Inclusive Education for Migrant Children in Russia: Discursive Frames of Social (in)Justice

This paper investigates the issues of inclusive education of migrant children in contemporary Russia. The study applies the framework of social injustice developed by Nancy Fraser enabling the distinction of affirmative and transformative politics and is based on the analysis of the discursive frames in the Russian print media (2005-2023). We conducted quantitative and qualitative content-analysis focusing on culture conflicts between proponents and opponents of inclusion to reveal the rationale behind each position, to understand how the interests of various stakeholders have been shaped. While considering the claims of the parties in this cultural conflict, we pay attention to the symbolic codes by which values and beliefs are framed. This study employs critical discourse analysis to the study of discursive production of race/ethnicity, racist ideologies and asymmetric discourse of power, discursive marginalization of migrants and minorities. We distinguish claims to restore justice employed by various actors of public discourse in Russia to pursue both affirmative and transformative remedies and strengthen social justice in relation to the inclusion of migrant children. The analysis of the empirical data collected combines Fraser’s distinction between affirmative and transformative responses to social injustice with Booth and Ainscow conceptualization of inclusion. Naturalization of intolerant attitudes and aggressive behavior of children and adults is characteristic of the discursive strategies of othering that deny inclusion. The statement about the absence of an inclusive culture in society becomes one of the dominant discourses in the media, working to make the existing hierarchies indisputable. Claims about the benefits of inclusive education often refer to the neoliberal discourse of productivism that is opposed to agency, advocacy and resistance. The results show how the affirmative and transformative politics allow the actors to pursue implementation of guaranteed rights and promote structural changes through challenging racist assumptions.