Labour Migrants in Post-Soviet Moscow: Patterns of Settlement

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 2017. Vol. 43. No. 15. P. 2556–2572.

Demintseva E.

This article explores the impact of social and spatial structure of Moscow on the patterns of settlement of labour migrants. It emphasizes the ways in which the structure of post-Soviet urban environment differs from the European and U.S. ones, and uses interviews with guest workers from Central Asia to map out the barriers encountered today by migrants looking for housing, as well as the strategies they employ in their search for accommodation in Moscow. Special attention is paid to the role played by ethnic networks in the lives of migrant workers, and the ways in which these networks are configured by the urban space. The article demonstrates how the absence of spatial segregation in the post-Soviet city, inherited from the Soviet period, affects the trajectories of social and economic integration of migrants and explains the absence of ‘ethnic areas’ in today’s Moscow.

Keywords: Москва, Moscow, социальная интеграция, экономическая интеграция, labour migrants, Мигранты из Средней Азии, post-Soviet city, Patterns of Settlement, social and economic integration, Пост-советский город

Publication based on the results of: Migrants in a metropolis: Opportunities for socioeconomic integration in the city. Comparative analysis. Russian and international experience (2016)