Relational ageing: On intra‐gender and generational dynamism among ageing Latvian women

Abstract

In this paper I conceptualise relational ageing in spatial and comparative terms by comparing the life stories and practices of Latvian women who migrated with those who did not. By counterposing the literatures on global care and gender contracts, I make a plea for a time-space attentive geographical approach to ageing migrants, their pre-migration experiences and ongoing relations between migrants and nonmigrants. First, I present some lesser-known dynamics of women-to-women (intragender) relations in these two groups. Second, I nuance relational effects in contexts when women are ageing but the man is absent from care responsibilities. And third, I focus on cross-generational relations narrated and practised by ageing women abroad and those who stayed in Latvia throughout their lives.gender contracts, global care chains, Latvia, migration, relational ageing

Reversing retirement frontiers in the spaces of post-socialism: active ageing through migration for work

“…While the majority of leavers are young, increasingly more ageing people have joined the outward stream. Statistics may not register the precarious moves of pre-retirement people, but in the case of Latvia, for example, at least 10 per cent of the emigrants in 2001–2011 were aged 55 and older, and the trend continues to grow (Hazans, 2013; Lulle, 2018). Unlike the cases of Western European retired migrants, where ‘lifestyle’ motives are dominant, the emigration of ageing people from post-socialist countries is more related to working purposes.…”

“…The lifecourses of adults who are currently in their mid-forties or older correspond to the generational divide created by the post-Soviet transition; for many, the skills obtained under the Soviet education, agriculture and industrial systems turned out to be obsolete and no longer needed in the more neoliberal service and consumer-dominated economy which quickly emerged in the 1990s. Also, negative attitudes to ageing, starting in mid-life, are documented in academic research (Lulle, 2018) and policy documents (Cabinet of Ministers, 2016). However, jobs in agriculture and industrial production were relatively easily available in ‘Western’ countries, along with the manual work of cleaning.…”

Perceived Discrimination of Highly Educated Latvian Women Abroad

“…When looking at the gender dimension of migration studies in Latvia, one finds it has not yet been explored in detail in the context of Latvian migrants. Several important studies have been devoted to the labor migration of ageing women and the migration of grandmothers (Lulle 2014(Lulle , 2018Lulle and King 2016). Despite the mentioned studies, in general one can say that the issue of highly educated female migration and perceived discrimination has not been sufficiently examined in Latvian migration research.…”

Latvijas augsti izglītotie emigranti: izglītības un darba pieredze Latvijā un ārvalstīs

“…Savā pētniecībā viņa vairāk ir specializējusies uz aug sti kvalificētu speciālistu imigrāciju Latvijā (Lulle, 2005(Lulle, , 2007, kā arī kopā ar Lauru Bužinsku pētījusi Latvijas izcelsmes augstskolu beidzēju pieredzi ārvalstīs (Lulle & Bužinska, 2017). Vairāki A. Lulles pētījumi ir par vecāka gadagājuma sieviešu migrācijas problemātiku (Lulle, 2018;.…”