(Self-)Confidence, Migration, and the State: A Study of Emigration from Latvia

Abstract

How do Latvian emigrants’ emotional apprehensions of social and cultural change in post-Soviet Latvia, and the contrasting experience they gain abroad, affect their relationship with the Latvian state and their ongoing emigration status? By contrasting the personal narratives of 59 emigrants with the Latvian state’s public transformation discourse, we argue that the culture the sending state presents to its public—both in its official discourse and day-to-day interactions with civilians—and the emotions this triggers in people based on their everyday life experiences, deepens our understanding of the post-Soviet emigration regime. Specifically, how state discourse and interactions affect feelings of recognition and the related emotions of confidence (particularly, self-confidence), pride, and shame are important for understanding post-Soviet emigration. Exaggerated neoliberal notions of the “West” dominated both the post-Soviet civil discourse and the policies and practices implemented to guide the transition, fashioning an environment where people felt shamed, and their self-confidence was injured. However, emigration and growing confidence in receiving states helped many regain a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and empowerment.

Desire and Modesty in Post-Soviet Expectation for the Western Standard of Life: Contrasting and Empowering Narratives of Latvian Emigrants and Latvians who Stayed at Home

“…To understand how people refer to ‘livable life’ in the context of the post-Soviet transformations, I draw from secondary data. The data are derived from a project designed to explain high emigration rates from post-Soviet Latvia, through the perspective of state–society relationships (Ķešāne, 2016). These data, first , contain 59 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with emigrants who left Latvia for the West in the post-Soviet era.…”

“…For example, a single mother with two children, who was a social worker in a small town in the south part of Latvia explained to me what opportunities for work are like in her town. She referred to the state's workfare program after the 2008 crisis, which paid very little to the people for their work, an amount that, in another study, we consider as exploitation initiated by the state (Ķešāne and Weyher, 2021). The workfare program participants were paid 100 Lats or, as the currency shifted to Euros, 142 Euros per month.…”

“…This criticism resonates with emigrant respondents' experiences where material recognition abroad appeared as crucial for the 'livable life.' Not only because it improved a sense of self-worth (see Ķešāne and Weyher, 2021) but also because it allowed enjoying life through, for example, buying a new dress instead of wanting it but never being able to have it. Despite this critical account, the narratives of those who remained tend to reflect modesty as a virtue that gives a sense of agency and control over one's life.…”

Decades of longing and effort towards a sense of community: A multiple case study on immigrants in the United States

“…On an individual level, it would not be effective if one tries to create a sense of community out of moral obligation (Brown & Lambert, 2015;Follesdal, 2019). For individuals who work towards a sense of community through inward or outward social conformity, however, their efforts may result in resentment or burnout, not a sense of community (Al-Azzawi & Inalhan, 2018;Ķešāne & Weyher, 2021;Harell & Hinckley, 2022).…”

The art of nationalism: Artists' perspectives on the Latvian Centenary film programme

“…The detrimental effects of neoliberal reforms-dismantling of welfare structures, socio-economic polarisation-can be observed especially clearly in the Baltics. These reforms have contributed to high socioeconomic inequality and poverty rates and prompted large-scale emigration, as well as eroded trust in the state and other institutions (Dzenovska, 2020;Hazans, 2015;Ķeš ane & Weyher, 2021;Sommers & Woolfson, 2014). The geopolitical crises in the region, notably with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the recent full-scale war in Ukraine, have added to the sense of existential threats (Dzenovska, 2021).…”