Ethnocultural Research Articles

State Bastardisation And Terrorism In Nigeria: A Discourse

Abstract This paper seeks to unearth and analyse the variables which promote and sustain primordial groups’ identities and their linkages to the emergence and sustenance of terrorist groups in Nigeria. Grounded in the pluralist theory of sovereignty, the study adopts historical research design. It relies solely on data from secondary sources, which are presented qualitatively, and the finding is analysed using content analysis techniques. The study reveals that the promotion of primordial identities above national identity for political advantage by the political elites leads to state bastardisation in Nigeria. Besides, it identifies the apostolical promotion of some neoliberal values without corresponding citizenship education, as responsible for the emergence of Boko Haram and other such groups that challenge the sovereignty and legitimacy of the Nigerian state. It also questions the continuous promotion of religion in the public domain in a secular state and concludes that genuine integration policy is an urgent imperative. The study recommends that ethno-religious politics be buried; religion should be returned to the private lives of the citizenry. Besides, citizenship education and societal development should be prioritised in order to strengthen the state, and weaken the capacity of primordial groups to challenge the Nigerian State with violent outbursts.

ПРОБЛЕМА ЭТНОКУЛЬТУРНЫХ НЕРАВЕНСТВ ГЛАЗАМИ ДАГЕСТАНСКОЙ МОЛОДЕЖИ: СОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ

The article analyzes the perception of citizens of social inequality of ethnic and confessional groups and the impact of social differentiation of ethno-confessional groups on the integration of russian society. It presents a comparative sociological analysis of the state of ethno-religious rights of citizens in the minds of young people on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan and beyond. The author highlights the key problems of ethno-religious inequalities for Dagestan youth. The methodological basis of the study consists of the results of the author's sociological research conducted by the method of a continuous questionnaire survey. The paper also uses the methodology of discourse analysis of speeches and statements by political, public and religious figures, content analysis of the media.

Preventing Religious Conflict in Papua Land: Adopting Cultural Traditions of Peacebuilding

This article aims to explain why recent tensions between religious groups in Papua, Indonesia, did not develop into ethnoreligious conflicts such as those which broke out in Ambon and Poso. Such tensions are likely to occur because of the migration of Muslim ethnicities from elsewhere in Indonesia that leads to political, racial, religious, and economic divisions. Migrant populations are generally Malay, Muslim, and prosperous, while native Papuans are Melanesian, Christian, and impoverished. The Christian indigenous Papuans feel threatened by the influx of Muslim migrants. Based on Lederach’s concept of peace agents, we argue that the adoption of cultural mechanisms driving peace agencies is central to preventing ethnoreligious conflict. The curricula of local schools should include such local wisdom in order to reach all ethnoreligious groups.

Novoselitsa – “An Insignificant Barrier”

Abstract This article focuses on Russian Novoselitsa, a small town on the Russian-Austro-Hungarian-Romanian border, which served as the sole border crossing between Russian Bessarabia and Austrian Bukovina. From 1893 it was also an important railway junction between the two empires. Based on diplomatic documents from the Austrian State Archives, the article discusses Austrian officials’ views of ethnoreligious communities in the region, including Bessarabian Romanians, Jews, Russian Old Believers, and Ukrainians. It also examines the activity of the Austro-Hungarian Consular Agency in Russian Novoselitsa (1869–1914). The authors analyze the attitude of the Austrian officials towards ethnoreligious groups, informal practices on the border, and revolutionary unrest. The Novoselitsa case epitomizes the fundamental difference between the supranational Habsburg Empire and the nationalizing Romanov Empire, but also highlights the similarities between the two regimes. It illustrates the notions of “shatterzone of empires” (Bartov and Weitz 2013) and “thick borders”: Novoselitsa, a periphery with regard to both Vienna and St. Petersburg, was a relatively autonomous space and had its own forms of agency, which expanded much beyond the border itself on both sides of the frontier. Cases of corruption and espionage are especially revealing in regard to the uncertainty and confusion specific to the borderlands, which reigned as much at the center as on the periphery. This case study also provides an interesting perspective on everyday life, emphasizing the peculiarities of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchies, as well as the entanglements between the two entities.

REVISITING THE PROSPECT OF REVISION IN TURKISH SECONDARY SCHOOL HISTORY TEXTBOOKS: THE CASE OF THE ASSYRIAN DEBATE

ABSTRACT This article is based on the premise that the constructed image of the national self is a fundamental criterion shaping the conceptions of history teaching in the Turkish educational system. In this regard, I argue that examining how particular ethno-religious groups are discursively positioned in relation to the idealised self-image can reveal whether and how history textbooks can be revised. Having described the historical and political context for the only curriculum revision occurred in 2013 concerning a non-Muslim community, the Assyrians, the article demonstrates that specific discursive strategies are used to position the Assyrian community in relation to the favourable national self-image, rather than a fixed categorization for non-Muslim communities. Adopting the methodological framework of critical discourse analysis, the author examines the portrayal of the Assyrian community in the secondary school Turkish history textbooks taught over the last three decades and identifies how the topoi of justice and tolerance, as well as allegiance and betrayal allow a particular group to be a member of the larger body of ‘acceptable citizens.’

Diverse neighbors and post-conflict recovery at the village level: Evidence from Iraq after ISIL

Why do some towns recover faster than others after intrastate conflict? Many important decisions about post-conflict recovery are made at the substate level, but little empirical work has investigated what causes differences in recovery outcomes within a country. This article suggests that proximity to ethno-religiously diverse neighbors slows a town’s post-conflict recovery. A town has ‘diverse neighbors’ if towns with different plurality ethno-religious groups are nearby. This hypothesis is tested by exploring variation in recovery speed among Iraqi towns after the 2014–17 Islamic State insurgency (ISIL). The article constructs 81-month panels of economic activity for 379 Iraqi settlements occupied by ISIL by using satellite-observed nighttime light emissions as a proxy for economic activity. The panels reveal large variation in post-conflict recovery among towns during the first year of peace. Village-level survey data are then used to construct a measure of neighbor diversity, which is combined with lighting-based recovery scores in spatial autoregression. The results show that greater neighbor diversity is robustly associated with slower settlement recovery. The neighbor diversity penalty cannot be fully explained by cleavages between groups ‘on opposite sides’ of the conflict; proximity to out-group neighbors appears to slow recovery even between wartime allies. Several explanations are considered, and this article suggests that the types of post-liberation controllers that arise in diverse areas – which tend to be substate militias rather than the government – may be one important mechanism.

A Rusyn-American Life in Books: George Sabo in New York and Florida

ABSTRACT As the Soviet Union and its challenge to the West recede, we still have much to learn about the Slavic book trade and about the rise of the great Russian, East European, and Eurasian area studies collections in academic libraries in 20th-century North America. Who were the book dealers behind these collections, which still inform so much discovery and knowledge-making today? What can we learn about these personalities and their work? One such book dealer was George Sabo (1896–1983), who followed two brothers to Pittsburgh in 1913 but made his career in New York after 1920, first with a “steamship agency” for fellow immigrants. As a Carpatho-Rusyn from the Kingdom of Hungary, Sabo took his outlook and cultural capital from an ethno-religious group at the very center of the Slavic world and in remarkable symbiosis with nearly all its peoples, languages, identities, and states. Sabo’s native village (Orechová) became part of Czechoslovakia after World War I and his wife’s (Haidosh) part of the Soviet Union after World War II. Sabo’s Carpatho-Rusyn-ness equipped him well as a Slavic-American book dealer and enterprising New Yorker, and we can illuminate much of his life, family, network, surroundings, and career in the city and beyond from many kinds of sources.

Transformation of the “Soviet Ideology” in the Discursive Practices of the Russian Government

The article examines the trajectory of changes in the post-Soviet period in the ideological complex, which was called “Soviet ideology” in the “late” USSR. The theoretical and methodological frame work of the analysis consists of the theory of political regimes, as well as elements of the theory of ideologies and the theory of political discourse. The features and peculiarities of the “Soviet ideology” in the conditions of the “post-totalitarian” political regime in the “late” USSR, which led to its weakening and decline after the collapse of the Soviet regime, are investigated. Under the conditions of the post-Soviet political regime in Russia, the “Soviet ideology” disintegrated into an ideological component (the basis of the ideology of post-Soviet communist parties) and a political-cultural component (the pattern of post-Soviet political culture). Both components created a specific problem of relations with these phenomena for the ruling power. The study of the discourse of power on the subject of “Soviet ideology” (conducted mainly on the material of speeches and statements of the presidents of the Russian Federation) allowed us to identify three successive discursive strategies of such relations: the strategy of “struggle”, the strategy of “adaptation” and the strategy of “selective use”. The last of them was used in the 2010s in the conditions of consolidation of the authoritarian political regime. It made it possible to selective lyinclude the legacy of “Soviet ideology” in the ideological complex of the ruling regime, which is characterized by the use of not full-fledged political ideologies, but “identitarian narratives” that allow the inclusion of heterogeneous elements of ethno cultural, historical, religious, etc. traditions. Comparative studies also show that the orientation in the ideological sphere to such “identitarian narratives” is a characteristic trend of modern neo-autocracies.

Католические миссионеры на южных российских окраинах в первой половине XVIII в. (по документам Архива внешней политики Российской империи)

Introduction. The article concentrates on the religious policy of the Russian Empire in the Early Modern Time. For the first time in historiography, a study was carried out concerning the place of Catholic missionaries who settled on the southern outskirts of Russia, in the religious policy of Russian secular and spiritual authorities. Materials and methods. The base of the study was the correspondence of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs with the Holy Synod, as well as other institutions and officials, characterizing the scale of the presence and direction of activity of Catholic orders on the territory of Russia. The methodology of the study has been determined by the structural and functional approach to the system of state bodies of Russia. In combination with this approach, a historical-genetic method was used, which is optimal for understanding the evolution of the structure of power in the Russian Empire from the time of Peter the Greatto the middle of the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. The results of the research are presented in the section “Catholic missionaries in the south of Russia by the middle of the 18th century: political and diplomatic aspects”. In it, the Capuchin Order is designated as the most active force of Catholic missionary work in the Russian south, which managed to prevail over others Catholic orders in dispute for influencing on the ethno-confessional groups of the studied region. It has been determined that the Capuchins in Russia gained constant diplomatic support from the Austrian monarchy. The activity of missionaries in Astrakhan and Nizhyn was traced, the place of the Armenian communities in the missionary plans of the Capuchins on the territory of Russia is shown. The influence on the position of the Capuchins of Russian-Austrian relations is emphasized, in particular of the “Austrian system” — the orientation of Russian diplomacy towards the Austrian court. The idea is carried out that the attitude of the Russian authorities in the capital and in the localities towards the Capuchins in such conditions was indifferent or patronizing, while in fact the Russian secular authorities did not take into account the violation of the prerogatives of the ruling Orthodox (Greek-Russian) church. In order of discussion (part “Missionaries in the Russian Borderlands: source study andhistoriographical observations” of the abovementioned section of the article), the main interpretations of Catholic missionaryism, found in the literature on Catholicism in Russia, have been identified. Conclusion. The author states that the reasons for the interest of Catholic missionaries to the southern Russian outskirts and their population were objective. The reaction of the Russian secular authorities to such an interest was little, and their awareness of the legal necessity of appropriate regulatory measures developed slowly.

A CONSTRUCTIVIST ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF INDIA’S DOMESTIC IDENTITIES ON ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICIES TOWARDS SOUTH ASIA

Domestic factors especially national identities of a Nation State influence its foreign policy by distinguishing that country’s perception of “self” from that of “others”. By employing the case study of India, this paper assesses the way India perceives its national identities and the resultant effects on its foreign policies towards South Asia. The paper assesses that in India, its peculiar political construct superimposed by British colonizers and multiple ethno-religious groups stacked together under a Hindutva-inspired political system serve as an aberration from the evolution of indexical “self” of different nationalities in that country. Accordingly, India’s national identity formation is premised on “exclusion” and it attempts to overcome this challenge through externalization of its internal problems towards neighbourhood.

Indian-Pakistani Border: Historical Development and Contemporary Principles of Reconciling Contradictions

The article is devoted to the study of the issue of the historical foundations of the existing border conflicts between India and Pakistan and the latest efforts of these two states and the international community in relation of resolving them. The roots of the existing Indian-Pakistani border conflicts go back to the time when India was a part of British colonial empire. To a decisive extent, such conflicts were a consequence of the British authority’s policy, which, in an effort to weaken the liberation movement in India, incited enmity between the largest ethno-religious groups of the population – Hindus and Muslims. This policy eventually led to the formation of two separate neighboring states – India and Pakistan, and these countries inherited numerous border conflicts. The largest among them is Kashmir, due to the gap of this territory between India and Pakistan. For several decades, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, had a special status and broad autonomy.However, the Indian government, headed by N. Modi, eliminated this special status by removing this article from the country’s constitution in August 2019.
 Over the past year, under the influence of serious geopolitical changes in the Indo-Pacific region and South Asia, the government of N. Modi initiated a return to the consideration of the status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, and also seeks to develop an updated format for his stay in India. On June 25, 2021 the prime minister of India held an important meeting with a group of prominent politicians from Kashmir, which was the first public event by the Indian government after the liquidation of the Kashmir autonomy. During the meeting, a number of issues were discussed about the preparation for the future elections in the region. N. Modi described the meeting as “an important step towards increasing efforts in the development and progress of the territory of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Children's outgroup giving in settings of intergroup conflict: The developmental role of ingroup symbol preference.

Understanding when children develop a sense of group boundaries has implications for conflict and its resolution. Integrating social identity development theory and the developmental peace-building model, we investigated whether preferences for ethno-religious ingroup symbols mediate the link from child age to outgroup prosocial giving among 5- to 11-year-old children from both majority and minority backgrounds in three settings of protracted intergroup conflict (N = 713, M = 7.97, SD = 1.52, 52.6% female). Participants represented the conflict rival ethno-religious groups in each setting (Northern Ireland [n = 299]: 48.5% Protestant, 51.5% Catholic; Kosovo [n = 220]: 54.1% Albanian, 45.9% Serbian; Republic of North Macedonia [RNM; n = 194]: 45.9% Macedonian, 54.1% Albanian) and were largely from lower- to middle-class families; 4% of participants from other ethnic backgrounds were excluded from the current analyses. Multiple-group, bias-corrected bootstrapped mediation found that ingroup symbol preference mediated the link from child age to outgroup prosocial giving; that is, older children expressed higher ingroup symbol preference, which was linked with lower outgroup giving. Across Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and the RNM, there was some significant variation in the strength of specific paths; however, there was a significant indirect effect in all three settings. The findings advance cross-cultural understanding of how age relates to ingroup symbol preferences and outgroup prosocial giving across the elementary school years, with implications for children's long-term peace-building contributions in three conflict-affected societies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Cultural Responses to Covid-19 Pandemic: Religions, Illness Perception, and Perceived Stress.

Many psychological researchers have proven the deteriorating effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic on public mental health. In Malaysia, various Covid-19 clusters were associated with religious gatherings. From a cultural psychology perspective, how ethno-religious groups respond to this crisis originating from their unique rationality and ecological systems. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the illness perceptions of major religious groups (Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist) in Malaysia toward the Covid-19 pandemic, their stress levels, and the relationship between illness perception, stress, and forms of religious expression during the lockdown period. Through an online survey method, 608 Malaysian religious believers were included in this mixed-method empirical study, which adapted standardized instruments [Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)]. Statistical analysis showed that all three groups reported moderate levels of stress in average without any significant difference after controlling for age. Both internal and external forms of religious expression had a significant negative relationship with stress levels. Personal control, comprehension, and emotions domains of illness perception accounted for a significant variance in the stress level. Furthermore, religious expression significantly moderated the relationship between some illness perception domains and stress. Qualitative coding revealed that most participants perceived human behavior and attitudes, sociopolitical, and sociological factors as causal factors to the current pandemic. These findings confirmed the relationship between religious expression, illness belief, and stress regulation during the pandemic lockdown. Incidental findings of age as a potential protective factor for Malaysian believers warrants further study. In the conclusion, implications for public health policymakers and religious communities on pandemic prevention and well-being promotion were discussed.

De-extremization Effort through Political Re-education Camps In China

The rise of Islamic extremism has prompted global Islamophobia and general hatred for Muslims, which is felt towards both the religion itself and ethno-religious groups such as the one present in China. The spread and acts of Islamic extremism in China might surprise the global community but the concerning level of threat on the issue affected domestic security policies. In explaining the case study, the qualitative research uses a combination of descriptive and explanatory approaches while simultaneously merging the three constructivist theory approaches from notable scholars such as Alexander Wendt, Martha Finnemore and Peter Katzenstein. The research concludes that while there may be variations of methods to combat Islamic extremism, the implementation of political re-education camp for the Uyghurs seems to be the best and most effective method in both de-extremizing the minority group from potential Islamic extremist ideology and enforcing the Chinese government’s interests. Justifications of the choice include the constructivist aspects of the international norms, repetition of historical and existing trajectories as well as the successful rate of cleansing troubled and infected people from negative ideologies based on the Chinese societal norms.

Restrained eating in Lebanese adolescents: scale validation and correlates

BackgroundRestrained eating disorder is prevalent worldwide across both ethnic and different cultural groups, and most importantly within the adolescent population. Additionally, comorbidities of restrained eating present a large burden on both physical and mental health of individuals. Moreover, literature is relatively scarce in Arab countries regarding eating disorders, let alone restrained eating, and among adolescent populations; hence, the aim of this study was to (1) validate the Dutch Restrained Eating Scale in a sample of Lebanese adolescents and (2) assess factors correlated with restrained eating (RE), while taking body dissatisfaction as a moderator between body mass index (BMI) and RE.MethodsThis cross-sectional study, conducted between May and June 2020 during the lockdown period imposed by the Lebanese government, included 555 adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years from all Lebanese governorates (mean age of 16.66 ± 1.00 years). The scales used were: Dutch Restrained Eating Scale, body dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory-Second version, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Beirut Distress Scale (for psychological distress), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and Patient Health Questionnaire (for depression).ResultsThe Confirmatory factor analysis results were obtained as follows: χ2/df = 159.88/35= 4.57, CFI= 0.96, TLI= 0.95, RMSEA = 0.08 [0.068-0.093]. Female gender (B=0.19), higher BMI (B=0.49), higher physical activity index (B=0.17), following a diet to lose weight (B=0.26), starving oneself to lose weight (B=0.13), more body dissatisfaction (B=1.09), higher stress (B=0.18) were significantly associated with more restrained eating, whereas taking medications to lose weight (B=-0.10) was significantly associated with less restrained eating. The interaction BMI by body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with restrained eating; in the group with low BMI, high body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with more restrained eating. The factor analysis yielded a one-factor solution with Eigen values > 1 (variance explained = 59.65 %; αCronbach = 0.924). Female gender (B = 0.19), higher BMI (B = 0.49), higher physical activity index (B = 0.17), following a diet to lose weight (B = 0.26), starving oneself to lose weight (B = 0.13), more body dissatisfaction (B = 1.09), and higher stress (B = 0.18) were significantly associated with more RE, whereas taking medications to lose weight (B=-0.10) was significantly associated with less RE. The interaction body mass index (BMI) by body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with RE; in the group with low BMI, higher body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with more RE.ConclusionsOur study showed that the Dutch Restrained Eating scale is an adapted and validated tool to be used among Lebanese adolescents and revealed factors associated with restrained eating in this population. Since restrained eating has been associated with many clinically-diagnosed eating disorders, the results of this study might serve as a first step towards the development of prevention strategies targeted towards promoting a healthy lifestyle in Lebanese adolescents.

The City Lament: Jerusalem Across the Medieval Mediterranean

The City Lament: Jerusalem Across the Medieval Mediterranean

Children's Peritraumatic Responses During Sexual Abuse Incidents: Exploring the Narratives of Children From Different Ethnoreligious Groups in Israel.

The peritraumatic response of children during incidents of child sexual abuse (CSA) is a neglected construct in the literature. Despite the widespread use of the fight-flight-freeze model, recent studies have shown that in the unique context of child abuse, additional peritraumatic responses could be relevant. The current mixed-methods study examined children's peritraumatic responses to CSA. The sample consisted of 249 forensic interviews with children aged from 4 to 13 years. An initial qualitative analysis resulted in identifying various ways in which the children responded to the abuse, the children's decision-making around these responses, as well their perceptions of their response. This analysis was followed by quantitative analyses, which explored the frequency of these peritraumatic responses and their correlation with the characteristics of the children and abuse. Six peritraumatic response categories were identified, the most common being fight, flight, and fear. Only ethnoreligious identity was significantly correlated with the fight-or-flight response, with a significantly lower frequency among Muslim and ultra-Orthodox Jewish children. Frequency of abuse and perpetrator familiarity were correlated with the frequency of the fight-or-flight response, indicating that the latter was less relevant in reoccurring incidents of abuse and with perpetrators who were family members. The findings promote the conceptualization of children's peritraumatic responses during incidents of abuse and the realization of the crucial role of children's ecological systems in their peritraumatic responses to incidents of abuse.

Religiosity and Mental Wellbeing Among Members of Majority and Minority Religions: Findings From Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study.

It is unclear whether links between religiosity and mental health are found in contexts outside the United States or are causal. We examined differences in mental wellbeing and associations between mental wellbeing and religiosity among the religiously unaffiliated, White and non-White Christians, Muslims of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and other ethnicities, and other minority ethnoreligious groups. We used 4 waves of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009–2013; n = 50,922). We adjusted for potential confounders (including socioeconomic factors and personality) and for household fixed effects to account for household-level unobserved confounding factors. Compared with those with no religious affiliation, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims and members of other minority religions had worse wellbeing (as measured using the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and General Health Questionnaire). Higher subjective importance of religion was associated with lower wellbeing according to the General Health Questionnaire; associations were not found with the Shortened Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. More frequent religious service attendance was associated with higher wellbeing; effect sizes were larger for those with religious affiliations. These associations were only partially attenuated by adjustment for potential confounding factors, including household fixed effects. Religious service attendance and/or its secular alternatives may have a role in improving population-wide mental wellbeing.

Ethnic Capital and Class Reproduction: Comparing the Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Children's Educational Attainment Across Ethno-Religious Groups in Israel

This article investigates the relationships between ethnicity, class, and prospects of educational success. For this purpose, we compared the effects of family socio-economic characteristics on children's educational attainment in four ethno-religious groups in Israel (Muslim, Christian, and Druze Palestinians; Jews). Information from the 1995 census on the households with at least one child born in the cohort of 1975-1985 is matched with Ministry of Education records on all those who achieved matriculation certificates and academic degrees between 1995 and 2012. The results show that the educational outcomes of Christian and Druze children are less dependent on their family characteristics compared to Muslim and Jewish children. We suggest that the disadvantage of Palestinian schools in a Jewish-dominated state is offset by the tougher competition Jewish children from disadvantaged strata face in schools attended by those from affluent strata. Family background is more important for academic degrees than for the matriculation certificate. Furthermore, the education and occupation of mothers and fathers both have an equally important impact on child outcomes.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНЕ ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ МОВЛЕННЄВОЇ ГОТОВНОСТІ ДО ШКОЛИ ДІТЕЙ СТАРШОГО ДОШКІЛЬНОГО ВІКУ З ПОРУШЕННЯМИ ЗОРУ

In scientific work, the theoretical analysis on the problem of studying the speech readiness of preschool children with visual impairments is considered. The purpose of the study is a theoretical study of speech readiness for the schooling of preschool children with visual impairments. Objectives of the studyare: to highlight the theoretical analysis of the scientific literature, both classical and modern research, on the problem of study domestic and foreign scientists who cover the problem of speech readiness of older preschool children with visual impairments; study of the influence of visual impairments on the peculiarities of speech development and speech readiness for school of older preschool children. Research methods in our work are the use of scientific experimental and methodological sources in special pedagogy and psychology. As a result of scientific and theoretical research it was determined that depending on the specifics of disorders visuals (blind − complete lack of visual sensation, with reduced vision − impaired perception of color, light), speech development in children with visual impairments has its own characteristics. This also affects speech readiness for school children with visual impairments. Medical influence, educational and corrective work can bring this category of children closer to typical development. It has been established that children with visual impairments (blind and visually impaired) have a specific perception of the world around them. Compensatory capabilities are provided by a preserved analytical system (hearing, tactile sensation, etc.). There is a violation of the substantive, effective correlation with the meaning of the word; communicative speech suffers. Speech readiness for the schooling of each category of children depends on specially selected educational and correctional programs. The basis of speech readiness is considered to be the formation in children of all components of speech phonemic, phonetic, lexical, understanding the meaning of words, enriched vocabulary, grammatical, discursive, socio-cultural, ethno cultural. Key words: speech readiness, children of senior preschool age, visual impairment