Buryat ethnos in the 21st century

The article discusses the prospects for preserving the ethno-cultural identity of the Buryat people in the 21st century. Under the conditions of the transformation of Russian society over the past twenty years and the impact of global integration processes taking place in the world the opportunities for preserving the ethno-cultural identity of the Buryat ethnic group and its language are rapidly declining. Based on the analysis of various environmental factors, we have considered the possible scenarios for the development of the Buryat ethnos in the conditions of the socio-economic crisis and in the economic stability and growth, and summed up the total prospects for preserving its ethno-cultural identity in the 21st century. The “negative” scenario for the development of the Buryat ethnic group covers the crisis period of the 1990s and early 2000s. Predictive assessments are based on an analysis of the impact of crisis phenomena on the agricultural sector and the social sphere of the village, which led to the outflow of the Buryat population from the village to the city. The economic crisis has a negative impact on the institutions of reproduction and transmission of the Buryat culture: it leads to a reduction in funding and commercialization of their activities and separation from the needs of the bulk of the ethnic group. Thus, the socioeconomic crisis accelerates the process of deethnization and acculturation of the ethnos. The “positive” scenario reflects the development of the ethnic group in the context of economic growth, however, its consequences also negatively affect the preservation of ethnic identity and language, since the needs of the economic development of the ancestral territory of the Buryat ethnic group will entail an influx of labour resources, that is, a population of other ethnicities, which will reduce the demographic power of the Buryat ethnic group. Thus, the economic growth, as well as the economic crisis will contribute to the acculturation and assimilation of the Buryats. In the context of global integration processes taking place in the world and the current policy of Russia, the opportunities of preserving the ethno-cultural identity of the Buryat ethnos and its language due to objective reasons will gradually decrease in the 21st century.