The Host Population and the Migrants in Modern Tatarstan: Social Roles and Intergroup Distance

INTRODUCTIONRelevance of a ProblemIn early XX cent., migration became an important factor largely determining the economic, social, political and cultural character of modern states. Today, labor migration is one of the main channels of social mobility and a mean of implementation of the right of every person to freedom of movement and change of his/her way of life. Migration processes have an impact on public policy, media, and academic communities. Migration, as part of the everyday and professional life of people, generates at the same time a wide range of problems, study and solution of which seems to be promising.Status of a ProblemStudies of migration are relevant for different spheres of socio-humanitarian knowledge. For example, the subject of economic analysis is the role of migrants' labor in the economy, and the economic mechanisms of regulation of migration processes (Abashin S., 2007-2008). Demographers are engaged in statistical analysis of migration flows (Chudinovskikh O., 2004, p. 176). Another aspect of migration is a legal status of migrants and a migration policy of modern states (Female migrants from the CIS countries in Russia, 2011). The difficulties the migrants face with in the host country lead to the strengthening of the role of informal networks - kinship, affinity groups, and stable neighbor communities. Investigation of everyday practices of migrants is primarily a subject of interest to anthropologists and sociologists. The analysis focuses on the internal and external migration factors (the so-called puch- and pull- factors). The authors refer to mechanisms of migration such as a selection of strategy to move, a type of stay (short- or long-term), the resources needed to move, communication channels used to maintain contacts with the family and within the community (TitovaT.A., KozlovV.E., FrolovaE.V., 2013). A considerable attention is paid to the issues of adaptation and characteristics of the host society - how high is the level of xenophobia in countries where migrants go to work?; are there mechanisms for adaptation and integration of newcomers, etc. (Brednikova O., 2003; Ilimbetova A.A., 2013, p.25; Titova T., Frolova E., Stolyarova G., 2015, p.269). At the same time, the perception of migrants by the local population in the regions of the Russian Federation requires closer examination. In this research, a group of authors has studied features of the interaction between the host population and migrants in the Republic of Tatarstan.METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKStudy Objective and TasksObjective of the research is a comprehensive analysis of the situation in the interaction between the host population and migrants in the Republic of Tatarstan. To achieve the set objective, the following scientific and research tasks had been set:- analysis of group distance between the host communities and migrants;-assessment of the level of tolerance / intolerance of the host population towards migrants; and-determination of attitude of the representatives of the host population to an increasing number of migrants in their locality.Theoretical and Empirical Research MethodsThe study is based on the methodological principles of a multiparadigmatic approach. In the context of our research there are two basic statements of F. Barth's theory: firstly, the conclusion that the determinant for membership in a group is socially-set factors, which are based on the phenomenon of categorical attribution, rather than "objectively" existing cultural differences. Secondly, ethnic categories, during both identification and classification of the others to certain ethnic groups, take into account not just the amount of objective differences, but only those that are perceived by individuals as significant.The study is based on the analysis of empirical material collected in 2015. Information was collected by means of a mass survey among the representatives of the diaspora, an observation, and semi-structured and biographical interviews. …