MIGRANTS AND THE CITY: IMAGES, PRACTICES AND

STRATEGIES OF ADAPTATION

Iraida Nam,

Vitaliy Kashpur,

Irina Popravko

NATIONAL RESEARCH TOMSK STATE UNIVERSITY

Project “Man in a Changing World. Problems of Identity and Social Adaptation in History and at Present” (the RF Government grant No. 14.B25.31.0009)

Migrants and the city: images, practices, and strategies of adaptation

The research project involves the following elements:

The study of opinions of the local population on the issue of migration and of its attitude towards migrants;

The study of opinions of labour migrants about the living conditions in Siberian regions, and of their biographies and life plans;

The study of everyday practices of migrants in host cities;

The collection of expert assessments of the state of things and problems of migration representing various attitudes and opinions of stakeholders involved;

The development of recommendations for the improvement of the regional program for optimization of migration processes and integration of migrants in the Russian society through the example of the Tomsk region.

The attitude of city dwellers towards labour migrants

The report presents results of the study of relationship of Tomsk residents towards migrants carried out along the three research lines: Do residents of Tomsk consider the presence of

migrants in the city as pressing issue? What does the cognitive component of that

relationship include? What does the behavioral component of that

relationship include?

The attitude of city dwellers towards labour migrants

Ethnicity

Russians – 91%

Other groups – 9%

Religion

1%

75%

1%2%

16%

1%4%

Католик

Православный

Буддист

Мусульманин

Неверующий, атеист

Иудей

Другое (напишите, какое)

Затрудняюсь ответить

Do residents of Tomsk consider the presence of migrants in the city as

pressing issue?The results produced show that Tomsk residents believe there are many migrants present in the city and the reasons for hiring them are cheap labor services they offer as well as possibility of illegal employment and lower demands in terms of labor conditions. The residents do not see migrants as their competitors in the labor market.

What does the cognitive component of that relationship

include? Central Asia: Uzbeks (57%), Tadjiks (35%), and Kyrgyz (14%).

Other notable groups of migrants include Azerbaijanis (18%) Chinese (11%).

The main areas of employment of migrants are:

construction works – 74%,

finishing and repair works – 46%,

road works – 28%, and retail trade – 23%.

What does the behavioral component of that relationship include?

Answers to the question: “Do you think Tomsk is able to do without labour migrants?”

Certa inly yes42%

Rather yes than no24%

Rather no than yes17%

Certa inly no9%

It i s hard for me to answer

8%

What does the behavioral component of that relationship include?

Answers to the question: “Do you think migrant labour should be used more or less in the region of Tomsk?”

Migrant labour should be used more

4%

Migrant labour should be used less

60%

It i s hard for me to answer

36%

What does the behavioral component of that relationship include?

Tomsk residents demonstrate tolerance towards migrants meaning tolerate relations to “the other” only if there is a certain social distance present (migrants may be friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens).

Thank you for your attention!