Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education

7.13. Multiculturalism in Russia

Multiculturalism is the manifestation of the existence, autonomy and survival of different cultures by preserving their national identity and traditions. In many respects the existence of different cultures may be a natural occurrence in every state founded on a political and ethnic basis, but the political situation causes different interpretations of multiculturalism in different countries.

Europe and Russia are, of course, regions where many ethnic groups, cultures and traditions exist. Nevertheless, in the historic sense Russian multiculturalism can be considered in terms of the European Jews living in the European countries and preserving their religion, language, customs and alphabet.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia welcomed a large number of migrants, many of whom intended to settle permanently there. But the cultural distance between people of the post-Soviet countries is much smaller than between the people of French Africa and the Arab East, for example. The historical tradition of intercultural existence (even with elements of assimilation) has stretched since the conquering of the Turkic states along the Volga

₄₆₂ in the 16th century. Long-term coexistence within the framework

of a unified political structure, a unified system of education and upbringing led to a rapprochement in psychological values, especially among the older generations.

Approximately, half of the migrants are from the younger generation who came to Russia after the collapse of the USSR. For this reason, it seems that the cultural and ethnic diversity of modern Russia will grow stronger. Nevertheless, it cannot yet be said with certainty that closed ethnocultural societies, which live in accordance with their own laws, not those of their host society, have formed in the territory of the Russian Federation. All the ethnocultural societies within Russia adhere to the existing legislation (even quite closed social groups of labour migrants from China and Central Asia, cultures alien to Russian civilization). At the same time, it should be noted that the vast majority of migrants to Russia come from Central Asia. As a state, since the 16th century Russia has long historical experience of coexistence with peoples of the Islamic civilization living in the territory. In addition, the mood of xenophobia in Russian society should be mentioned. This can be linked to the preservation of a homogenous cultural and civic model in Russia and the growing number of migrants.

Is there multiculturalism in Russia? It is accepted that the term is not so appropriate to Russian society. Russia has never been a mono-ethnic state. Russia was initially formed as an imperial-type state which united the members of different nations, ethnic groups, cultures and religions under its rule. Over the centuries, united with the Orthodox religion and recognizing its role in the state, a polyethnic elite formed in the Russian state.

During the Soviet era the idea of internationalism existed in public life in Russia. The mutual interaction and intermingling of national cultures and customs led to the creation of a unified education system and upbringing with equal rights for all the

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nations in the Soviet Union. In this sense, the collapse of the USSR did not cause any significant changes at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. Education in Russia is secular and, therefore, the religious affiliation of students in higher education, except for the religious universities, is not important for their education. The principle of tolerance in education creates every opportunity for every nation, even when they are in conflict with each other. It should be noted that migration to Russia is relatively specific in comparison with the Western countries. This situation in Russia is still attributable to other post-Soviet countries. The cultural distance between migrants and the main population of the host country is much less than in the Western countries and the United States. The unified education system, which existed in the territory of the former USSR for more than half a century, covering several generations, practically created a single language, which helps communications among the nations and has led to commonality in the knowledge system.

Besides, the highly mobile nature of the population of the former Soviet republics means that present-day migrants have a high level of social competence. The social communication skills gained by these people during the Soviet era give them the opportunity to act economically and commercially within the former USSR countries. In other words, their ability to adapt, and hence, their ability to integrate is unmatched among the Asian and African migrants who want to live in North America and Western Europe.

More than half a million migrants have already gained Russian citizenship. Large Russian cities are reminiscent of major Western cities from the point of view of ethnicity, language, faith and lifestyle. Undoubtedly, the cultural diversity of the Russian population will only increase under the impact of migration. In this situation, retaining a monocultural model means to be deaf and blind to the present reality.

Of course, there is aggression and xenophobia in Russia towards people from other nations and religions. But the higher education system here is far from any form of aggression, and the education of students does not depend on their national affiliation and religious beliefs, but directly on their interests in education and learning. The historically established education system allows young people easily to become accustomed to the Russian educational environment and to get a comprehensive education. For this reason, we can talk about diversity and mutual tolerance within the contemporary education system in Russia, but not multiculturalism.

At the same time, it is necessary to note that there are actually two types of multiculturalism in Russia: the traditional multiculturalism based on the historical existence of ethnic groups and cultures in a single space and the newly emerging migratory multiculturalism, where substantial numbers of the population create a different environment from the point of view of ethnicity and culture. These new migrants remain socially isolated. However, unlike European countries, the new type of multiculturalism does not predominate in Russia, although it does bear the risk of stoking xenophobia. Ethnic groups and cultures exist in Russia in conditions of traditional multiculturalism, but the Russian political elite and media prefer not to use this term.

Another branch of the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre opened on 10 March 2016, in Moscow, capital of the Russian Federation, under the aegis of the Russian State Duma. The executive director of the Moscow branch is Professor Natalia Krasovskaya. Another branch in the Russian Federation was established at the Boris Yeltsin Ural Federal University and is led by the University’s Professor Alexander Nesterov. Azerbaijani multiculturalism is taught as a subject at this university.

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