From Communities to Space: Studying Urban Change Driven by Migration

Abstract

This article provides an overview of migration research in Russia in terms of its evolution from naïve essentialism to reflexively applied social constructivism. The latter postulates the primacy of relations over entities and so creates conceptual opportunities for overcoming ethnocentric optics. The first part of the article examines English-language publications that have had a decisive influence on research in the field. In the second part, I turn to Russian authors who study the impact of migration on transformations in the urban environment.
I pay special attention to the scholarship exploring the phenomenon of the post-Soviet 'bazaar'. This scholarship makes clear that so-called ethnic markets are specific localities, whose structure is not determined by the ethnic composition of traders. If one marks this locality in ethnic terms it is nothing more than an indication of the specific character of spatial organization. Research examining the formation of migrant infrastructure in Russian cities more generally shows that establishments, which look 'ethnic' to many people (i. e. created by members of an ethnic community for internal use), are actually complex assemblies with many functions. In addition, I draw attention to fieldwork conducted by Russian scholars among Muslim migrants. What is specific about this work is that its subject is not formal Islamic organizations, but the everyday processes of communication among believers. Finally, the article reviews the impact of migration on the education system. With regard to this, I emphasize that the speed of social changes linked to migration entail a lack of reflection either at the level of everyday consciousness or at the level of social policy.