Migrants threaten Russian identity: political scientist Makarkin argued with Patriarch Kirill about the thesis

“Those who came purely temporarily do not learn Russian”

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ noted at a meeting with students that Russia’s identity is under threat if labor migrants dominate society. We talked with political scientist Alexei Makarkin about what is included in the concept of identity and how migration is related to economic issues.

— What does the concept of identity include?

“If we take the Soviet period, then this concept included knowledge of the scientific picture of the world, which is incompatible with religious prejudices,” says Alexey Makarkin. — After thirty years, we, on the contrary, say that a component of our identity is religiosity, the Orthodox faith. Sometimes it comes together.

For example, collectivism was an important component of Soviet identity. And now we have unity. Therefore, the topic of identity itself is very, very difficult.

The political scientist draws attention to the fact that in the same European countries, migrants claim to play a role in public life.

— Our migrants, for the most part, just want to make money. They practically do not participate in our public life. The only place where they appear is in the sphere of religion. Most migrants profess Islam and go to the mosque. We do not have a single party that would defend the interests of migrants. All our leading parties, to one degree or another, advocate restrictions on migration.

According to Alexei Makarkin, migration is to a large extent connected with economic issues.

— Migration grew sharply in the 2000s, when there was economic growth and more and more new workers were needed. Given the current moderate rates of economic growth, the topic of migration, in my opinion, is not so pressing. If certain construction projects are closed down, migrants often leave. Therefore, I would not say that identity is being eroded now.

According to our interlocutor, if we talk about those Russian citizens from among the former migrants who influence social and political processes, vote, and are socially active, then these people have a completely Russian identity.

— They know Russian. Those migrants who want to take root here have incentives to integrate into society. Those who came purely temporarily do not learn Russian. But, again, they try to be noticed as little as possible. And they are absolutely not interested in any activity.