SOCIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF INTER-ETHNIC AND INTER-CONFESSIONAL RELATIONS OF THE FEDERAL AGENCY FOR ETHNIC AFFAIRS

Abstract

Assessing the inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations in the Russian Federation and indentifying the factors that cause tensions are the core of the Russian national policy. Despite generally favorable situation, new centers of tensions occasionally appear, and frozen conflicts come out; radical and extremist organizations, such as ISIL, an organization banned in Russia, have their effects on Russians. This problem is recognized by Russians; most of them point out the acuteness of the problem and intolerance in inter-ethnic and inter-confessional affairs. The paper describes a new model of sociological monitoring of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations consisting of three modules: simultaneous representative surveys in all the regions of Russia with a unified methodology; mixed methods research focused on challenging territories and/or ethnic and social groups; expert (advisory) panel. Russian perceptions of the poly-ethnicity in the Russian Federation and recognition of the equality of ethnic groups are considered using empirical evidence. The authors propose to tackle the problem of inter-ethnic intolerance in an integrated manner: on the one hand, it is necessary to monitor how people personally perceive their experiences of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relationships, and on the other hand, how people themselves treat others in inter-ethnic and inter-confessional situations.