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Contemporary Migration and Traditional Diasporas in Russia: the Case of the Armenians in Moscow

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Contemporary Migration and Traditional Diasporas in Russia: the Case of the Armenians in Moscow Migracijske i etničke teme 22 (2006), 1-2: 181–193 UDK: 314.74(47 Moskva=19) Prethodno priopćenje Primljeno: 12. 04. 2006. Prihvaćeno: 12. 06. 2006. TAMARA A. GALKINA Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow [email protected] Contemporary Migration and Traditional Diasporas in Russia: The Case of the Armenians in Moscow SUMMARY The disintegration of the USSR caused certain new social and demographic developments in the Russian Federation. Immigration from the former Soviet republics, mainly to Russia’s largest ci- ties, is a new phenomenon for Russia. This process led to the formation of new diasporas in Russia and to the development of the traditional ones. This article examines the case of the Armenian dia- spora in a great megalopolis, i.e. in Moscow. The Armenian diaspora in Moscow is a very old phe- nomenon, well integrated into Moscow society and very diversified. New immigrants from the CIS countries are entering Moscow Armenian society, changing its characteristics and increasing its social and cultural variety. Their crucial problem is integration into the host society, without the loss of their identity. These migrants could help in resolving the economic problems of the Republic of Armenia (first of all, of their own families), as well as some demographic problems of the Russian Federation. KEY WORDS: Armenian diaspora, Moscow, immigration, host society, social integration, economic integration, cultural integration New problems after the collapse of the USSR The collapse of the USSR caused political instability and an acute economic cri- sis in the post-Soviet region. As a result of this new situation, certain new social and de- mographic developments took place, such as the depopulation of Russia and emigration (in particular, the “brain drain”) to Western Europe, Israel and the USA. A new pheno- menon for Russia is also immigration from the former Soviet republics, mainly to the Russia’s largest cities. These problems were significantly moderated by some factors such as the inclusion of post-Soviet countries into the system of international migration and the market-based transformation of their economies. These new phenomena provide ethnologists and ethnosociologists, economists and politicians, demographers and geographers with material for discussion. Two main themes predominate in research on population movements: 1) the theme of migration, including internal migration, emigration and immigration (Зайончковская, 1999; Ры- баковский, 2005; Юдина, 2004; Мукомель, 2005) and 2) the theme of new diaspora formation (Попков, 2003; Полоскова, 2002). The first theme has emphasized the ethnic component. The second theme concerns both old diasporas and the processes of new diaspora formation. In modern Russia migrant flows are directed to certain large centres of attraction. The centre with the strongest attraction is Moscow, the capital and the largest megalopolis in the country (Вендина, 2005). 181 Tamara A. Galkina: Contemporary Migration…, Migracijske i etničke teme 22 (2006), 1-2: 181–193 To gain an understanding of these new problems it is important to know their his- tory and origins, aspects that were analyzed by many authors (Арутюнян, 2001; Зайон- чковская, 1999; Тер-Саркисянц, 2005 and others). The processes in question effect the formation of new diasporas in Russia as well as the development of traditional ones, for example, the Armenian diaspora. Many works of various experts have dealt with all aspects of the Armenian diaspora (Арутюнян, 2001; Тер-Саркисянц, 2005 and many others). The mass media, likewise, have paid much at- tention to these issues. In modern literature on this theme, the terms diaspora and diaspora formation or diasporization are not always with the same meaning. It is not fully justified to label every ethnic group living outside its country a “diaspora”. Some authors (especially jour- nalists) use the term “diaspora” even to denote groups of persons working abroad on con- tracts, or having a business abroad. Some researchers apply the term “new diaspora” or “modern migration” to groups of migrant workers. It is necessary not only to study new processes and new facts, but also to make terms and definitions precise. Two processes – migration and the formation of diasporas – are interconnected. Migration flows increase new diasporic groups in the country and stimulate the deve- lopment as well as the qualitative transformation of old diasporas, i.e. ones that have existed for a long time. This article deals with the problems of development of an old “classical” diaspora in a large city, under new conditions, i.e. the case of the Armenian diaspora in Moscow. The Armenian diaspora has existed for more than 300 years in Russia, mainly in the large cities, for example in Moscow, which has been a traditional centre in regard to attracting migrants. Migration flows within the post-Soviet region The sudden and intensive growth of migration flows between the former Soviet republics was provoked, additionally, by ethnic conflicts. One factor in this develop- ment was the fact that the borders of the newly emerged states did not coincide with ethnic boundaries. At the time of the 1989 census, over 73 million Soviet citizens, a quar- ter of the total Soviet population, lived outside “their own” national territories (or be- longed to small nationalities, without a national territory of their own). To give just a few examples: 17 percent of all Russians – 25 million in all – lived outside Russia. Ano- ther 12 million lived in non-Russian national territories within the Russian republic. A third of the Soviet Armenians lived outside Armenia (Brubaker, 1994: 57). In the Soviet Union there existed two independent, even incomparable defini- tions of nationhood: one was territoral-political and the other was personal-ethnocultural. Elements of both models were institutionalized in the Soviet Union. On the one hand, the territory of the state was divided into national polities with a particular national cul- ture (the Soviet Socialist Republics, Autonomous Republics and Autonomous Districts). On the other hand, the population was divided into non-territorial national groups, whose nationality was independent of its place of residence. The tension between terri- torial and ethnocultural nationhood, and between territorial and extraterritorial national autonomy, was endemic to the Soviet nationality regime (Brubaker, 1994: 60). 182 Tamara A. Galkina: Contemporary Migration…, Migracijske i etničke teme 22 (2006), 1-2: 181–193 After the disintegration of thе Soviet Union, former internal migration became trans-border migration between Russia and the new independent states, the former Soviet republics. As a result of the disintegration of the USSR and the establishment of new state borders, former internal diasporas were transformed into diasporic groups. In the period 1992–2002 the population of Russia increased by more than 3.5 million people, due to migration from the “new abroad”. The main direction of migrant flows inside the former borders of the Soviet Union was from the new states along Russia’s southern border to the north and north-west, mainly to large cities. Russia received migrants first of all from Moldova, Ukraine, the republics of the Caucasus and (with a big backlog) from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. As to domestic Russian migration to the big cities, there was an active movement from the east and the north of the country to the centre and the south. Thus Moscow, St. Petersburg, and especially the Krasnodar and Stavropol provinces attracted large numbers of migrants from the rest Russia and from the former Soviet republics, and consequently became centres of social and ethnic tensions. In the post-Soviet region, two stages of migration development can be distinguished. In the first years after the disintegration of the USSR, migration flows were dominated by refugees from the former Soviet republics. Among them Russians were predominant. However, migration flows from Armenia and Azerbaijan included not only Russians, but also representatives of other nationalities. A significant part of them were Armenians from both republics. Emigration from these two republics was caused by different reasons. The reason for the refugee flow from Armenia was the earthquake of 1988 and the destruction of the cities of Leninakan (Ghiumri), Spitak and others. Armenians, Russians and others left Azerbaijan because of the tragic ethnic tensions (pogroms) in Soumgait and Baku. In the beginning of the 90’s Russians made up about 2/3 of all refugees from the former Soviet republics. In 2004 only 56.2% were Russians (51.9% in 2003). Today, local nationals predominate among migrants from the Transcaucasian states: 2/3 of the migrants from Armenia are Armenians, 1/3 of the migrants from Azerbaijan are Azer- baijanians and 2/5 of the migrants from Georgia are Georgians, local Azerbaijanians and Ossetians (Мукомель, 2005: 54). The migration peak was in 1994, and since 1999 migration flows declined, ex- cept to several large cities and to certain regions. The migration processes and the mi- gration situation in Russia differed in the 1990's and the 2000's. In recent years forced migration flows ceased, immigration to Russia and emigration from Russia declined, but external labour migration flows rose sharply. A new problem has now emerged: at pre- sent immigration offsets only 5–7% of the natural decrease of the population of the Russian Federation (Мукомель, 2005: 5). In Russia today there are only a few centres and regions that attract large inflows of migrants. These are, first of all, Moscow, followed by St. Petersburg, the Tyumen area, the Hanty-Mansi and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Districts, the Krasnodar and Stavropol provinces, Rostov-on-the-Don and the Belgorod regions. Moscow and the Moscow re- gion receive about 75% of all migrants to Russia (Блинова and Симакин, 2005). The ethnic structure of Moscow’s population Moscow, as the capital of a great multiethnic state, was also a multiethnic city prac- tically during all of its history.
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