Varshaver, E., Gupalova, J., Orlova, A. (2024). Are there only two ethnic groups in Moscow: Slavs and Southerners? Research on vernacular categorization with elicitation methods used.

Abstract: This report presents the results of a study of the construction of ethnicity in Moscow in terms of categories used in everyday categorizations, as well as indicators pointing that people encountered belong to certain ethnic categories. The study was conducted at the intersection of classical and innovative methods, including video elicitation, walk-along, etc. During the study, 41 interviews were conducted. Informants differed based on a variety of characteristics, including migration history/length of residence in Moscow, ethnic category of identification, gender, age, etc. The study showed that categorization in everyday Moscow occurs on the basis of two classifications: the official classification by nationality, the roots of which go back to the Soviet national policy, and the vernacular classification, which includes two or three categories: "Slav" and "Southerner", while the latter category includes "Caucasus" and "Asia". The classification by nationalities is, on the one hand, too detailed for "users", and such specificity has no practical meaning, on the other hand, the categories within it lack indicators for it to be used in everyday life. The binary/ternary classification, in turn, while being based on meaningful categories, is too informal and does not have its own imaginaries to displace the classification by nationalities. As a result, each classificatory act is essentially a compromise between these two classifications and uses them both. In addition to these findings, the report provides answers to the question of what thought processes are used in categorization in everyday life, what ethnic imaginaries exist within the Moscow construction of ethnicity, how non-Russian-speaking foreigners who have recently arrived in Russia categorize other people, etc. The report is addressed to everyone interested in the topic of ethnicity and is intended as a basis for an interdisciplinary dialogue on ethnicity between representatives of social and cognitive sciences.