Identities and cultural orientations of Russian-speaking women in the process of transnational marriage migration to the Netherlands

2015. No. 3.

Akifyeva R. N., Erashova V.

The working paper is based on the results of the study of Russian-speaking women who have moved or are going to move to the Netherlands to live with their Dutch partners. Based on an analysis of interviews, we study how their cultural practices and identities form and change in the process of the experience of migration and of living in “mixed” families. Despite the cultural compromise which is inherent to some extent for all families, at the level of identification and certain cultural practices, we observe, in some cases, a tendency towards ethnicization. Respondents begin to interpret a wide range of events and situations in ethnic categories, to actualize ethnic features and differences, as well as to form an orientation towards their concept of national culture. Ethnicity as femininity can act as symbolic capital, which women do not want to lose, and which is highly appreciated by her partner. These trends are explained in terms of integration.

Keywords: идентичность, интеграция, integration, identity, cultural exchanges, transnational marriage migration, mixed unions, Russian-speaking migrants, транснациональная брачная миграция, смешанные союзы, межкультурный обмен, русскоязычные мигранты