Working Papers WP 2013-01 Centre for German and European Studies (CGES) Vladislav Kurske The Ethnic Identity of Russian Germans. Theoretical Approaches and Methodology of Research of the Multiple Ethnic Identity. WP 2013-01 2013 № 1 Bielefeld / St. Petersburg Working Papers WP 2013-01 Centre for German and European Studies Bielefeld University St. Petersburg State University Centre for German and European Studies (CGES) CGES Working Papers series includes publication of materials prepared within different activities of the Center for German and European Studies both in St. Petersburg and in Germany: The CGES supports educational programmes, research and scientific dialogues. In accordance with the CGES mission, the Working Papers are dedicated to the interdisciplinary studies of different aspects of German and European societies. The paper is written on the basis of the PhD Thesis defended in the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO-University) in June 2011. The author summaries the data of the series empirical researches of German minority in Russian Federation, which were hold in 2008-2011. The paper has both theoretical and practical value. Vladislav Kurske graduated from the faculty of Sociology of the State University Higher School of Economics in 2007 and went on to pursue the Carnegie Moscow Center. His academic fields of interest include theories of nationalism, migration, integration, ethnic identity and bilingualism. Contact: [email protected] ISSN 1860-5680 © Centre for German and European Studies, 2013 1 Working Papers WP 2013-01 Centre for German and European Studies Table of contents Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 1. The Issue of Multiple Ethnic Identity in Contemporary Sociology ............. 9 1.1. The Sociological Interpretation of the Concept of “Multiple Ethnic Identity” ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2. The Theoretical-Methodological Approach to the Study of Multiple Ethnic Identity .............................................................................................................................................................. 16 1.3. The Concept of Empirical Research on Groups with Multiple Ethnic Identities. 25 2. The Characteristics of the Ethnic Identity of Russian Germans ............... 33 2.1. Russian Germans as the community of the Others (based on Donald Levine's theory) ............................................................................................................................................................... 34 2.2. Types of Self-Identification of German Minorities in the Russian Federation ..... 39 2.3. Characteristics of the Ethnic Identity of Germans in Modern Russia. ..................... 51 2.4. Language Processes and Practices in the Milieu of Russian Germans. ............... 59 2.5. History and Culture as Key Markers of Identity of Russian Germans. ................... 67 2.6. The Migration Situation among Germans in Russia. ....................................................... 73 3. Institutional Forms of Manifestation of Ethnic Identity among Russian Germans. ........................................................................................................... 79 3.1. The Attitude of the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Russian Federation towards the German “Diaspora” in Russia.......................................... 81 3.2. The Main Actors of German Sociopolitical Movement at the Beginning of the 21st Century. ................................................................................................................................................. 93 3.3. Evaluation of the Performance of Russian Germans’ Ethno-Cultural Centers. 96 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 101 2 Working Papers WP 2013-01 Centre for German and European Studies Introduction Topicality of the subject. Ethnic identity is one of the most significant issues in contemporary sociological theory. The persistent interest and close attention given to the issue of interethnic relations by both foreign and Russian researchers alike is strong evidence of the significance of this topic. We would like to note that the processes of globalization that have been taking place over the past few decades have brought about marked changes in the nature of the phenomenon of ethnic identity. Intensive mixing and blending of cultures makes the issue of preserving traditional ethnic identities even more urgent. The number of people who identify with more than one and sometimes more than two ethnic cultures, and who have more than one native language, is steadily increasing. The growing social mobility of the population is making groups of such people more and more numerous. Ethnic and cultural polyphony is a distinguishing feature and social resource of today's Russia. Given that currently there is no separate department or administration to deal with the “nationality issue,” the close attention of both researchers and society as a whole to the given topic is vital. There is a scientific demand to provide a diagnosis of the situation in this sphere, carry out monitoring surveys on the main issues of inter-group interaction and contacts with the aim of avoiding negative scenario of development in the future. The high degree of Russia's involvement in global migration flows is forming new ethnic groups with multiple ethnic identities alongside traditional diasporas (such as Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Germans and so on). Research on the identity of representatives of the “old” diaspora groups is becoming a significant intellectual resource for the optimization of the adaptation process for new migrants. Based on the logic of the given thesis, the practical part serves as proof of the heuristic significance of the methods we have used in researching multiple ethnic identities. It is by no means accidental that Russian Germans were selected for verification: as one of the largest ethnic minorities in the country (numbering 597,0001), they have a long and varied experience in interacting with an alien culture. At the same time, empirical data has an importance and value in its own right, especially in light of the fact that the theme of the ethnic German minority’s revival continues to be relevant in the context of Russian-German intergovernmental cooperation. In Russia, there is a historical tradition of the formation of multiple ethnic identities. Migration processes and interethnic marriages provide for overlapping of cultures and ethnic areas, thus forming a particular category of Russians who possess a multiple ethnic identity. The theoretical relevance of this thesis is connected to the vital need for a conceptual understanding of this phenomenon. 1 See the results of the Russian Federation's 2002 census – http://www.gks.ru/PEREPIS/t5.htm 3 Working Papers WP 2013-01 Centre for German and European Studies The state of knowledge on the issue under analysis. Ethnic identity is an interdisciplinary issue. Apart from sociology, the topic also receives a great deal of attention in the fields of philosophy, cultural anthropology, psychology and other social sciences. The distinctive features of the sociological approach include specific empirical methods and techniques of research, as well as the treatment of ethnic identity as a social phenomenon and process. The established approaches to interpreting the nature of ethnicity can be divided into three different schools2: 1. Essentialism (primordialism). Supporters of this trend (P.I. Kushner, S.A. Arutyunov, Yu.V. Bromley, L.N. Gumilev, V.I. Tabakov, V.D. Solovey, N.N. Tselishchev, A. Smith, C. Geertz, C. Calhoun and others) subscribe to the view that there is an original, innate (primordial) ethnicity of man. Within this approach, two main trends stand out: the socio-biological and the evolutionary- historical. Proponents of the former suggest that the phenomenon under analysis should be viewed as an extended family of people3 or a particular form of human interaction with nature, a certain landscape4. The evolutionary- historical trend regards ethnicity as a product of culture and history, and defines ethnos as a historically formed human community characterized by a whole set of objective attributes: territory, language, religion, daily life, culture, etc.5 2. Constructivism. This approach is preferred by most western sociologists and anthropologists, as well as some contemporary Russian scientists. The main role here is given to the subjective rather than objective aspect of ethnic existence (territory, culture). The essence of constructivism lies in the fact that ethnic communities are defined as imaginary, existing only in the minds of people and emerging as a result of the concerted effort of individuals and the institutions created by them; ethnicity, correspondingly, is viewed as a social construct. Proponents of this school of thought include B. Anderson, E. Gellner, M. Billig, E. Hobsbawm and F. Barth, and among Russian scientists, B.A. Tishkov, B.M. Voronikov, B.S. Malakhov, O. Brednikova. One of the main themes of research in this school of thought is the process of reproducing ethnicity, the role of elitism in the construction of communities and the maintenance of their borders. 3. Instrumentalism