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Abstract. This discussion is devoted to the methodological aspects of the concept of “emigration/immigration” in a general civilizational context. The phenomenon of exodus is understood as a response to global changes in the world resulting from a structural crisis of states or national catastrophes (revolution, war, etc.). The participants in the discussion raised a number of important questions about the waves and stages of emigration / immigration in the world, the causes of mass social mobility, its features. Based on a broad historical base and the conclusions of modern historiography, the authors substantiate algorithms for preserving the cultural, national, legal, moral, ethnic and religious codes of emigrants, their economic structure and political preferences, algorithms for psychological reactions to displacement and new ccommodation conditions. In this context, it is important for the participants in the discussion to consider the impact of migrants on the national economy, political relations, culture, etc. of receiving and transit States.
The authors raise the question of whether mass outflows (“exoduses”) can be typified, and whether it is fair to raise the question of the uniqueness of each single isolated migration case at different stages of world history. Of particular note is the authors’ highlighting of evidence reflecting the transformations that took place in the countries of emigration, as well as raising questions related to the effects of the colonial community, the permeability of borders, cultural flexibility and receptivity of both migrants themselves and expelling and receiving communities. The composition of mass outflows is considered as the basis, among which the most important social groups are religious and ethnic (Irish Protestants, Jews, etc.), as well as social strata (peasants, workers, intellectuals), the problem of professional emigration (IT specialists) is posed and the causes of this phenomenon are determined. Migration of the 18th–21st centuries is highlighted, when one
of the most important reasons becomes political: whether it is the Jacobite ideas of the Irish, the anti-Soviet ideas of emigrants of the 20th century, or the attitude to the policy of the Russian government in the 21st century.
An important aspect of the discussion participants’ reflections is a comparative analysis of the processes of adaptation of migrants, which N.I. Gerasimov calls “social chaos”. This term refers to a situation where emigrants are not always accommodated in a country in which legal and moral norms have been developed in relation to them. In the conditions of the emergence of legal legislation, the life of emigrants is regulated, otherwise either adaptation occurs up to assimilation, or the cycling of diasporic practices, or further relocation to states with the most favorable conditions for emigrated citizens.
The authors draw attention to the reforms in the army in France of the 17th century, the emergence of new emigration laws in the legal system of America, Germany, Austria-Hungary in the 19th — early 20th centuries, the role of the Nansen passport, as well as changes in legislation in the field of economics in transit countries in the 21st century. I.V. Kryuchkov proves on the basis of statistical data the important the role of legislative changes in the transit of emigrants and, at the same time, the role of the latter in changing the socio-economic development of transit countries. N.A. Lagoshina substantiates the impact of the reform of the army in France on the change in the status of the Irish diaspora and the disappearance of the royalist identity of the Irish brigade. A.G. Evstratov raises the question of relocation as a phenomenon of the 21st century, which has signs of internationalism, cosmopolitanism and is characterized by deliberate “closeness”: the preservation of their way of life, lifestyle and occupations by emigrants. In this regard, the impact on the socio-economic, cultural and political life of the host or transit countries is also small in the end.
Keywords: emigration, immigration, exodus, repatriation, diaspora, Russia, emigration legislation.