“Corruption”, “Crowds”, and “Lezginka”: Regional Specifics of Attitudes towards Migrants in Present-Day Russia (The Case-Study of Moscow and Krasnodar)

Abstract

In Russia, a place of destination for millions of labour migrants from the former Soviet republics, a highly topical issue of anti-migrant sentiments among the host population has been mainly addressed by researchers via large-scale surveys picturing all Russia with averaged tones. The goal of this paper is to highlight explanatory potential of alternative, qualitative research methods (semi-structured interviewing) for revealing roots and manifestations of regional specifics of xenophobia, taking Moscow and Krasnodar as the case-studies. These two cities, though being largely different in terms of size, historical-demographic background, level of economic welfare and economic activity, share a common feature crucial for the research issue under study: both of them have been for many decades recipients of large amounts of people arriving for a permanent residence or as labour migrants from various parts of Russia and from the “near abroad”.