20th Century was Time of Ethnic Minorities But 21st is Time of Ethnic Majorities, Tishkov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 19 –Academician Valery Tishkov, former Russian nationalities minister and longtime specialist on ethnography, says that there has been a fundamental shift regarding the relationship between ethnic groups who form the majority in various countries and those who are minorities in these countries.

            Commenting on the new Russian strategy document concerning nationality issues, the Russian scholar tells Kommersant that  “If the 20^th century can be called the century of minorities, now in Russia and in other countries, there is a tendency to devote greater attention to ‘demographic, historical-cultural and social-political’ majorities”  (kommersant.ru/doc/7797505).

            Tishkov develops this point with regard to Russia which during the 20^th century saw an explosion of interest by and in the numerically smaller peoples living within its borders but now, in the 21^st, is devoting more attention to the ethnic Russians who culturally and linguistically dominate the situation.

            But he situates what is happening in his country in terms of a broader trend, where in his view ever more countries are paying relatively more attention to ethnic majorities to ethnic majorities and ever less to ethnic minorities, although he insists that in both the latter won’t be ignored completely.

            And while Tishkov doesn’t say so, his words clearly imply that among countries where this shift has happened, there is a convergence of behavior and thus a convergence of interest that is likely to make those in one country be more likely to understand and even approve what is going on in another than many might expect on the basis of what happened in the 20^th century.  

            If the Russian scholar is correct in his observations about such trends, it is tragically likely that minorities will face more discrimination than they did in the last century and far greater obstacles to achieving their goals either within countries in which they live or in achieving independent statehood for themselves.