Rethinking Interethnic Marriage in the Soviet Union

Abstract

An expert on minorities and nationalism in the Soviet Union and Russia examines the impact of interethnic marriage on ethnic identity. The extensive literature on intermarriage produced by Soviet scholars as well as the work of Western scholars on this subject is analyzed in terms of the findings, methodologies, and conceptions of ethnic identity that formed the framework for such studies. These are compared with other possible approaches to underlying questions about the sources and nature of ethnic identity and the problem of how ethnic identity should be conceptualized.

Understanding the “Russian Mortality Paradox” in Central Asia: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan

“…(Only one ethnicity can be reported on a death certificate or census record.) Although there is some degree of intermarriage among Slavic ethnic groups and among central Asian ethnic groups, ethnically mixed marriages that cross the central Asian versus Slavic line have been very rare in central Asia (Gorenburg 2006). Therefore, possible numerator/denominator inconsistencies are likely to be largely addressed after detailed ethnic groups are merged into broader central Asian versus Slavic groups.…”

Ethnicity, russification and excess mortality in Kazakhstan

“…Children of inter-ethnic marriages may choose which official ethnic identity to adopt at age 16; most children with one Russian parent and no Kazakh parent choose to identify as Russian, and a majority of children with one Kazakh parent identify as Kazakh (Dave, 2007). As more Russian women intermarry than men, Gorenburg (2006) suggests that ethnic identification may be more closely tied to paternal ethnicity than to ethnic “allegiance”, and thus many children of intermarriages claim official Kazakh ethnicity but have a quintessentially Russian home life. There are significant material incentives to claim Kazakh ethnicity for those who can do so, and a majority of children with Kazakh parentage claim Kazakh identity.…”

Kazakhstan and Estonia: Evaluation of Preferences in Intermarriages

“…Работа Д. Горенбурга [Gorenburg, 2006] переосмысливает роль межэтнических браков в советской культуре и социально-экономическом развитии. Само явление рассматривается уже в более широком смысле, и в статье автор рассматривает влияние межэтнических браков на национальную самоидентификацию.…”