The Russia version of multiculturalism: are there any perspectives?

Abstract

The ideas of multiculturalism have become a dominant and persuasive discourse in the West from the 1960’s, with states giving their commitment to building cultural pluralism. Russia on paper does not reject this trend in official circles but, as is shown below, is some way away from achieving success in this part of its cultural policy. This article provides an analysis of the key trends in the development of a modern cultural policy in Russia, a country with a long historical pedigree as a multi-ethnic state. It uses interviews taken from experts in the field of multiculturalism in Perm and Saratov to provide a picture of attitudes towards this issue. In order to add context to the question, a review of the historical precedents of multiculturalism in Russia are examined from the last years of the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet period. What emerges is that the Soviet ‘Friendship of Nations’ ideology did not fall on deaf ears; many today take positive conclusions from the Soviet version of multiculturalist values. The rapid drop of living standards and state funding from 1991 applied a real strain to Soviet multi-ethnic harmony; the results of this study reveal growing intolerance to non-Russians in the regions examined. It appears much more work must be done to raise the competence of managers in multicultural policy; a new and more qualified cadre is needed to carry out the challenging task of applying the most advanced theories of multiculturalism to the Russian environment. Above all this concerns the creation of a common cultural space, which can allow an improved understanding of the diverse social groups in existence. Instead, it appears nationalism has entered the mainstream, with the slogan ‘Russia for the Russians’ gaining more and more adherents. Russian multicultural policy is seen to be losing this battle for hearts and minds. Although effective cultural pluralism would be a great strength to modern Russia and reflect the composition of the population more fairly, this is a long way from being established. A near total rethink on how to solve this question is called for to avoid the further growth of nationalist fury.