Abstract:

In accordance to the World migration report 2018 there approximately 3.3% of the world’s population are international migrants. The problem of refugees and economic migrants has received the greatest researcher`s coverage; in turn, migration with the aim of obtaining education has been studied relatively little so far. If, in the case of European students, problems of integration into the social and cultural context rarely arise, for the representatives of the Muslim world it is more difficult to cope with cultural shock and social challenges. Statistics of 2018 speak of more than 9,000 foreign students in Latvia – and approximately 2 000 of them are Muslims. The author examines young students from Muslim countries studying in Latvia and their integration into the culture life of the host country. The purpose of the study is to learn the habits and obstacles of the consumption of culture by Muslim students in Latvia. To achieve the research purpose author conducted a survey, using own developed instrument – questionnaire. In total, 178 respondents – foreign Muslim students studying in Riga - participated. The developed questionnaire contained the questions regarding the cultural consumption in general, preferences and obstacles, as well as the questions on cultural consumptions patterns. The most important findings are that 40% of respondents are visiting cultural events at least once a month, but they choose entertainment possibilities like cinema, night clubs and public events, which are not linked with a language obstacle. For newcomers the most important obstacle for visiting cultural events is luck of the information, for long stayer – the language barrier. Most than half of young Muslim migrants are filling integrated into the routine life, but just 12 % are integrated into the cultural life of Latvia too. The results of the research can be used in two aspects: for the development of the offer of cultural goods and services, interesting for Muslim students on the one hand, and for the increasing of their integration into the Latvian society - on the other.