Jennifer Barrett[1]
Enumerating the Komi
Republic:
An ethnographic snapshot of Syktyvkar
during the collection of the 2002 all-russian census
As in the other regions of the Russian Federation, census takers collected information from the population of Syktyvkar, the capital city of Komi beginning on October 9, 2002. Syktyvkar has a population of approximately 243,000.[2] In this ethnically diverse city with a large population, one might expect that issues of ethnicity in the census would be contentious. However, the collection of the census came and went without any major events. I witnessed no overt hostility or organized protest. The population was counted over a period of eight days.
With the assistance of Iurii P. Shabaev of the Syktyvkar branch of the Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, I gathered observational data in Syktyvkar during the time of the census collection (October 9 – 16, 2002). We monitored media coverage of the census, before, during, and after its collection. I conducted semi-structured formal interviews with four census enumerators and one enumerator instructor. These five interviews ranged from 30 to 45 minutes and were audio recorded. Additionally, I spoke with many people at census offices, in shops, at the market, on the street, and at Internet cafes.
Of the more than 4,000 enumerators in the Komi Republic, approximately half were students and unemployed people.[3] A more precise breakdown is 29% college student, 20% unemployed people, and 21% pensioners.[4] By far, the most common reason enumerators gave for taking the job was to earn money. Some students also said that they were using the job to gain practical experience collecting data. Others spoke of their love for their country and willingness to do work that would benefit its population. The consensus among the enumerators two whom I spoke was that the three day training program was excessive. In fact, the enumerator instructor expressed the same sentiment.
As in most regions of the Russian
Federation, television news coverage during the census was extensive. People in the Komi Republic were exposed to
television advertisements encouraging participation as well as feature stories
at both the national and regional level.
In the many hours I spent walking around various neighborhoods in
Syktyvkar, I noticed the conspicuous absence of census poster
advertisements. After spending a great
deal of time actively searching for posters or billboards, I decided to ask
passersby what sorts of census advertisements they had noticed. I posed this question to approximately 30
people on the street. Almost everyone I
tried to stop was willing to speak to me.
All of them were aware that the census was taking place at the time and
most planned to participate. The
majority described radio or television advertisements and some even repeated
slogans from the ads. Very few people had
seen any posters or billboards. Those
who mentioned advertisements of this sort usually directed me to signs on the
doors of census offices.
Coverage of the 2002 census in Russian language print media in the Komi republic was moderate before, during, and following the period of data collection. Concerns about physical safety of the young students collecting census data were voiced in the popular press. On the first day of the census collection a female enumerator was violently attacked in central Syktyvkar[5]. Another article expressed concern that only a small number of police officers were available to accompany enumerators.[6] In my discussions with young enumerators (female and male), everyone claimed that they only rarely felt threatened while collecting census data. In all cases in which the enumerators reported feeling unsafe, they had no trouble securing a police escort.
Iurii Shabaev’s monitoring of print media coverage leading up to the census yielded articles detailing the importance of collecting the most detailed and accurate picture possible of nationality, ethnicity, and language in the Komi Republic[7] as well as articles discussing the political issues involved in the inclusion of small groups, such as the Komi-Izhem in Goskomstat’s list of ethnicities.[8]
Other articles were concerned with groups that are difficult to count, such as the homeless population[9] and with people who chose not to participate in the census.[10] Indeed, based on questionnaires I administered to homeless people outside a market area in Syktyvkar, it seems that there may have been an undercount of this population. Although my information comes from a group of homeless gathered in a single location, on the last day of census collection, virtually none of them reported having taken part in the census. The same was true of recent immigrants surveyed on the same day. Many said that no enumerator had been to their residence.
The overwhelming sentiment expressed, especially by local census officials, was that ethnicity was not a problem in the collection of census data in Komi. Indeed, in an interview, one enumerator instructor described Komi as “a republic without nationalism.” Again, I witnessed no overt ethnic tension in Syktyvkar related to the collection of the census. Additionally, although knowledge of the census was high, active interest in its collection appeared to be quite low.
Language was also a key issue in the collection of census data. Several enumerators found it very problematic when individuals wanted to list native language as something other than the language consistent with their ethnicity. One enumerator saw the overlap between language and ethnicity as so complete that he admitted that he rarely asked the question of native language. Along with Russian, Komi shares the status of official language of the Komi Republic. Street signs and names of state buildings are printed both in Russian and Komi language. However, it is clear that, in practice, Russian is dominant in Syktyvkar. Younger people seem to express little interest in Komi language and culture, and some even cast both in a negative light.
For the general population, the census seems to have approached a full count in Syktyvkar. This is indicated by post-census questionnaires, pre-census discussions of plans to participate, and high response rates consistently reported by enumerators. However, those not counted were a very select group, consisting of the homeless, people living in poor housing, older people, and the chronically ill. For multiple reasons, socioeconomic class may have been an especially formidable barrier to achieving a full count of the Komi population. A self-described poor pensioner told me that he had no plans to participate in the census because it could not possibly benefit him. He claimed that many people in his situation agreed that the census was useless and “a game of the rich.” Additionally, many enumerators cited dissatisfaction with state and local services as the principle reason people chose not to participate in the census. One enumerator recounted a story: “In one apartment, I asked ‘Why do you not want to participate in the census?’ and they answered me, ‘We don’t have hot water, and so we don’t want to.’” Others expressed more clearly the sentiment of being unwilling to help the government until the government is willing to help them.
Although the census passed without major incident, there were still interesting issues in the collection of data in the Komi Republic. As I discuss in detail elsewhere,[11] the relationship between age, ethnic identity, and linguistic identity in the Komi Republic raises several significant questions. The Komi case can potentially tell us much about the nature of identity, particularly ethnic identity. We have much to learn through further exploration of ethnic identity in the Komi Republic.
[1] jbb@mail.la.utexas.edu. Department of Sociology. The University of Texas at Austin
[2] V.IA Skvoznikov, L.K. Illarionova, M. IU. Kudinova, and E.B. Vasilenko, eds. Statisticheskii Ezhegodnik Respubliki Komi. Syktyvkar: Russian Academy of Sciences (2002).
[3] “Studenty i Bezrabotnye Nachali Perepicyvat’ Trudnodostupnye Raiony.” Moskovskii Komsomolets v Komi, September 5-12, 2002.
[4] E. Shelest. “Perepischiki Otpravilis’ v <<Medvezh’i Ugly>>.” Krasnoe Znamya, September 5, 2002.
[5] Iurii Iaglov. “I Kto My Posle Etogo?” Argumenty i Fakty – Komi, 42 (198) October 2002.
[6] Dar’ia Aleksandrova. “Perepis’: Po Slukham i Ofitsial’no.” Moskovskii Komsomolets v Komi, October 17-24, 2002.
[7] Svetlana Smoleva. “Perepis’ 2002: Kakuyu Hochesh’ – Bybirai.” Respublika, September 18, 2002.
[8] Pavel Aleksandrov. “Natsional’nyi Vopros.” Molodezh’ Severa, September 12, 2002.
“Komi Po-Izhemski.” Molodezh’ Severa, October 24, 2002.
[9] Aleksei Lazarev. “Militsia
dlia Bomzhei I VIP’ov.” Molodezh’ Severa, October 17, 2002.
Dar’ia Aleksandrova. “Perepis’: Po Slukham i Ofitsial’no.” Moskovskii Komsomolets v Komi, October 17-24, 2002.
[10] Elana Bariakina. “Po Zakonu Bol’shikh Chisel.” Respublika, October 23, 2002.
[11] Barrett, Jennifer. “All in the Family? Generation and Ethnic Identity in the Komi Republic.” Paper presented at the 8th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities, 2003.