INTERETHNIC RELATIONS AND MIGRATION SITUATION IN ALTAI TERRITORY BASED ON SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Abstract

Issues concerning interethnic relations in the Russian Federation as a multinational state, are relevant. They are especially important in the border regions of the country. Scientific analysis of ways and mechanisms of harmonization of interethnic relations is of great importance for maintaining the socio-political, economic stability of modern society, as well as social harmony in the region. The following indicators are considered: the specifics of national identity (the degree of closeness with people of the same nationality, the risk of dissolving into the culture of other peoples); changes in interethnic relations in the region over the past five years; access to public benefits for people of different nationalities (receiving guaranteed social, medical, educational services, chances of employment, developing their business, holding high positions in government); attitudes towards migrants and the migration situation in general (the region's residents' assessments of migrants living in the region, attitudes towards them, the need to attract them to the region and support them by the Russian government, possible measures to establish good neighborly relations between migrants and the local population, the role of national diasporas in harmonizing such relations, the impact of population migration on the situation in the region as a whole). The practical value of the study lies in the presentation of current assessments of residents of Altai krai about interethnic relations and the migration situation in the region. The empirical basis is the data from a sociological study implemented in the Altai krai (n = 400) by the research team of the Altai State University. The obtained data were analyzed using the methods of mathematical and statistical data processing (SPSS 23.0 statistical package). It is noted that people who have experienced the spread of infringement of rights due to nationality are more likely than others to be at risk of losing their nationality; in the absence of a sufficient number of chances to receive high-quality free education, medical care, social services; negative attitudes towards migrants. The regional situation in the sphere of interethnic relations is not acute and tense, however, regular monitoring, a set of measures aimed at establishing friendly relations between different nationalities, between migrants and the population in the Altai krai.