?
Intercultural Policies and Practices and Their Perspectives in Russia
The paradigm of multiculturalism, which had been widely rec- ognized in both academic and political circles in the last third of the 20th cen- tury, is in crisis and requires either rethinking or replacement by another model; this could combine the virtues of multiculturalism in supporting cul- tural diversity with the need to consolidate society. This article analyzes the advantages of a new paradigm of diversity management known as “intercul- turalism,” and provides an overview of intercultural policies and practices using Québec (a province in Canada) and the Council of Europe’s Intercul- tural Cities Program as examples. The article focuses primarily on the prospects of implementing the latter model in Russia in order to regulate eth- nic relations. It is argued that the “nationalities policy” conception applied in Russia would benefit from including of certain intercultural policies and prac- tices. The article outlines the limits of application of the concept of intercul- turalism in the Russian context, and identifies points of convergence of eth- nopolitical trends in Russia and other Global North countries. The authors rely on the results of the research project “New approaches and methods of regulation of ethnopolitical relations on the territory of the largest urban agglomerations of Russia,” and, particularly, on sociological data acquired in three Russian million-cities (Perm, Rostov-on-Don, and Ufa). These three cases are scrutinized with regard to practices of mutual accommodation deployed by different ethnic communities of urban populations.