Muscovites and Newcomers: Strategies for Mutual Adaptation

Abstract

The article considers particularities of the social mechanisms of mutual adaptation of Muscovites and newcomers based on a series of interviews and focus groups conducted in Moscow. The author maintains the view that integration of the urban population cannot be solved by administration; it is necessary to understand the self-organization mechanisms that can be used to develop policies aimed at improving social institutions. The article emphasizes that a system of checks and balances that equalizes interethnic and, more broadly, intercultural contradictions in Moscow should harmonize the tasks of maintaining the cultural certainty of the urban society created by Muscovites with the plurality of needs introduced by newcomers. It is concluded that in order to overcome the excessive cultural fragmentation of urban society, the commonly accepted means of integration policy, such as education, tolerance training, support of cultural diversity and intercultural collaboration, are not enough. In addition to policy facilitating population contacts and the spontaneous hybridization of people’s notions, it is necessary to develop a civic culture that is a common heritage, rather than a specific feature of individual communities. Such an attitude minimizes the influence of the ethnic and confessional components of urban life, but does not suppress the multiculturalism of the urban population. The contradictory combination of values of rootedness that make it possible for a person to be like everyone else and cultural distinctiveness that allows one to be oneself helps to support confidence in society and reduces the risk of conflict situations.