Abstract
This chapter discusses methodological challenges in the study of recent Russian-speaking migration to the UK and issues related to the diverse nature of the UK-based population of the Russian diaspora. Specifically, it analyses the relationships between the estimates of the Russian speakers and community-produced strategies of self-representation. These are examined through the prism of media discourses and statistical figures, in themselves contradictory and complex to analyse. This chapter argues that the complex nature of post-Soviet/Russian cultural identity and the existing media narratives in the emigration country affect ongoing processes of diasporisation and self-identification both in Russia and elsewhere and play a vital role in understanding the nature of the post-Soviet Russian-speaking diaspora abroad.
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Notes
- 1.
2011 Census: Quick Statistics for local authorities in England and Wales. Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/…/census/2011-census/…england-and-wales/rft-qs204ew.xls
- 2.
See UK Population by Country of Birth and Nationality, Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/…/rft-table-5-pop-by-cob-jan-14-to-dec-14.xls
- 3.
See “Immigration Statistics, January to March 2014” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tables-for-immigration-statistics-january-to-march-2014
- 4.
See for example: The estimates of 300,000 (workpermit.com, 2006) or even 600,000 Russians (IOM mapping exercise 2007) are still used in the media, e.g. Merz (The Telegraph, 2013) and Ostler (Daily Mail, 2013), and other discussions on migration by Dmitrieva and Yuferova (“Why are Russians moving to Britain?” in The Telegraph, 2011). See also the more recent “The Russians did come – but not as some in postwar Britain imagined” by Jack (Guardian, 2014). A typical “millionaire story” is depicted by Murphy (“The Poison-and-Caviar World of Russian Oligarchs in London” in the Jewish Russian Telegraph, 2007) and again in Navzorov, (“Snob Appeal” in Spears, 2009).
- 5.
Russian-speaking societies around universities (Oxford, Cambridge, LSE), professional networks (Russians in the UK, Russians in the City), Russian Schools, local groups (Russian Manchester), etc.
- 6.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVN. The official website: http://kvnuk.co.uk/
- 7.
Interview with Yulia Titova (in Russian), http://www.russiangap.com/2014/08/yulya-titova-nashi-devushki-ne-pozvolyat-sebe-vy-jti-iz-doma-neponyatno-v-chem-i-sest-na-ulitse-na-asfal-t/
- 8.
Ethnographic observations and interviews conducted with Russian migrants, 2007–2009 for the PhD study Creating a Home from Home: Russian Communities in the UK.
- 9.
See special issues of GQ magazine (in Russian) http://www.gq.ru/taste/travel/61459_kuda_khodyat_russkie_v_londone.php and the article by Chichvarkin in the Guardian (2012), http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/02/moscow-thames-londongrad-yevgeny-chichvarkin
- 10.
- 11.
See “‘It makes us all look like prostitutes and criminals’: Russian Dolls reality TV show sparks fury”, Daily Mail, 2011
- 12.
Some recent publications about how Russians are affected by the Ukrainian crisis: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/25/russians-living-london-backlash-flight-mh17-blame and http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/06/among-the-russians-in-london.
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Pechurina, A. (2017). Post-Soviet Russian-Speaking Migration to the UK: The Discourses of Visibility and Accountability. In: Nikolko, M., Carment, D. (eds) Post-Soviet Migration and Diasporas. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47773-2_3
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