Slavic Diasporas of Southern Russia: Socio-cultural and International Factors of Reproduction of Identity

Andrei V Bedrik, Anton V Serik

Abstract

The present study analyses the reproduction of the Slavic diaspora communities in the two southern Russian regions of Rostov Region and Krasnodar Territory with the prevailing Russian population in the ethno demographic structure of the society. The state of socio-cultural reproduction of the ethnic identity of the Slavic diaspora groups in the region (Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Poles and Bulgarians) is determined by the nature of development of political processes in the post-Soviet environment and in the states of Eastern Europe. The worsening of the Russian-Ukrainian and Russian-Polish relations aggravates a stable assimilation trend in the processes of reproduction of the identity of representatives of the Ukrainian and Polish ethnic groups in the Southern Russia. This trend is accompanied by the spreading of new types of ethnic phobias in the region (for example, Ukrainophobia), which provokes the diaspora’s segmentation based on the loyalty of its representatives to the state of citizenship or the state of historical origin neutralizing the efforts of state authorities to preserve the existing palette of ethnic diversity in the region. The migration factor does not have a significant impact on the state of demographic reproduction of the Slavic diaspora groups in the region, but acts as an additional source of tension in the system of interethnic communications of the regional society. The basis for overcoming these negative trends is the expansion of dialogue between the state, national cultural associations and the media based on the rejection of ethnic markers in covering the domestic and international political agenda.

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