such attitudes are fueled both during election campaigns and when it is necessary to shift attention from other events that are unpleasant for people. This kind of xenophobia is formed and launched by political technologists (Fig. 7).
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Immigrants should enjoy Russians in Moscow should Dividing people by Russians in Moscow should the same rights and have an advantage when nationality is a relic of the have an advantage when opportunities as Muscovites applying for a job past applying to a university
■ Muscovites who categorically do not accept people from Central Asia and Transcaucasia
■ Muscovites who do not experience categorical hostility towards people of any nationalities
Figure 7. Level of ethnocentrism among people with different degrees of tolerance (proportion of those who agree with the statements, as a percentage of respondents)
Therefore, people in megacities allow violence and are characterised by stricter forms of ethnic protection (Fig. 8).
Over 80% of the population in Moscow and up to 90% of the population in other cities (primarily regional) believe that violence is unacceptable in interethnic conflicts. However, if "justice for my people" is violated, then violence is considered acceptable by 60% of city residents in megacities, 36% in regional centers, and 48.7% in villages. "Any means are good to protect the interests of my people", half of citizens in megacities believe (Fig. 8).
These negative attitudes extend to the political sphere (Fig. 9).
In cities, and particularly in metropolises, there are fewer people (Russians dominate in our all-Russian study in Moscow) who maintain the following idea: "Russia is the common home for many peoples with equal rights". In 1994, according to national surveys, that number amounted to 65%, now it is 42%, and in megacities -50%. While 40% in megacities and 32% in regional cities believe that Russians should have more rights. It is no coincidence that the most noticeable Russian marches take place in megacities. Their organizers expect to find the support of so-called soft nationalists.
Violence is acceptable if justice is violated for Any means are good to protect the interests of my people or faith my people
■ Megacities ■ Regional capitals ■ Rural areas
Figure 8. Strict ethnic protective forms of isolationism (based on the results of the project "20 years of reforms through the eyes of Russians", the total of those who fully and most likely agree).
Megacites 16 40 42 2
Regional capitals 11 32 50 7
Rural areas 13 30 48 11
0 20 40 60 80 100
■ Russia should be a state of Russian people
■ Russia is a multinational country, but Russians should have more rights
■ Russia is the common home for many peoples with equal rights
■ Undecided
Figure 9. Opinions of respondents from different types of settlements about what the national structure of the Russian state should be (as a percentage of respondents)
At the same time, in the capitals of the Russian republics, there are supporters of the opinion that titular nationalities should have advantages in the republics, although the proportion of people with such ethnocentric attitudes, for instance, in Kazan, Ufa, and Yakutsk, is noticeably smaller than in megacities.
Thus, cities, particularly megacities, are territories not only for the formation of civil and ethnonational ideas and projects, but also the most important fields of ethnopolitical interactions that require the attention of the public, including the academic community.
At present, in Russia as a whole, and particularly in Moscow, order with the immigration influx is set to be restored. These are essential projects. The future will show to what consequences the mechanism for implementation of such measures will lead. However, for now, we as researchers can say that the importance of the role of increased contact with migrants of foreign nationalities should not be exaggerated. In our study in Moscow, two districts have been singled out: Veshnyaki, with high ethnic contact with migrants, and Otradnoye, where such contact is less frequent. Nonbetheless, the reaction of Muscovites to the influx of visitors in these areas turned out to be closely approximated (Fig. 10).
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
71
70
Veshnyaki
Getting better
Otradnoye
Does not change
Figure 10. Attitude to the migration situation in Moscow (as a percentage of respondents)
In both Veshnyaki and Otradnoye, 70% of Muscovites shared the opinion "Moscow is getting worse with the influx of visitors," and the opinion that it is "getting better" was also practically the same (10-12%). It means that "migrant phobia is rather a virtual phenomenon, which relates to images circulating in the information environment" formed by the mass media. In Veshnyaki, 28% of Muscovites agreed that Moscow should accept migrants because it needs workers; in Otradnoye, 9% agreed with this opinion, i.e. those who have more contacts turned out to be more tolerant. Obviously, due to more frequent contacts in such areas as Veshnyaki, there is a greater theoretical possibility of conflicts; at the same time, a stronger degree of adaptation, a feeling of certain benefits from migrants are observed.
In urban areas, clashes are most likely to occur in the event of problematic situations which are related to access to property or struggling for it, for the use of official positions, which is in the nature of conflicts.
Upon reflection on the latest data from representative studies, we find more and more evidence that not cultural differences themselves, but the meanings that we attach to them shape the nature of interpersonal relationships. Space that is fragmented according to various characteristics is especially typical of cities and metropolises; it encourages us to consider a maximally possible number of factors, specifically for each space, including the space within cities.
For instance, unlike in the past, we cannot say that education significantly fragments attitudes toward interethnic contacts. Ethnic negativism in some locations diminishes among people with higher education, while in others it has very little to do with the level of education and, even more broadly, with cultural outlooks.
Previously, satisfaction with labour compensation and work in general, as a pattern, used to be associated with tolerance, but nowadays - not everywhere and not always. Related to it in cities is, for example, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with "one's affairs in life" with an assessment of what one has lost or gained over the past 15-20 years. Those who believe that they have lost a lot are more irritated by their foreign ethnic environment.
Unfulfilled hopes, as well as irritation from corruption and injustices in life, are projected onto the sphere of interethnic relations. Moreover, each factor in conjunction with others "works" differently in each locality.
Transl. by D.R Sharifullina Перевод на англ. Д.Р. Шарифуллиной
REFERENCES
Pokrovskiy N.E. (2001) Transit of Russian values: unrealized alternative, anomie, globalization. In: Globalisation. Post-soviet society. Moscow: Stovi Publ.: 39-60 (In Russ.)
20 years of reforms in the eyes of Russians: experience of long-term sociological observation (2011). M.K. Gorshkov, R.Krumm, V.V.Petukhov (eds.). Moscow: Ves' Mir Publ. (In Russ.)
ЛИТЕРАТУРА
Покровский Н.Е. Транзит российских ценностей: нереализованная альтернатива, аномия, глобализация // Глобализация. Постсоветское общество. М.: Стови, 2001. С. 39-60.
20 лет реформ глазами россиян: опыт многолетних социологических замеров / под ред. М.К. Горшкова, Р. Крумма, В.В. Петухова. М.: Весь Мир, 2011.
Сведения об авторе: Дробижева Леокадия Михайловна (1933-2021), профессор, доктор исторических наук
About the author: Leokadiya M. Drobizheva (1933-2021), Professor, Doctor Sc. (History)
Сведения об авторе перевода: Шарифуллина Диляра Рашитовна, кандидат филологических наук, Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет (420008, ул. Кремлевская, 18, Казань, Российская Федерация); e-mail: dilara.ksu@gmail.com
About the translation author: Dilyara R. Sharifullina, Cand. Sc. (Philology), Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (18 Kremlevskaya St., Kazan 420008, Russian Federation); e-mail: dilara.ksu@gmail.com
