Vorobyova I. V. Ethnic and Interethnic Attitudes in the Mass Consciousness of Russian Citizens
The article is part of the research supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation (project No. 14-18-02016, “Lifeworld of Russians”).
(Russian State University for the Humanities)
Abstract ♦ Modern realities of life, as well as data from numerous public opinion polls, suggest that negative ethnic attitudes are spreading wider in the Russian society. This, in turn, affects the ethnic and interethnic attitudes among Russians living in a polyethnic society.
The article discusses the approaches to ethnic consciousness as one of the types of mass consciousness within the society. We have put the main emphasis on such aspects of ethnic consciousness as ethnic and interethnic assumptions of Russians (hereinafter, we will mostly refer to ‘Russians’ as political, rather than ethnic, nation).
The paper presents the data describing the dynamics of change in ethnic and interethnic attitudes of Russians over the past 25 years. A comparative analysis has allowed us to conclude that the ‘nationalist menace’ has not only significantly increased in the Russian mass consciousness, but is also recognized at the moment as one of the primary problems that might provoke conflicts and threaten the security of the society. Therefore, ethno-national issues have recently been seen as quite serious.
Ethnic Russians have an especially negative attitude to those people of other ethnicities living in the Russian Federation who are unwilling to study Russian culture, do not comply with or respect its customs and norms, and instead promote and impose their own ethnocultural practices and behavior patterns. On the other hand, Russians themselves exhibit low willingness and interest in studying the history and culture of Russia’s other ethnicities.
Thus, a lack of mutual interest in culture, art, customs and traditions of peoples living in the same territory leads to misunderstandings and may become a permanent source of conflicts and problems.
Vorobyova Irina Vladimirovna, Candidate of Social Science, Associate Professor, Department of the Theory and History of Sociology, Russian State University for the Humanities. Postal address: 6 Miusskaya sq., Moscow, Russian Federation, 125993. Tel.: +7 (499) 973-42-12. E-mail:
vorobyova.irina@list.ru
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