Russians in post-Soviet Central Asia: more ‘cold’ than the others? Exploring (ethnic) identity under different sociopolitical settings

Abstract

This paper explores the identity and the social/political behaviour of Russians in post-Soviet Central Asia through a comparison with the Baltic countries via a ‘hot and cold ethnicity’ paradigm. Central Asian Russians are more likely, ceteris paribus, to be found at the ‘cold’ end of the spectrum of ‘ethnic temperatures‘. The article starts with outlining the historical roots of a specific Russians' self-designation in the ‘imperial peripheries’ – that is, a lowered attachment to their ethnic group as compared with loyalties towards the state. However, patterns of imperial penetration into different territories of the former USSR (FSU) were different, and so were the sociopolitical conditions under which Russians have found themselves after the collapse of the FSU. Due to this, patterns of Russians’ self-designation turned out to be quite divergent: Central Asia represents a contrasting pattern in comparison with the Baltics. Subsequent parts of the paper contain a more detailed analysis of the reasons behind a relatively ‘cold’ ethnic stance of Russians in Central Asia. These reasons include the salience of sociocultural boundaries versus ethnic ones, the nature of local political regimes, the role of Russian language and culture, official and popular interpretation of the Soviet past and attitudes towards the present-day Russia.