Samara Kirghiz people: specifics of ethnic identification and socio-cultural adaptation in a polyethnic urban space

The paper presents the results of the study of the Kirghiz diaspora in Samara, which revealed the features of ethnic identification and socio-cultural adaptation of the community members. The study is based on the authors’ field materials gathered in the city in 2018 through qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaires). The authors revealed the main factors of ethnic and cultural identification of Samara Kirghiz people such as language, common origin, and elements of ethnic culture represented in private and public space of the city. The ethnic (Kirghiz) priorities in the construction of social space provide functionality and reproduction of cultural and linguistic characteristics of community members. At the same time, the members of the community are characterized by active interethnic contacts and orientation to the highest possible social integration into the urban space: the desire to get education, citizenship, work, and to organize daily life. The integrative model of behavior is characteristic to the younger generation first of all, while the older generation views Samara rather as a place of work for further return to the historical homeland.