Minority Reconsidered: Towards a Typology of Latvia’s Russophone Identity

Abstract

Latvia’s Russophones are often seen as a consolidated ethno-linguistic unit. The goal of this essay is to test this assumption by exploring Russophones’ in-group differentiation over an extended period of time. Conceptually, the essay combines social representation theory with the quadratic nexus model. By analysing cross-sectional survey data it is argued that citizenship of Latvia and generational belonging are two major factors that explain the deviation from the standard model of identification that is primarily imposed by Russia as a symbolic homeland. The essay also suggests that the standard model has experienced inconsistent support over the years and this has opened up space for identification with a more emancipated in-group representation.

Notes

Mārtin¸š Kaprāns’s work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (post-doc project no. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/1/16/103). Inta Mierin¸a’s work was supported by the National Research Programme SUSTINNO.¹‘Address by President of the Russian Federation’, 18 March 2014, available at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/20603, accessed 9 November 2018.

2 The Russian-speaking population in Latvia is approximately 37% (CSB 2013).

3 See, for instance, the Facebook group EuroRussians, available at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/502687036498024/?ref=br_rs, accessed 29 November 2018.

4 These strategies are largely derived from John Berry’s (2001) theory. See also the Introduction to this Special Issue.

5 Mazākumtautību līdzdalība demokrātiskajos procesos Latvijā (Rīga, Latvijas Universitātes Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūts, 2017), available at: https://www.km.gov.lv/uploads/ckeditor/files/Sabiedribas_integracija/Petijumi/Mazakumtautibu%20lidzdaliba%20petijuma%20zinojums%202017(1).pdf, accessed 9 November 2018.

6 BISS and SKDS are private and independent local research companies whose major fields of activity include various types of public opinion research. Both companies are experienced in researching socio-political issues in Latvia and their findings are often used by Latvia’s policy-makers. More detailed information about BISS is available at: http://www.biss.soc.lv/?category=darbibasVirzieni&lang=en; and about SKDS at: http://skds.lv/about-us, accessed 17 December 2018.

7 In a few cases where information on the language used at home was not available, we relied on a proxy variable that the analysis suggested best approximates the language use at home. Thus, the respondent was considered a Russophone if: he/she answered the survey questions in Russian; if he/she answered the questions in another language, but considered him/herself a Russian (BISS 2007); or if no information on language use was available, but the native language of the respondent was Russian or bilingual, including Russian (BISS 2004, 2015).

8 The list of surveys and sources of additional information are presented in the Appendix.

9 Considering that the selected dependent variables are ordinal, an ordinal regression analysis was also attempted; however, tests of parallel lines showed that the location parameters (slope coefficients) were not the same across response categories. Therefore we opted for a logistic regression model. Nevertheless, the results are very similar to those obtained in an ordinal regression analysis.

10 Explained variation of 10% or more is usually considered a significant proportion of variation, and classification accuracy of 80% can be rated as very good.

11 However, disentangling the age and cohort effect would require a separate analysis that is beyond the scope of this essay.

12 Like Estonia, Latvia still has a large group of non-citizens (247,000 people), comprised of individuals who moved to Latvia or were born in Latvia after the Soviet occupation in 17 June 1940 and who refused to go through naturalisation after 1991 or did not pass the naturalisation exam. Non-citizens are predominately a Russophone group; a majority of them identify as ethnic Russians.

13 Mazākumtautību līdzdalība demokrātiskajos procesos Latvijā (Rīga, Latvijas Universitātes Filozofijas un socioloģijas institūts, 2017, pp. 57–9), available at: https://www.km.gov.lv/uploads/ckeditor/files/Sabiedribas_integracija/Petijumi/Mazakumtautibu%20lidzdaliba%20petijuma%20zinojums%202017(1).pdf, accessed 9 November 2018.

14 An ordinal regression analysis was not an optimal solution, as the number of respondents who gave an answer ‘fully agree’ or ‘somewhat agree’ was very small.

15 The model excludes 19% of respondents who found it difficult to express an attitude toward Russia and/or the EU.

16 See also the Introduction to this Special Issue.

17 These protests were organised in Rīga, in order to stand against the government’s decision to introduce the Latvian language as the only language of instruction in all schools. The decision provoked a high political activity among Russophones, particularly among the youngest generation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mārtiņš Kaprāns

Mārtiņš Kaprāns, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Kalpaka Boulevard 4–325, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia. Email: [email protected] http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4938-1601

Inta Mieriņa

Inta Mieriņa, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Kalpaka Boulevard 4–325, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia. Email: [email protected]