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Abstract
This article examines Russia’s civics and history test, which has been mandatory, since January 2015, for millions of labor migrants applying for a work permit. An analysis of the test’s content and of the context in which it was adopted provides a strong case to study how autocracies can use civics tests as instruments of control. Specifically, I argue that the test must be understood in light of Russia’s state-sponsored nationalism, latent xenophobic sentiments, and its increasingly restrictive and incoherent migration policy. Not only are many questions irrelevant or disconnected from migrants’ everyday concerns: their personal experiences of paying bribes, obtaining fake certificates, or being harassed by the police often contradict the correct answers on the exam. While it is doubtful that this test – along with several other new requirements imposed on migrants – will dissuade foreign laborers to seek employment in Russia, it is bound to make them even more vulnerable to bribes.
Keywords:
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Burul Usmanalieva for her constructive feedback and valuable comments during both the research and writing phases of this manuscript, and to Jennifer Jackman and Elizabeth Coughlan for reviewing the final draft.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. A Russian language test for foreign workers has been in place in Russia since 2012.
2. Migrant Integration Policy Index: http://www.mipex.eu/.
4. As argued by Schenk (Citation2012), the Russian government officially promotes inclusion and multiculturalism while indirectly promoting ethnic nationalism in a “passive-aggressive” manner.
5. See, for instance, “Sistemu testirovaniia migrantov raskritikovali v Obshchevennoi palate” (The system of migrant testing was discussed in the Public Chamber), Izvestiia, March 17, 2016. http://izvestia.ru/news/606643.
6. See, for example, “Novye pravila pozvoliaiot kachestvenno integrirovat’ migrantov v nashi obshchestvo - ekspert” (New rules allow for quality integration of migrants in our society – expert). Regnum. March 6, 2015. https://regnum.ru/news/polit/1902586.
7. See “Hope and Fear: Kyrgyz Migrants in Russia.” Irin News, April 24, 2015. http://www.irinnews.org/report/101398/hope-and-fear-kyrgyz-migrants-russia.
8. The Russian Orthodox Church also published a textbook in December 2014 to help migrants pass the test with advice such as “don’t push in public” and be “chivalrous toward women” (Balmforth Citation2014).
9. Samples of the Russian language test can be found here: http://www.utmn.ru/upload/medialibrary/d6f/Примерные%20вопросы%20по%20русскому%20языку%20как%20иностранному.pdf.
10. The sample questions refer to: Andrei Rublev, Mikhail Lomonosov, Alexander Pushkin, Dmitrii Mendeleev, Lev Tolstoy, Petr Tchaikovsky, Fedor Dostoyevsky, Anton Chekov, Anton Popov, Sergei Korolov, Yurii Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
11. One topic question asks, “How many Soviet citizens died during the Great Patriotic War?”
12. The questions are: “When and under which empress did the Crimean Peninsula become part of Russia?,” “In what year and at whose initiative was Soviet Crimea transferred from the Russian Federation to Ukraine?,” and “Name the Republic that was joined to Russia in 2014.”
13. For example: “Who is the head of the Russian Orthodox Church?,” “When did Russia adopt Christianity?,” or “What famous Orthodox churches were built in ancient Russia?”
14. “What is one of the main organizations of Russian Muslims?”
15. The right answer is: “a multinational state.”
16. “Are Russia and the Russian Federation equivalent terms?,” “What type of territory is Russia?,” and “What are the different subjects of the Russian Federation?”
17. An example can be found here: http://gct.msu.ru/docs/Modul_testirovaniya_OSNOVY-ZAKONODATELSTVA-RF.pdf.
18. A practice test posted on the site of the State University of Tiumen gave this specific question about the police:
You come to your apartment and find that it was robbed. You call the police to report the robbery, asking when the police will arrive at the crime scene. However, the police officer says he is tired, and asks you to call next week. To what extent is it a legitimate response from the police officer?
19. Further examples from an online practice test include these two questions: “1) In Russia the right to liberty and security of the person extends to: All, including foreigners/Only to permanent residents and citizens/Only to Russian citizens. 2) Foreigners, who have all the necessary documents can: Move freely in Russia/Cannot move freely in Russia/Can move freely only as part of a tour group.”
20. An online practice test includes this question about the Soviet Union: “One of the most important achievements of the USSR in the first half of the twentieth century has been: The elimination of illiteracy/The abolition of serfdom/Judicial reform.”
21. An analysis of the manifesto of the Pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi by Laruelle (Citation2012) reached similar conclusions, portraying the 1917 revolution as a positive step in modernizing Russia or claiming that individual freedoms can only be achieved in a sovereign state free from Western influences.
22. Another example is the Dutch oversea integration test which exempts individuals from the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the United States (Human Rights Watch Citation2008).
23. A sample question is “Which of the following are basic rights and duties of the police? (detaining individuals, having access to premises, checking passport, looking for missing individuals).”
24. See these news stories: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Tajik Service. 2016. “Tajik Official Says Migration To Russia Down.” June 22. http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik-official-says-migration-to-russia-down/27873757.html. Pannier, Bruce. 2016. “Down and Out in Central Asia.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. April 9. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/return±migrants±russia/154005267f62b131. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2016. “Uzbekistan: Karimov’s Successor Faces an Economic Mess.” September 1. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/8038.