Interethnic Contact Research Articles

People in contact, languages in contact. A multi-group analysis of the effects of interethnic contact on acculturation attitudes

ABSTRACT The present study aims to enhance previous knowledge on the role of interethnic contact as a tool to improve the linguistic integration of immigrants in bilingual receiving societies. We examined the effect of interethnic contact on natives’ support for immigrants’ language maintenance as well as on immigrants’ attitudes towards natives’ languages (in addition to L1 identification). The study was conducted in western Catalonia (Lleida), a region with a delicate sociolinguistic situation where two official languages coexist with several immigrant languages. Using a sample of 549 high school students, we carried out a series of regression analyses to estimate the average effect of interethnic contact and the relative importance of the different types of contact. The results obtained show a clear positive impact of interethnic contact on the integrative acculturation of immigrants: it enhances natives’ support for immigrants’ language maintenance, while also improving immigrants’ attitudes towards the natives’ languages (with no subtractive language effect). However, interethnic contact does not seem to help when the social status of the immigrant group is low. Implications for multilingual development in ethnically diverse societies are discussed.

Daily agreeableness and acculturation processes in ethnic/racial minority freshmen: The role of inter-ethnic contact and perceived discrimination.

Having higher levels of mainstream cultural orientation (MCO), an important component of acculturation attitudes and behaviors,is beneficial for ethnic/racial minority students during the transitions into university. Scant research has investigated MCO at a micro daily timescale. This study examined how personality (agreeableness) functions in conjunction with interpersonal processes (inter-ethnic contact and perceived discrimination) to influence MCO as daily within-person processes. Multi-level structural equation modeling were used to analyze month-long daily diary data from 209 ethnic/racial minority freshmen (69% female). There was a positive indirect association between agreeableness and MCO through inter-ethnic contact at both within- and between-person levels. At the within-person level, on days with lower (vs. higher) levels of ethnic/racial discrimination, higher levels of agreeableness were associated with higher levels of MCO. These findings highlight the contributions of intensive longitudinal data in elucidating ethnic/racial minority students' personality and acculturation processes in daily life involving protective and risk factors on micro timescales.

Калмыцко-казахские отношения в период откочевки калмыков из России в Китай в 1771 г.

Introduction. The history of eighteenth-century Kalmyk-Kazakh relations needs further detailed insights with the aid of newly discovered (and to be discovered) archival files. The turbulent interethnic contacts were integral to political challenges that were to be faced and solved by the Russian government. Goals. The article analyzes some newly discovered (introduced) archival material and attempts a comprehensive account of Kalmyk-Kazakh relations during the Dusty Migration of 1771. Materials. The work focuses on available files stored at the National Archive of Kalmykia, Historical Archive of Omsk Oblast, and messages contained in published document collections. Results. The study provides a quite detailed chronology of events characterizing Kalmyk-Kazakh relations throughout the mentioned campaign, which shall definitely prove instrumental in conducting further academic insights into the issue. Conclusions. The fact Kalmyks had raided livestock of the Junior Jüz Kazakhs in early 1770 did complicate Kalmyk-Kazakh relations on the eve of the Kalmyk Exodus. Khan Nuraly of the Junior Jüz was warning Russian authorities of the Kalmyks’ preparatory activities but his messages were never given serious attention to. Ubashi’s attempts to negotiate with Khan Nuraly ended in a failure since the latter was upholding a pro-Russian position and insisted that the Kalmyks should be immediately driven back into government-controlled lands. However, separate negotiations between Ablai and Ubashi proved more successful, and resulted in that Kalmyks did break through the Kazakh blockade towards China’s borders. The event aggravated the then split within Kazakh political elites, and the latter were never able to well and truly join efforts after the Dusty Migration.

Examining beliefs about reconciliation and social integration in Kosovo: Testing effects of interethnic contact and differences in perspective among ethnic Albanians and Serbs

AbstractAcross two studies, this research examined belief that reconciliation is necessary, belief that reconciliation is possible and belief in the value of social integration and willingness to integrate socially among Kosovar Albanians and Kosovar Serbs. Study 1 assessed these beliefs through a general population survey distributed via social media, whereas Study 2 assessed them before and after Kosovar youth participated in a program encouraging cross‐ethnic contact. Results show that these beliefs are modestly correlated and they show significant differences across ethnic groups. As the ethnic minority in Kosovo, Serbs are less likely to believe that reconciliation is possible and less willing to integrate socially than Kosovar Albanians. Moreover, across both studies, contact experience is a significant predictor of reconciliation beliefs regardless of ethnicity. Study 2 revealed that Kosovar youth can become more likely to believe that reconciliation is possible and social integration is valuable through participating in a cross‐ethnic contact program.

The causal effect of ethnic diversity on support for redistribution and the role of discrimination

AbstractWe review the literature that investigates the causal effect of ethnic diversity on support for redistribution. The results indicate that ethnic diversity or an increase in the salience of ethnic minorities tends to reduce support for redistribution. Evidence is presented that this finding can be interpreted as an outcome of ethnic discrimination. Nonetheless, there is substantial heterogeneity, such that the effect of ethnic diversity on support for redistribution depends on the specific context. An important moderator of the effect is whether ethnic diversity is accompanied by interethnic contact.

Do principals discriminate against school parents less when having close minority colleagues? A field experiment

ABSTRACT Interethnic contacts are generally assumed to reduce discrimination and prejudice. According to this optimistic view – and in conflict with Allport’s well-known theory – contacts have positive effects even when they are rather distant. However, findings of recent experimental field research indirectly cast doubt on this belief. To our knowledge, this is the first field experiment thoroughly investigating close as well as more distant contacts simultaneously. In a correspondence study (n = 3015), Swedish elementary school principals were randomly contacted by fictional parents with Arabic- or Swedish-sounding names asking school-related questions. The unique design also used registry data (e.g., on ethnicity). The results support Allport’s more pessimistic view: working closely with minority members of school management was associated with lower levels of ethnic discrimination regarding important qualitative aspects of the principals’ communication with the school parents, but no such pattern was observed for more distant workplace contacts with minority teachers.

Этнографические материалы о татарах в полевых дневниках Р.Г. Кузеева

The article is devoted to the identification of information about the Tatars in the field diaries of ethnographic expeditions of 1953-1982 by the outstanding Bashkir ethnographer R.G. Kuzeev. The main method of research is comparative historical analysis and systematization of the collected sources. It was established that the materials were collected by scientists in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan regions at the specified time. Although the main purpose of the expeditions was to study the tribal structure of the Bashkirs, along the way R.G. Kuzeev recorded information on other ethnic groups, including Tatars. The field records of the scientist contain information about the history and ethnography of the Tatars in general, their ethnographic groups – in particular, namely the Kazan Tatars, Mishars and Teptyars. According to the informants, possible places of exodus of Tatars, interethnic contacts with Bashkirs, a complex structure (the presence of ethnic divisions), multiplicity and dynamics of ethnic identity are indicated. The process of Bashkirization of Tatars and Tatarization of Bashkirs in the zones of active ethnic contacts is described. The materials on the formation of the ethnocultural community of Bashkirs and Tatars as a result of joint settlement, economic activity, interethnic marriages are presented. Information about the Tatars contained in the field diaries of R.G. Kuzeeva give the opportunity to use them in the study of the mechanisms of formation of common and preservation of traditional cultures.

Nigerian migrants, daily life domains and bordering processes in the city of Guangzhou

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how interrelated processes of bordering – i.e. delimitation, interface and affirmation – work out in domains of Nigerian migrants’ daily life in Guangzhou. The results reveal that migrants make use of marketplaces as interface platforms for economic exchange and cooperation with Chinese entrepreneurs, yet within a highly delimited playing field and with affirmation of cultural differences. They find residence in the city, with opportunities delimited by state and city laws. In neighborhoods, they find their stigmatization affirmed and lack inter-ethnic interface. Migrants also create underground churches, yet delimited into remaining invisible in the urban landscape. In churches, migrants affirm their identity and community but have limited inter-ethnic interface. The paper pinpoints fierce segregative and exclusionary outcomes for Nigerian migrants but they also persevere and gain agency in becoming a successful entrepreneur through instrumental inter-ethnic contact. Moreover, through non-instrumental intra-ethnic contact, they negotiate a sense of belonging in the city.

The Ethnic Factor in the Activities of African Political Parties

The article summarizes the characteristics of the active influence of the ethnic factor on political processes in some African countries, where this phenomenon is among the most difficult to solve intra-national problems. The reasons for its persistence include state borders artificially created in colonial times without considering the interests of ethnic groups living in specific territories and inequal opportunities for the representatives of large and small ethnic groups to participate in the socio-political and other spheres of life of African states. Examples of the formation of power structures based on the belonging of statesmen to a certain ethnic group are given in the paper. The authors draw attention to the fact that ethnic ties often permeate all social relations, especially clearly manifested in state administration and the activities of opposition structures, as well as playing an important role in the life of the army. To date, there are long-established mutual negative perceptions and stereotypes in interethnic contacts, which make it extremely difficult for representatives of different ethnic groups to have a dialogue. In addition, traditional relations, which are primarily based on ethnicity, do not fit well into the framework of Western socio-political standards. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing general instability in the majority of multi-ethnic states of the African continent, leading to the aggravation of long-standing problems of the socio-political spectrum. The authors conclude that the role of ethnic ties in the formation and activity of political structures in different regions of Africa is currently very significant.

Beyond appreciation and rejection: reactions of Europeans without a migration background to being an ethnic minority

ABSTRACT Previous research concerned with the reactions of ethnic majority members to becoming a minority has often portrayed these responses as being polarised. On the one side, there is a group which supports ethnic diversity, on the other side, a group which rejects ethnic diversity. But our data shows that the reactions to ethnic diversity are more nuanced. This research has developed an empirically grounded typology of reaction patterns to being an ethnic minority through a k-means cluster analysis. When operationalised as appreciation of ethnic diversity and inter-ethnic contact, five distinct reactions emerged in the sample: (i) segregated sceptics (low appreciation of diversity with little inter-ethnic contact), (ii) integrated enthusiasts (high appreciation of diversity with a lot of inter-ethnic contact), (iii) integrated sceptics (low appreciation of diversity with a lot of interethnic contact), (iv) moderates (moderate appreciation and moderate inter-ethnic contact) and (v) segregated enthusiasts (high appreciation of diversity with little inter-ethnic contact). This article further explains why some people without a migration background are more open towards embracing majority-minority developments than others by scrutinising the role of socio-economic status, previous exposure to diversity and feeling like a minority.

REFLECTION OF FOREIGN CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN THE FOLKLORE AND LANGUAGES OF THE PEOPLES OF DAGESTAN

The article examines the influence of the Russian language and culture on the folklore and language of the peoples of Dagestan. It is noted that with the direct participation of otkhodniks at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of neologisms increases in the folklore and lexical composition of the Dagestan languages. This is explained by the fact that the dynamics of the phenomena of everyday life of otkhodniks of that period was associated with the city. The purpose of the study is to show the foreign cultural, urban, exotic influences reflected in the oral and poetic creativity, the languages of Dagestan. The authors made an attempt to identify the role of intercultural communication in these processes. Most clearly, other cultural, urban motifs are manifested in folklore, namely, in oral stories and non-ritual lyrics (songs about otkhodnichestvo). The otkhozhny trade has become widespread among a number of Dagestan peoples (Dargins, Lezgins, Laks and Tabasarans). Borrowed words and expressions found in folklore texts make it possible to trace the processes of interethnic contacts and intercultural communications of that era. Folklore and linguistic picture of the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. become a mirror of such communications. In general, the topic did not become the object of a special study. The issue of borrowing Russianisms is considered in monographs devoted to the branch vocabulary of the Dagestan languages, in articles on folklore.

Freely-chosen positive intergroup imagery causes improved outgroup emotions and encourages increased contact seeking immediately and at follow-up

In two ethnic contexts, we focus on volitional imagined contact as a potential method to increase individuals’ readiness to voluntarily initiate intergroup contact and engage in responses with implications for reconciliation. In Study 1, we used a quasi-experimental design to determine the causal role of volitional (vs. non-volitional) valenced imagined contact with a refugee on downstream processes. Irrespective of volition, positive visualizations led to more positive outgroup emotions, action tendencies, and contact seeking; however, manipulated volition amplified the differential impact of valenced contact on outgroup emotions: negative contact was more detrimental when freely chosen, than forced, whereas positive contact was equally beneficial irrespective of volition. Study 2 investigated factors driving individuals’ choices for positive (vs. negative) imagined contact in conflict-laden Cyprus and assessed immediate and longer-term consequences of such choices for interethnic contact seeking. In both studies, participants chose to engage in imagined contact of a valence that aligned with their prior contact histories consistent with an evaluative fit mechanism. Volitional valenced imagery predicted participants’ active and self-initiated contact seeking immediately and after a 2-week period. Hence, volitional intergroup imagery as a “mental contact script” prepares individuals for actual intergroup contact and behaviors with implications for intergroup reconciliation and cohesion.

Elite Responses to Ethnic Diversity and Interethnic Contact

Elite Responses to Ethnic Diversity and Interethnic Contact

Inter-ethnic Contact, Perceived Threat and Support for Cultural Maintenance. a Multi-Group, Multiple Indicators Analysis of Catalan Adolescents

Inter-ethnic Contact, Perceived Threat and Support for Cultural Maintenance. a Multi-Group, Multiple Indicators Analysis of Catalan Adolescents

СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО ВОЕННОЙ УКРЕПЛЕННОЙ ЛИНИИ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ ПАВЛОДАРСКОГО КРАЯ В XVIII В. И ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ РУССКОЙ ТОПОНИМИИ В КРАЕ

The settlement of the northeastern region by the non-ethnic Russian population was a long process, which included the systematic advance of the Cossack and peasant population into the Kazakh steppe, which led to the appearance of specifc Slavic toponyms. Toponymic names refect these processes as in a mirror. So already in the frst quarter of the XVIII century. a number of military fortifcations were built in the Irtysh region, which became part of the Irtysh military line. By the middle of the XVIII century, the Russian Empire had built entire lines of military fortifcations that covered the Kazakh Steppe with a huge horseshoe: Guryev - Uralsk - Verkhneuralsk - Troitsk - Zverinogolovskaya - Omsk - Ust-Kamenogorsk, which opened up opportunities for further advancement into the depths of the steppe. This article discusses some problems: geographical names are evidence and chronicle of historical events. They refect and capture the history of the settlement of the territory and the economic activity of people, ancient migrations and interethnic contacts, the areas of ethnic groups, historical milestones of the protection of territories from external enemies, heroic deeds of ancestors who defended their native land, etc.

От Индонезии до Занзибара: традиционное занзибарское каноэ «нгалава» как пример кросс-культурного перемещения технологии

Technology is an important part of the material culture. Interethnic contacts allowed technological innovations to move between regions and sometimes between continents. There are many such examples — from cultivated plant species, methods of cultivation and irrigation to domesticated animals and hunting and agricultural tools. The transfer of technology made possible to populate and develop new landscapes and transform economiccultural types. In most cases the speed of such spreading was low due to the inertia of traditional culture and the difficulty of adapting new cultural borrowing. Some technologies were transported not only between continents (for example, the domesticated hunting dog was integrated into the culture of the Australian aborigines), but also across the oceans, which in the prehistoric era was the most difficult example of cross-cultural interaction because of the complexity of ocean sailing. The development of sailboats construction and maritime navigation significantly expanded the horizons of peopling, reaching its apogee in the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries. The emergence and evolution of the Pacific two-outrigger dugout canoe on the East African archipelago Zanzibar is one of the prime examples of the transfer of technologies of shipbuilding across the ocean.

FEATURES OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE OF THE KUBAN POPULATION IN THE GOLDEN HORDE PERIOD (based on the materials of the Natukhaevskoye 5 cemetery)

The article presents for the first time the results of a palaeodemographic study of a sample of the remains of the buried from the medieval mound-pit cemetery of Natukhaevskoye 5 studied in 2013–2014. Due to its favourable geographical conditions, this region has long been a zone of active interethnic contacts, which was reflected in a wide variety of funeral rites. The archaeological context allows us to divide the sample into 2 groups: stone cists and grave pits. The analysis of the main palaeodemographic characteristics revealed discrepancies in the sex and age composition and life expectancy of the two population groups. The first point of difference observed is the predominance of male burials in stone cists and female burials in pits; the second one is manifested in a uniform distribution of mortality of those buried in stone cists (ranging from 15 to 44 years old) against the background of the pronounced mortality peak at 25–29 in the sample of pit burials. To compare the obtained data, materials from synchronous series of Golden Horde necropolises were used showing significant local diversity.

Problems of researching the history of exile of Ukrainians and of the Baltic peoples in the USSR

This study investigated the conditions of exile and interaction between Ukrainian and Baltic prisoners in Soviet camps in the post-war period. The scientific relevance of the subject lies in the investigation of the cooperation of political prisoners of diverse national groups, which led to the camp uprisings of 1953-1954. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of the conditions of exile and the opportunities for contacts between Ukrainian and Baltic prisoners in the context of protest formation using evidence from the camp departments of Vorkuta, specifically Rechlag. To fulfil this purpose, the methods of comparative and retrospective analysis, historical and psychological reconstruction were used. The study identified common and distinctive features inherent in the Vorkuta camps. It was found that the basis for interaction between Ukrainian and Baltic prisoners was their common situation and attempts to improve living conditions in the camp. Therewith, it was stated that the same cultural and educational level and participation in the anti-Soviet resistance improved the establishment of interethnic contacts. The socio-psychological characteristics of Ukrainian and Baltic prisoners of the postwar era distinguished them from others. It was found that the unification into national groups was facilitated by the self-identification of prisoners as captives with a national worldview and experience that opposed Soviet ideology. The main goal was to improve the conditions and release prisoners from places of captivity, and active attempts to achieve this came after Stalin’s death. It was proved that political uncertainty and chaotic actions of the camp administration became a catalyst for uprisings that accelerated the transformation of places of captivity. A key role in organising the protests belonged to strike committees representing groups of prisoners on ethnic grounds. Specifically, Ukrainian, and Baltic prisoners took an active part in them. This shows the place and role of these nations in the camp uprisings. The practical significance of this study lies in highlighting the little-studied issue of the ways in which Ukrainian and Baltic political prisoners interacted and the impact of these contacts on the fight against the Soviet repressive apparatus in prison

Folklore of the Polish-Ukrainian Borderland in the Studies of Mikhał Łesiów (On the Occasion of the 95th Anniversary of Birthday)

The article is based on a review of the published works of Ukrainian folklore by the Polish scholar Mikhał Łesiów (1928–2016), who is known primarily as a Slavic studier and dialectologist. He is the author of scientific works in the history and culture of language. Studies dedicated to folklore, inter-ethnic contacts, folklore aspects of linguistic interaction on the Polish-Ukrainian borderland occupy a significant place in his scientific heritage. He is also the author of the studies representing folklore materials from the Lublin region and Podlasie. In the 1950s M. Łesiów, while collecting dialect material, has recorded casually oral literature from the inhabitants of the Podillian village of Stara Huta in Buszacki County. These people have been relocated to the territory of the Western Voivodeships of Poland to the villages of the Szczecin Voivodeship (now it is the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) in the 1945–1946. Collected factual material has been published in a number of the researcher’s studies. Cohabitation over the centuries has influenced the folklore of both ethnoi. Ukrainian oral literature has become an integral part of the spiritual culture of Poles, who have incorporated a number of systemic features of the local dialects and Ukrainian folklore into their speech. Characterizing the situation of folklore usage on the Polish-Ukrainian borderland, the scholar has concluded that the works of oral literature continue partially to function among the representatives with a conscious belonging to both Polish and Ukrainian people. These works can have Polish, Ukrainian and even mixed linguistic form. Regardless the language in which folklore texts are performed, they have become the property and common ownership of the borderland cultural space. The existence of linguistically mixed folklore texts is one of the main external distinguishing features determining the specific identity of the culture of the Polish-Ukrainian borderland. Folklore bilingualism is a consequence of borrowing, as well as the fact of two-way translation of works, where certain sentences, phrases or separate words have been preserved in the original state.

Ancient turkic goddess of fertility Umai: a mountain and a temple on the Yenisei

In the culture and folklore of the Turkic-Mongolian ethnic groups, as well as the population of Tungus origin, despite the strong rooting of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, elements of beliefs of their own origin are still clearly noted, including the tripartite structure of the supreme deities – Tengri (divine sky, the highest power in the universe ), Yer-sug (native earth and water) and Umai (providing fertility on earth). There is also a lot of archaeological evidence of the existence of the Umai cult. But at the same time, only in four cases on the planet there are direct indications of the exact place and natural objects where this goddess lives and from where she acts. One of them is Mount Umai and a nearby rock formation, called the “tower” of Umai, on the right bank of the Yenisei at its exit from the West Sayan Canyon. Despite the numerous mentions of the mountain in the folklore of the Khakasses, including in already published materials, it has not yet received a detailed description. The presence of a rock formation of an original form next to it was not mentioned at all in the scientific literature. Thus, an unusually shaped mountain (in the form of a female breast) and a rock formation (looking like a tower) on the Yenisei, in combination, have the characteristics of a sacred center for such a chthonic character as Umai. Both of these natural objects can confidently be included in the number of sacred places associated with it. Based on this evidence, a number of aspects of the history of migrations in Eurasia can be traced, in particular, the boundaries of settlement, the degree of mobility and interethnic contacts, mainly of Turkic-speaking, as well as the population of Tungus-Mongolian origin.