No. 141: Xenophobia and Migrants

Author(s): Marlene Laruelle, Jens Siegert
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 141
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2013

Against the backdrop of the violent riots in the Biryulyovo district of Moscow in October, this edition examines the growth of xenophobia in Russia associated to the issue of immigration. In the first article, Marlene Laruelle suggests that the riots in Biryulyovo can be seen as a turning point in the history of xenophobia in Russia, with such inter-ethnic violence playing an increasingly important political role in reshaping Russias national identity. In the second article, Jens Siegert notes that while the assertion that there are too many 'foreigners' is utilised by both the regime and opposition figures alike, the terms of popular discourse on this issue are often confused. He argues that the complexity of the nationalist question in Russia is perhaps best epitomised by the statement that 'Russia was an empire for centuries and is now reluctantly faced with the task of becoming a nation state'.

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