Multiethnicity: from Theoretical Concepts to Practice

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2021-3/7-16

Abstract

The article discusses theoretical approaches to the study of multiethnicity – constructivism and instrumentalism. In recent decades, the concepts of "ethnic group" and "ethnic identity" have been significantly reassessed. The ideas of identity hybridization and the possibility of multiple ethnicities have become widespread, both as a result of the objective – acceleration of the ethnocultural "mixing" (ethnically heterogeneous marriages, migration, urbanization) and subjective (routinization of different ethnicities) processes. At the same time, multiethnic identity can have different models: from stigmatization and social deprivation to the subjectively higher socio-cultural status of a multiethnic individual. The authors conclude that in order to more adequately take into account the ethnocultural diversity of the Russian society, the methodology of population censuses should be changed in favor of the possibility of choosing multiple ethnic identities and informing the population about it. Also, the "legitimization" of population groups with multiple ethnic identities has the potential to harmonize interethnic relations in Russia and can contribute to the spread of ideas of a single multiethnic civil Russian nation.