The risks of 'colonizing the future': the russian avos' and tajiik tavakkalan in the university space of Tomsk

The steady growth of educational migration from Tajikistan to Russia and issues of enculturation of migrant students who are likely to stay in Russia raise the question of improving Russian language learning. The article, drawing on methodological approaches laid out in E. Giddens's, U. Beck's and N. Luhmann's work, studies this question through the prism of 'risk'. The habit of relying on avos' / tavakkalan or hope that things will somehow work out on their own is considered the subjective reason behind poor knowledge of the Russian language. It is believed that the quality of human capital acquired over the years at the university may result in the division of migrant students from Tajikistan into the successful 'new Russian Asians' who got well educated in Russia and achieved a lot and those who found themselves on the sidelines of life because of poor education. The latter may start harboring bad feelings toward the host society and join criminal or terrorist groups. The decision of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science making possible the learning of the Russian language instead of a foreign one is seen as a tool which will help better the quality of education. The article draws on in-depth individual interviews conducted by the author with students from Tajikistan, leaders of the Tajiik diaspora in Siberian cities, and the faculty of Tomsk universities as well as other host society members. It is written in the framework of the project 'Man in a Changing World. Identity and Social Adaptation: Past and Present' (the Russian government grant #14.B25.31.0009).

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