Cultural memory of the migrants and accepting society in Russian and abroad: conflict dimension

Abstract

The goal of this article is the socio-philosophical conceptualization of memory conflicts in the migration society, as well as comparative analysis of the Russian and foreign contexts. Foreign experience was examined within the framework of the policy of assimilation and multiculturalism, as well as politics aimed at formation of transnational identities. The analysis of Russian context was conducted on the basis of determination and classification of conflictogenic factors, main parties of the conflicts, settlement strategies, and types of conflicts in the condition of internal and external migration challenges. The author leans on the constructivist approach, which suggests that perception of the past is predetermined and formed by sociocultural contexts and practices of memory and obscurity. In comparison with the foreign, Russian context demonstrates the prevalence of latent forms of conflict. Russia marks the formation of “parallel” memory communities, when the migrants and accepting society maintain a forced neutrality. If the foreign research indicate mostly status conflicts, in the Russian conditions, the migrants are oriented towards defensive type of memory conflicts. The oversea conflicts of memory mark the clash of modernism and traditionalism, while Russia demonstrated the clash of different versions of traditionalism.