Antonova V. Diversity Management and Concepts of Multiculturalism in Russia

December 2007. — 57 p.
Language Editing – Martin BakerManaging ethnic diversity in multicultural Russia has recently become even more of an urgent issue than it used to be. The civil service as a societal institution may not distance itself from this problem if it seeks to effectively administer society’s life and to be an institution in which citizens have trust and confidence.
The present policy paper sought to analyze the capability of the Russian civil service to adopt multiculturalism, first in its employment policy and later more broadly as a social policy for the regional community. The concept of ‘multiculturalism’ has been studied through more relevant to the post-Soviet and Russian times notion of the ‘nationality question’. An attempt to illuminate the specificity of the Russian approach to multicultural policies if they were to be developed in the civil service in Russia has been made in the policy paper. The main matters of concern were the attitudes and values of the senior civil servants in the regional governments of the Saratov and Perm regions in Russia.
A number of policy advices have been developed to make civil service in Russia more diverse and therefore improve the efficacy of this institution.Methodology
Choosing Target Departments and Gaining Ac cess to Them
Data Collection
Background and Current Issues
Civil Servants’ Personal Attitudes, and their Effect on a Conceptualizing of Multiculturalism
Conclusions and Recommendations: An Assessment of ‘Russian Multiculturalism’ Alternatives, and Some Strategies That May be Pursued