Этноконфессиональные отношения в Ставропольском крае: опыт конфликтологического анализа

The results of conflictological research ethno-confessional relations in Stavropol region are presented in the paper. The starting point was the analysis of population census data of 2010 that illustrate the risks of conflict-generating factors of the ethno-confessional environment in the region. Particular attention is paid to conflicts with expressed confessional component — «the conflict over hijab» (2012) and the conflict related to the construction of a mosque of regional scale in the outskirts of the city of Pyatigorsk (2014). Results of comparative analysis of two phases of sociological monitoring of ethno-confessional relations in the region are discussed in the paper and a conclusion is madeabout the increase of risks ofethno-religious conflicts. The provocative role of «information attacks» on Stavropol region, the main focus of which were inter-ethnic relations is shown in the paper. The authors substantiate their point of view that the main way of reducing conflicts and tensions in Stavropol region is de-escalation of general inter-ethnic tension in the country by means of implementation of federal programs of harmonization of ethnoreligious relations and strengthening of civic identity, as well as the design and development of a regional (Stavropol) identity. The necessity of studying by regional and local authorities the skills of conflict management is accentuated in the paper. The paper is prepared within the Programme of Fundamental Research of the Presidium of RAS «Fundamental Problems of Modernization of Multiethnic Macro-Region in the Face of Rising Tensions».