Mellon Forum // Patterns of Russian In-Migration and Settlement over Soviet History

This talk will review the ways in which the Soviet regime fostered Russian migration and settlement into the non-Russian republics of the USSR over the course of Soviet history.  Massive Russian in-migration into non-Russian republics was related in significant part to Soviet industrialization efforts and often involved the import of large numbers of Russian workers (as well as technical and managerial personnel) to development projects in the non-Russian republics.  This of course had a particular impact on patterns of ethnic stratification and class structure in the Soviet republics.  It also affected how ethnicity intersected with patterns of spatial settlement in cities in non-Russian areas.  But Russian in-migration was also related to acts of conquest and assimilation of new territories (especially in the Western territories), as well as to instances of forced relocation and genocide.  These processes left lasting impacts on most non-Russian areas of the USSR, altering the demographic facts on the ground in many republics and setting the stage for much of the politics of nationalism that accompanied and followed the Soviet collapse.

Special funding for this session is provided by Princeton Politics and the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

The Spring 2025 Mellon Forum on the Urban Environment is kindly sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and the following Princeton University departments and programs: African Studies, Anthropology, Art & Archaeology, Brazil LAB, Center for Collaborative History, Chadha Global India Center, Effron Center for the Study of America, English, French & Italian, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Humanities Council, Politics, PIIRS, Program in Latin American Studies, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the School of Architecture.

Mellon Forum events are free and open to the public. Lunch is provided while supplies last.