Post-Soviet Diaspora Politics: The Case of the Soviet Greeks

Abstract

This paper focuses on the emergence of a new, post-Soviet, diaspora: the Greeks of the former Soviet Union (FSU). Although Greeks belong to classical or historical diasporas, their Soviet presence has only recently been formally acknowledged and their diaspora status has of late been recognized by their historical homeland (Greece). The analysis focuses on the politicization of post-Soviet Greek identities after 1991, and on the diaspora's progressive mobilization into corporate groups. Like other former Soviet citizens with claims to an "ethnic European historical homeland," post-Soviet Greeks enter Greece with special rights and privileges concerning membership and belonging. Yet, acquisition of citizenship and acceptance by Greek society remain fraught with bureaucratic and intercultural problems that give rise to various causes of resentment. For some, the process entails mobilizing a culturally bounded "refugee discourse" drawn from experiences following the Lausanne Treaty. For others, it involves negotiating Greekness in the face of an antecedent Russophone identity. A third option is retreat to ethnic enclaves aiming to reconstruct life according to Soviet norms and values; thus, the post-Soviet Greek diaspora functions like a reverse diaspora.