Minority youth, everyday racism and public spaces in contemporary Russia

Abstract

This article examines the impact of global change and post-Soviet political transformation on diasporic youth cultural practices and experience in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia. While young Armenians' leisure spaces are characterized by inclusive notions of ethnic plurality and tolerance, sometimes individuals are racialized or ethnicized when they pass through public spaces. Young Armenians' leisure spaces are ethnically structured, but not ethnically exclusive. This article challenges the view that young people from ethnic minorities are passive recipients of everyday racism. Instead, it is suggested that young Armenians have routinized their responses to racism and xenophobia in their everyday practices, and so are able to undermine the dominant political discourse.

A Clash of Racializations: The Policing of ‘Race’ and of Anti-Muslim Racism in Ireland

“…In the case of Ziemer’s (2011) study, it was argued that acceptance is characteristic of Armenian culture. Some of the participants in this study have also claimed that acceptance (on the part of other Muslims, never themselves) is culturally driven, yet the data do not support these claims.…”

“…The more you give to them, the more they'll keep retaliating …. (Aalia, advising her children that she will let them play in the front garden under enforced conditions) This strategy can be construed as a means of preventing further escalation of the situation and is a common response to racism on the part of many minorities (Ahluwalia and Pellettiere, 2010;Herbert et al, 2008;Ziemer, 2011). Passive responses of this variety are often infused with acceptance, i.e.…”

“…This strategy can be construed as a means of preventing further escalation of the situation and is a common response to racism on the part of many minorities (Ahluwalia and Pellettiere, 2010; Herbert et al, 2008; Ziemer, 2011). Passive responses of this variety are often infused with acceptance, i.e.…”

West-Central Asia: A comparative analysis of students’ trajectories in Russia (Moscow) from the 1980s and China (Yiwu) from the 2000s

“…Regardless of their origin or skin color, these populations in the context of Moscow might include Muslims from the Caucasus and Central Asia, Africans, Arabs, and Vietnamese (cf. Roman, 2002;Sahadeo, 2016;Ziemer, 2011 Moscow, were men. I have not been able to establish whether this gendered aspect is related to the quantities of scholarships offered by the USSR to men from West Asia rather than to women.…”

“…Regardless of their origin or skin color, these populations in the context of Moscow might include Muslims from the Caucasus and Central Asia, Africans, Arabs, and Vietnamese (cf. Roman, 2002; Sahadeo, 2016; Ziemer, 2011).…”