Doctoral dissertation "Socio-economic Integration of African Migrants in Russia"

Congratulations on the successful defense of PhD by our colleague Isaac Oni! The topic of PhD is: "Socio-economic Integration of African Migrants in Russia". We wish you all the best in your future career and will be glad to continue our collaboration!

Clay Banks

This dissertation examines the integration process of African migrants in Russia (Moscow). The African migrant community in Russia remains an understudied group among migrant communities in Russia. Though, African migrants constitute a small fragment of migrants’ community in Russia, their population within the Russian landscape is gradually increasing. Most of the academic research on African migrants have predominantly focused on student migrants without considering the gradual increase of labor migrants from Africa. According to the Russian statistics, as many labor migrants from Africa are arriving in Russia, many are also departing. This dissertation investigates the strategies employed by African migrants to cope with the challenges encountered in Russia and how this has facilitated their integration process. Using a qualitative research method, this research explores three context-based topics which include: sociability, housing market and labor market. Therefore, revealing the situations that African migrants are exposed to and how they have been able to adapt. Viewing these topics through the lenses of the African migrants, the research reveals individual and collective approaches of coping strategies employed by African migrants. Using the ‘thick skin’ and surrogate method are individual strategies used by African migrants to cope within the social arena while ethnic entrepreneurship is a coping strategy used in the economic environment. Drawing conclusions from in-depth interviews with labor migrants from African countries, much is learned about their experiences and how it has shaped their perceptions about their host country.

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