Socialization as an alternative to the ghetto

On August 15, 2005, the Russian Newsweek magazine published an article "Starting and Winning" on Moscow's migration problems. The basis of the publication was the report of Olga Vendina , published a few months ago.

The authors of the publication clearly share several problems:

The first is the objective necessity of migrants for Moscow. This is stated in numerous studies and does not require special evidence.

The second is the blatantly illiterate migration policy of the city authorities, or rather, its absence. From this, a whole tangle of problems is formed, which, perhaps, it is too late to solve.

A well-thought-out migration policy involves a thorough study of a huge number of factors - from the job market to social issues. Now the migration flow is formed spontaneously and is determined rather by the arbitrariness of officials and policemen.

Spontaneous and massive foreign ethnic and cultural migration inevitably gives rise to the growth of xenophobic sentiments in society, rejection, violence, unwillingness of the natives to coexist in a single social space with "outsiders". On the other hand, the exclusion of migrants, the growth of violence and arbitrariness makes migrants isolate themselves. In this sense, a closed ethnic community is an ideal option for migrants: "Newcomers have learned to hate the police inwardly, but to praise it out loud. They know how to collectively defend themselves against nationalist raids. Soon, they will probably learn not to notice the pompous native Muscovites. " A similar community eliminates the need for socialization and leads directly to the formation of ethnic ghetto quarters (cf. Y. Harutyunyan's theses ). But the ghetto is a dead end path that can bring nothing but extremely negative consequences for the city. Almost all experts agree on this point of view (see, for example, A. Vishnevsky's interview ).

At the same time, the authors are aware that in modern conditions such measures as, for example, the dispersal of migrants in different districts of the capital in order to prevent the formation of a ghetto, are impossible. So far, the capital is saved by the fact that "Russian" Muscovites are hard to lift, and hostility towards "newcomers" is not so strong as to change the inhabited area for an apartment outside the Moscow Ring Road.

In fact, the only alternative to this process, according to the authors, is active socialization of migrants, turning them "into Russians in the broad sense of the word" . Moreover, this opportunity has not yet been lost: among the newcomers themselves there is a significant layer of people who are oriented towards adapting to the Moscow environment.

Sources

• Zheleznova Maria, Pismenny Evgenia, Ametov Alexey. Start and win // Russian Newsweek. 2005. August 15-21. pp. 15-20.