Are There Only Two Ethnic Groups in Moscow: Slavs and Southerners? Research on Vernacular Categorization Using Elicitation Methods

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study of ethnic categories used in everyday categorizations. The study was conducted at the intersection of classical and innovative cognitive science-inspired methods, including video elicitation and the walk-along method. During the study, 41 interviews were conducted. Informants differed based on a variety of characteristics, including migration history/length of residence in Moscow, their ethnic category of identification, gender, age, etc. The study showed that categorization in everyday Moscow occurs on the basis of two classifications: the official classification by nationality, the roots of which go back to Soviet national policy, and the vernacular classification that includes two or three categories: “Slav” and “Southerner”, while the latter category includes “Caucasus” and “Asia”. The classification by nationalities is both too detailed for its “users” and lacks practical meaning — the used in everyday life. The binary/ternary classification, in turn — while being based on meaningful categories — is too informal and does not have its own imaginaries to displace a classification by nationalities. As a result, each classificatory act is essentially a compromise between these two classifications and uses them both, prioritizing binary and ternary classification.