REGIONAL SPECIFICITY OF INTEGRATION OF INTERNAL ETHNIC MIGRANTS

Abstract

The inflow of internal migrants, representatives of «visible minorities», into the Russian regions leads to tensions between local population and those migrants, especially from the North Caucasus. Domestic migrants are Russian citizens, but often they are poorly integrated into local communities. The author analyzes the factors and the level of integration of internal migrants in various regions of Russia. The paper shows that the level of integration of migrants depends on the state of interethnic relations as they are perceived by local population and migrants. The dependence has been revealed of the migrants’ integration on the consolidation of the local community and its benevolence. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the integration of local residents in local communities. It’s shown that the levels of integration of migrants and non-migrants into the local community are closely interrelated. Where local communities are better integrated, the integration of migrants is more successful: a favourable social context creates incentives for the integration of migrants. Particular attention is paid to the structures of identities of local residents and migrants. Migrants adopt the standards of social behaviour of representatives of local communities. The structures of the migrant’s identities are gradually transformed, converging with the structures of the identities of local residents. Integrated migrants are oriented at the best social inclusion patterns of the local population, and non-integrated migrants are guided by the worst asocial behaviour patterns.