Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey

Introduction. The Republic of Tatarstan is a key immigrant-recipient region of the Russian Federation. As of 2022, Tatarstan ranked first in Volga Federal District and fourth nationwide on the number of arrived migrants. One of the main reasons behind the situation is that according to annual socioe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tatiana A. Titova, Vadim E. Kozlov, Elena V. Frolova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Российской академии наук, Калмыцкий научный центр 2024-09-01
Series:Oriental Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://kigiran.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/5175
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823858199146528768
author Tatiana A. Titova
Vadim E. Kozlov
Elena V. Frolova
author_facet Tatiana A. Titova
Vadim E. Kozlov
Elena V. Frolova
author_sort Tatiana A. Titova
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. The Republic of Tatarstan is a key immigrant-recipient region of the Russian Federation. As of 2022, Tatarstan ranked first in Volga Federal District and fourth nationwide on the number of arrived migrants. One of the main reasons behind the situation is that according to annual socioeconomic reports by the Agency of Strategic Initiatives, Tatarstan sustainably holds leading positions of investment attractiveness. And it is already common practice that the majority of arriving individuals are Central Asian citizens, the three leading origin countries being Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The recent thirty years have witnessed a significant structural shift determined by that most newcomers never lived in the once unified state ― Soviet Union. Different strategies of sovereign sociocultural development adopted by currently independent countries of Central Asia have led to increased cultural distances between their citizens and Russia’s natives. Goals. The work attempts an analysis of how young Central Asian migrants adapt to new sociocultural conditions of Tatarstan’s polyethnic community. To facilitate this, the paper shall characterize the specifics of interaction between the former and locals, including some features of their language behavior. Materials and ­methods. Outcomes of the September-to-November 2023 survey held in Tatarstan constitute a source base for our analysis. The tested informants are ethnic Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyzes. Qualitative research methodology and that of in-depth interviews have proven most instrumental herein. Results. The study reveals certain features of adaptation strategies and linguistic competence levels in ethnic and demographic groups of migrants. Special attention is paid to economic and sociopsychological reasons why the latter have chosen Tatarstan as their destination region, to indicators of cultural distances between locals and aliens. Conclusions. An important circumstance behind the choice of Tatarstan ― in the eyes of the respondents ― is the cultural and linguistic proximity, as well as the low level of ethnocentric attitudes on behalf of the host population. The article classifies and describes groups with maximum and minimum levels of linguistic competency, discusses some implied reasons. So, it is intention to reside in Tatarstan in the long term that essentially contributes to the successful acquisition and use of the Russian language.
format Article
id doaj-art-6d0040af6d864852acc0f1e21dcae5b0
institution Kabale University
issn 2619-0990
2619-1008
language English
publishDate 2024-09-01
publisher Российской академии наук, Калмыцкий научный центр
record_format Article
series Oriental Studies
spelling doaj-art-6d0040af6d864852acc0f1e21dcae5b02025-02-11T13:16:53ZengРоссийской академии наук, Калмыцкий научный центрOriental Studies2619-09902619-10082024-09-0117240141210.22162/2619-0990-2024-72-2-401-412Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological SurveyTatiana A. Titova0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5921-3287Vadim E. Kozlov1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7152-152XElena V. Frolova2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2125-5443Kazan (Volga Region) Federal UniversityKazan (Volga Region) Federal University Kazan (Volga Region) Federal UniversityIntroduction. The Republic of Tatarstan is a key immigrant-recipient region of the Russian Federation. As of 2022, Tatarstan ranked first in Volga Federal District and fourth nationwide on the number of arrived migrants. One of the main reasons behind the situation is that according to annual socioeconomic reports by the Agency of Strategic Initiatives, Tatarstan sustainably holds leading positions of investment attractiveness. And it is already common practice that the majority of arriving individuals are Central Asian citizens, the three leading origin countries being Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The recent thirty years have witnessed a significant structural shift determined by that most newcomers never lived in the once unified state ― Soviet Union. Different strategies of sovereign sociocultural development adopted by currently independent countries of Central Asia have led to increased cultural distances between their citizens and Russia’s natives. Goals. The work attempts an analysis of how young Central Asian migrants adapt to new sociocultural conditions of Tatarstan’s polyethnic community. To facilitate this, the paper shall characterize the specifics of interaction between the former and locals, including some features of their language behavior. Materials and ­methods. Outcomes of the September-to-November 2023 survey held in Tatarstan constitute a source base for our analysis. The tested informants are ethnic Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyzes. Qualitative research methodology and that of in-depth interviews have proven most instrumental herein. Results. The study reveals certain features of adaptation strategies and linguistic competence levels in ethnic and demographic groups of migrants. Special attention is paid to economic and sociopsychological reasons why the latter have chosen Tatarstan as their destination region, to indicators of cultural distances between locals and aliens. Conclusions. An important circumstance behind the choice of Tatarstan ― in the eyes of the respondents ― is the cultural and linguistic proximity, as well as the low level of ethnocentric attitudes on behalf of the host population. The article classifies and describes groups with maximum and minimum levels of linguistic competency, discusses some implied reasons. So, it is intention to reside in Tatarstan in the long term that essentially contributes to the successful acquisition and use of the Russian language. https://kigiran.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/5175migrantsdiasporaencapsulation of ethnicityacculturationadaptationcultural distance
spellingShingle Tatiana A. Titova
Vadim E. Kozlov
Elena V. Frolova
Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
Oriental Studies
migrants
diaspora
encapsulation of ethnicity
acculturation
adaptation
cultural distance
title Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
title_full Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
title_fullStr Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
title_full_unstemmed Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
title_short Adaptation Practices of Young Central Asian Migrants in Tatarstan: A Socioanthropological Survey
title_sort adaptation practices of young central asian migrants in tatarstan a socioanthropological survey
topic migrants
diaspora
encapsulation of ethnicity
acculturation
adaptation
cultural distance
url https://kigiran.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/5175
work_keys_str_mv AT tatianaatitova adaptationpracticesofyoungcentralasianmigrantsintatarstanasocioanthropologicalsurvey
AT vadimekozlov adaptationpracticesofyoungcentralasianmigrantsintatarstanasocioanthropologicalsurvey
AT elenavfrolova adaptationpracticesofyoungcentralasianmigrantsintatarstanasocioanthropologicalsurvey