Elena P. Martynova

Professor, Doctor of Science (History), Professor of the Department of history and archaeology of the Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

(Tula, Russia)

Abstract. The article is based on the materials of an ethnosociological survey which aim was to study the attitude of the region's population towards labor migrants and the prospects for their adaptation and integration. The poll took place in the spring of 2017 in the Tula region (Tula, Novomoskovsk, Shchekino, Uzlovaya). Among the migrant workers who come to the region, there are predominantly immigrants from neighboring countries, which were part of the USSR not in such a distant past. The author notes that about half of Tula residents consider the former Soviet people as compatriots. Nevertheless, there is a barrier in the perception of newcomers from neighboring countries: the vast majority of respondents have a negative attitude to co-education with migrant children, do not approve marriages with them. Special attention is paid to the impact of migration on the labor market in the region. The absolute majority of respondents believes that migrant labor in the region is in demand in such areas as housing and communal services, construction, road works and agriculture. At the same time, respondents do not want to see immigrants in industries that involve a high level of qualification of employees. In a situation where the presence of migrants is noticeable on the streets of cities in the region, the question of including or "not including" immigrants in Russian society becomes particularly important. There are language and cultural barriers between the local population and immigrants supported by the majority of respondents. More than half of the residents of the Tula region share the line on adaptation and integration of migrants and support the idea of developing appropriate programs, which should involve public organizations, business structures and, of course, migrants themselves.
Keywords: Tula region, migrant workers, public opinion, host community, adaptation, integration.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Martynova, EP 2020, ‘Migrant workers in the Tula region: responses of the local population and prospects of integration’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 4 (4), pp. 46-55, URL: http://tula-vestnik.ru/pdf/2020/vipusk_4_29_12_20.pdf (in Russ.)

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