Possibilities of Interaction between Migration Policy Actors in Russia

Abstract

Migration policy in Russia is usually understood as an exclusive matter of state concern, so it is derived from legal documents and is performed by the officials, whereas other subjects are involved in it as well: they do both implement tasks related to migration and set agenda in a more general sense. These subjects are market agents (commercial entities) and a variety of civil society organizations. In the process of realization of migration policy, they get involved in an interaction, characterized by possibilities of collaboration and limitations of cooperation. The article analyses interviews of agencies involved in migration policy implementation. Basing on examination of categories, used in the interviews, I explore the potential of building solidarities, as well as limitations related to making sense of the Other. Solidarities are understood as sources of innovation, whereas categories of othering cement the existing state of affairs by its reproduction. The bases of shaping solidarities and distances are categories of ethnicity, class and legal status. Moreover, political perspectives of the informants do play a significant part in this process. Methodology of this analysis is grounded in contemporary social theories of subjectivity that locate language and action in discourse and relate to the works of Michel Foucault. The gathered interviews are analyzed in the search for nouns in subject position. All subjects found are categorized by the context in which they are mentioned by the informants. This technique allows for identification of locations of solidarity and othering within the text of the interviews and helps to build a picture of migration policy related to the level of practices rather than papers and institutional processing. As a result, two coalitions of actors are revealed.