Umida Hashimova is one of eight recipients of a Center for Humanities Research (CHR) summer 2024 doctoral fellowship. As detailed in a recent article from CHR profiling the eight recipients, these competitive summer fellowships are awarded to "doctoral fellows conducting research in the humanities" and are supported by George Mason's Graduate Division. Umida is a PhD Student in Sociology and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Immigration Research.
Umida's dissertation is entitled "Xenophobia and Racism in Russia: State Policies, Practices, and Perceptions of Migrants and Russians." An abstract for her project is included below.
As part of the CHR fellowship, Umida will give a research talk about her project on September 4th. More information about the talk is available here.
Project Abstract
Russia’s state-building process is dominated by imperialistic views where ethno-nationalism plays a binding role. As a result, Russia’s attitude toward migrants has become more xenophobic and anti-migrant. This shift is reflected in recent studies of migrant perception of discrimination and racism, opinion poll results from migrants and Russians on their perception of each other, and on the state level, increasingly stringent legalization regulations and the worsening treatment of migrants by the police. Current legalization rules and consequent punishments for non-compliance are the strictest in Russia’s history. Additionally, the number of deportation cases has been rising, and the legalization process has become highly bureaucratic, making compliance difficult for migrants.