How Integrated Is Latvian Society? an Audit of Achievements, Failures and Challenges
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How Integrated is Latvian Society? An Audit of Achievements, Failures and Challenges Editor Nils Muižnieks University of Latvia Press UDK 325(474.3) Ho 930 How Integrated Is Latvian Society? An Audit of Achievements, Failures and Challenges / Editor Nils Muižnieks; University of Latvia Advanced Social and Political Research Institute. – Riga: University of Latvia Press, 2010. – 292 pp. ISBN 978-9984-45-172-5 © University of Latvia, 2010 ISBN 978-9984-45-172-5 Contents Part I Concepts, History, Policy .......................................................................................... 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 7 Nils Muižnieks Social Integration: A Brief History of an Idea ............................................................. 15 Nils Muižnieks The Soviet Heritage and Integration Policy Development Since the Restoration of Independence ................................................................................................................. 33 Juris Rozenvalds The Society Integration Foundation and ‘Ethnic Integration’ ................................. 61 Ilona Kunda Part II Integration in Various Life Realms ..................................................................... 91 Citizenship, Participation and Representation ............................................................ 93 Ilze Brands Kehris Ethnic Minorities in the Latvian Labour Market, 1997–2009: Outcomes, Integration Drivers and Barriers .................................................................................... 125 Mihails Hazans Social Policy and Integration .......................................................................................... 159 Feliciana Rajevska Education for Social Integration ..................................................................................... 189 Brigita Zepa The Media and Integration .............................................................................................. 223 Ilze Šulmane Identity, Ethnic Relations, Language and Culture ...................................................... 253 Aivars Tabuns Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 279 Nils Muižnieks Draft Integration Indicators ............................................................................................ 285 Ilona Kunda and Nils Muižnieks Contributors ........................................................................................................................ 291 Part I Concepts, History, Policy Introduction Nils Muižnieks Most researchers and policy-makers focus on Russians when discussing the integration of Latvian society. The size of the Russian minority in Latvia and its presumed potential for causing mischief have contributed to this narrow focus, which has been reinforced by the attention of the Russian Federation and various European and international organizations to the status of Russians or “Russian-speakers” (those with Russian as a native language). This book examines the position of Russians and other minorities and their relations with Latvians, but also attempts to measure the integration of Latvian society as a whole. As will be argued below, integration implicates not just minorities, im- migrants and refugees, but the majority population as well. The slightly presumptuous subtitle of this volume – An Audit – was in- spired by an earlier effort by colleagues to measure the quality of democracy in Latvia.1 The term “audit” suggests a rigorous, systematic evaluation based on accepted standards. The reader will have to determine the extent to which the authors of this volume have fulfilled this promise. According to the Compact Oxford English dictionary, the traditional meaning of an audit is “an official inspection of an organization’s accounts.”2 Usually, if an organization’s ac- counts, procedures or processes are found wanting, the auditor provides rec- ommendations on how to improve performance. While the “auditors” in this volume occasionally enter the realm of the prescriptive, they generally let the analysis speak for itself. This reluctance to offer a host of policy recommendations derives from a number of considerations. To propose such recommendations, one must make a number of assumptions: that policy-makers want effective policy, that there is a consensus as to what constitutes effective policy, that policy-makers are willing and able to change policy if it is found in some way wanting, and that there are resources available for implementing policy. All of these assump- tions are problematic in contemporary Latvia. As will be suggested below in the chapter by Juris Rozenvalds, Latvia’s political elite has been very divided 1 Juris Rozenvalds, ed. (2005), How Democratic Is Latvia: An Audit of Democracy. Riga: University of Latvia Press. 2 See http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/audit?view=uk. 8 How Integrated is Latvian Society? An Audit regarding integration policy, which has resulted in a lukewarm commitment (at best) to implementing even those policy documents that have been adopted. Since a number of key pieces of legislation affecting integration (e.g., the Law on Citizenship, the State Language Law) were adopted or last amended under severe international pressure, the political elite has proven very reluctant to revisit these laws, even when there was a compelling reason for amending them to reflect new circumstances. While government resources for promoting integration have never been plentiful, in the context of a severe economic crisis after 2008, social integration has fallen near the bottom of the government’s list of funding priorities and will probably remain there for some time. Despite the absence of an attentive target audience among policy-makers, the authors of the chapters covering integration in various life realms (Part II) do point to the most urgent tasks that need to be addressed. A strictly policy-oriented approach would also miss much, as the level of integration in a society is undoubtedly affected by a whole range of factors besides government integration policy. Clearly, the inherited experience of inter-ethnic relations shapes current social processes, as does the economic and political situation in general. The analysis below captures only incompletely the impact of the current economic crisis on social integration, as the situation at the time of writing (February 2010) was still very dynamic and some of the available data predate the onset of the crisis in late 2008 or capture only its initial effects. Social integration is also affected by the international situation – this was clearly evident immediately after Latvia’s accession to the European Union, when naturalization rates briefly jumped and many of Latvia’s inhabit- ants (Latvians and minorities alike) took advantage of their right to free move- ment within the European Union and migrated, mostly to Ireland and Great Britain. The quality of social integration is also affected by the ups and downs of Latvia’s relations with Russia - the “kin-state” of Latvia’s largest minority.3 Integration policy, which has been contradictory and inconsistent, has been but one, and not always the most important, factor in shaping the integration of Latvian society. There have been a number of previous efforts to develop integration indica- tors and to measure integration in Latvia. From 2002 through 2004, first, the Social Integration Department of the Ministry of Justice, then the secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration Affairs (hereafter, simply “integration secretariat”) organized a series of inconclusive inter- ministerial discussions with the aim of developing progress indicators for the National Programme on the Integration of Society in Latvia. From 2003 to 2005, the integration secretariat compiled a sizeable data base of integration projects, an effort that was subsequently abandoned. During its existence from 3 See Nils Muižnieks, ed. (2006), Latvian-Russian Relations: Domestic and International Dimensions. Riga: University of Latvia Press. Nils Muižnieks. Introduction 9 2002 to the end of 2008, the integration secretariat commissioned a number of sociological surveys and other studies on various aspects of integration.4 In ad- dition, the Society Integration Foundation has funded a number of studies deal- ing with various aspects of integration or the situation of specific minorities.5 International non-governmental organizations and foreign research institutes have also conducted a number of useful studies.6 This volume builds on many of these previous efforts, but tries to go further. Previous efforts were often plagued by a host of problems. Most of the aforementioned efforts were either surveys focusing on attitudes or thematic studies with a focus on one aspect of integration or one minority. No official consensus was ever reached on indicators, so those who commissioned research or carried it out proceeded using various methodologies and approaches. The involvement of stakeholders in society and ministries other than that directly responsible for integration was patchy. It should also be noted that the major funders of the research (the integration secretariat and the Society Integration Foundation) had a certain vested interest in the results. Many of the studies also ignored the academic and policy-oriented work on measuring integration