Migrant Workers in Russia: Global Challenges of the Shadow Economy in Societal Transformation / Edition 1

by Anna-Liisa Heusala, Kaarina Aitamurto

Overview

Russia has a very large pool of economic migrants, up to 25% of the workforce according to some estimates. Although many migrants, many from former Soviet countries which are now independent, entered Russia legally, they frequently face bureaucratic obstacles to legal employment and Russian citizenship, factors which have led to a very large “shadow economy”. This book presents a comprehensive examination of migrant labour in Russia. It describes the nature of migrant labour, explores the shadow economy and its unfortunate consequences, and discusses the rise of popular sentiment against migrants and the likely impact. The book also sets the Russian experiences of migrant labour in context, comparing the situation in Russia with that in other countries with significant migrant labour workforces.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138100831
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/19/2016
Series:	Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Anna-Liisa Heusala is a Senior Researcher in the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Kaarina Aitamurto is a Researcher in the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Russian Societal Transformation and Migrant Workers in the Shadow Economy

2. Migration policies in Russia: laws and debates

3. Russian Foreign Policy and Migrant Workers

4. Beyond Conjunctures of Russiaʼs National Future: Migrants and Refugees in Russiaʼs Political Discourse in 2013 and 2014

5. Migration and Transnational Informality in Post-Soviet Societies: Ethnographic Study of Po rukam (‘Handshake’) Experiences of Uzbek Migrant Workers in Moscow

6. Between Exploitation and Expulsion: Labour Migration, Shadow Economy, and Organized Crime

7. Religion and Discussions about the Integration of Migrants

8. Implications of Migration for the Development of Russian Social Policy

9. Conclusions: Societal and Political Consequences of the Shadow Economy in Russia