What is assimilation, from what stages does it consist?

Homogeneous social or ethnic groups are possible only in complete isolation. The processes of migration and social development are based precisely on the mixture of ethnic groups, nationalities, cultural communities. If we want to understand what assimilation is, we need to consider it as a process that determines the general psychological and social changes taking place in the group, aimed at adapting to new conditions after a transition from the existing social environment. Most often, they are exposed to persons who, as a result of changes, must join the conditions of life that exist in another culture.

Cultural assimilation is most often associated with the concept of migration. Immigrants are forced to adapt to life in an environment completely alien to them, to apply the social standards that exist in the country to which they arrived. As a rule, such assimilation can be understood only after a few years or even in the next generation. The term can also refer to minority groups in terms of their progressive addiction to the standards of the dominant society in the country concerned. Types of assimilation can be natural, as a rule, not so dramatic for the subject or nationality. For example, the Jewish population of Europe or the USSR before the Second World War, despite the preservation of cultural and religious identity, was largely assimilated with the culture and population of the countries of residence. The most common language was not Yiddish and Hebrew, but Russian, German, French. There were many mixed marriages with representatives of other nationalities.

Let's take another example that illustrates well what assimilation is: the situation of Bashkir and Tatar nationals in modern Russia. The introduction and integration into the Russian culture contributed to several hundred years of life in the Russian Empire. Mixed marriages, the fluency in Russian and the departure from the religion of ancestors are examples of how the way of life of one nation ultimately obeys the rules, principles, way of life of a larger ethnos.

However, often this process is mandatory. In this case, it causes an underlying discontent, and then an open protest, the tragedies of individuals and entire groups. An example is the violent assimilation of Karachais, Crimean Tatars, Poles, Ukrainians in the Stalin era.

The beginning of the twenty-first century, with its mass migration and extremely high mobility of the population of all countries, poses new challenges for sociologists and politicians. Ethnographers and sociologists analyzing what assimilation is in modern Russia or Europe, speak of varying degrees of in-builtness, and also about the problems that arise in connection with resettlement. For example, the Muslim communities of Scandinavia or Germany are becoming a real headache for the governments of these countries. Voluntarily moving for a better life, they are, nevertheless, as much as possible isolated from the indigenous population. They do not try to learn the language of the host country, they retain their religious identity. As a consequence of fencing, they can find a decent job with great difficulty and stand on their feet, they live on social assistance. Cultural assimilation is the process by which a certain group becomes part of the dominant social group. A similar problem is in Russia and visitors from former Soviet republics.

If a new group (or a group that is not positively concerned with the society) seeks to achieve a higher level of integration, it comes into conflict with a stable and powerful dominant culture that expects this group, if it is to be recognized in society, Will adhere to its standards. These processes most often determine the internal policy of assimilation of the receiving state, in which the main emphasis is on providing immigrants with a sense of security while preserving their cultural and religious identity. On the other hand, host country policies can be aimed at eradicating certain values and principles among immigrants in order to make them change their behavior and force them to follow the standards of most citizens of the country. Such discrimination is quite widespread.

The process that describes what assimilation is, consists of three stages. The first of these is the issue of political trends, the adoption by the minority of certain specific patterns of behavior and integration into the majority communities. The second stage, called structural assimilation, illustrates the penetration of immigrants into social institutions in the host country. Here, representatives of minorities adapt appropriately to the rules of the majority to such an extent that they begin to take part in political and legislative life. The third stage is that immigrants become full members of society not only externally, but also internally. At this stage, they adopt the standards of the surrounding society as their own. They develop a sense of belonging to a given country. Complete assimilation usually takes a long time. Most often, the results are visible only in the next generation of immigrants.