Second UPTAKE workshop on Russophone Diasporas

Second UPTAKE Workshop
Russophone diasporas and Russkiy Mir

Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University
15-16 December 2016

Multiple waves of emigration and the break-up of the Soviet Union have left around 30 million native speakers of Russian (Russophones) outside of the Russian Federation. Russian diasporas are increasingly visible in social and political lives of host countries, and present an important phenomenon of the modern world. Recently this phenomenon has acquired geo-political significance, after the Russian government deemed Russophone communities abroad as parts of the broader “Russian World” (Russkii Mir), integrated in Russia’s spheres of influence and responsibility. The emergence of the Russkiy Mir concept as a common “civilizational space” of Russia and all Russians around the world signifies a more pro-active approach of the Kremlin to diaspora policies.

The identity formation processes in Russian diasporas, their loyalties, norms and attitudes, integration or lack thereof in the host countries’ social and political mainstreams pose important and challenging problems which draw increasing attention of sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists. The workshop will bring together scholars studying various Russophone communities in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe and Israel, and the Russkiy Mir ideology and practice. The workshop will facilitate comparative analyses and cross-country and interdisciplinary collaboration over the Russkiy Mir studies. It is expected to result in an edited volume on the present trends and dilemmas in the Russkiy Mir.

It is the second workshop organised in the framework of the new UPTAKE consortium between the Centre for EU-Russia Studies (University of Tartu), the Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies (Uppsala University) and the Global Europe Centre (University of Kent).