Fellows of Laboratory for Social and Anthropological Research (LSAR) Irina Nam and Anton Sadyrin presented at an international conference in Moscow
Did you know that:
- According to the UN, there are 258 million migrants globally;
- Of which 64.5 million are forced migrants;
- 50% of women on the move experience violence.
The majority of migrants and displaced people end up living in cities, and across the world, movement of people changes urban landscapes and infrastructures. Recently this issue has become of interest to both scholars and managers in Russia. As post-Soviet cities, in many respects, differ from those in North America and Europe – as do integration strategies adopted by the incoming population – analytic and management models need to be developed that would be adequate for a particular context. These, among other things, were discussed at the International conference, titled ‘Migration, Displacement, and Urban Development’, which was held in Moscow on 26-27 September 2019. The conference brought together scholars, businesses, and representatives of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and was focused on migrant experiences in the urban spaces of Russia and beyond. More detailed information about the conference can be found on the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) website here. During the conference session on migrant business activity, the fellows of Laboratory for Social and Anthropological Research (National Research Tomsk State University) Irina Nam and Anton Sadyrin gave a presentation, titled ‘The café chain “Osh”: an element of migrant infrastructure or a means of integrating into the host society?’. The research data presented had been collected by them and other researchers – Diana Bryazgina and Fyodor Smetanin – via participant observations, field notes, and interviews in the Osh cafés across the city of Tomsk within two months.
Analysis of the data revealed that:
- The café chain ‘Osh’ is a migrant business and the city’s popular eatery not identified as ‘ethnic’
- It is an element of migrant infrastructure, yet from the start these cafés have been open to the public at large;
- The Osh chain is transparent and is not part of any ‘enclave’ or ‘cluster’.
The video-recorded conference sessions can be accessed at the link here, along with an interview with Vladimir S. Malakhov on various aspects of migration (available here).
