Emigrant Communities of Latvia

Rita Kaša holds a PhD in Comparative Education from the State University of New York in Buffalo, USA. Her research interests concern educational policy, finance and governance with specific focus on equity and equality in educational access, especially on the level of higher education. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan.Inta Mieriņa is based at Yale University MacMillan Center for International and Area studies, as Juris Padegs Research Fellow, and she is also a Senior Researcher at the University of Latvia, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. Previously, Dr. Mieriņa was the scientific director of the ESF research grant “The emigrant communities of Latvia: National identity, transnational relations, and diaspora politics”, receiving for its successful leadership the 2014 University of Latvia Annual prize in science.  In 2015 she studied the processes of migration as a Fulbright Research Fellow at the University of Washington. Currently her main research interests concern migration, integration, nationalism and far-right attitudes, inequality, social and political participation.

• Introduction: Rita Kaša and Inta Mieriņa.- Part I Contemporary Latvian Migration: An Integrated Approach to Surveying Emigrants Worldwide: Inta Mieriņa.- Emigration from Latvia: A Brief History and Driving Forces in the 21st Century: Mihails Hazans.- The Complex Identities of Latvians Abroad: What Shapes a Migrant’s Sense of Belonging?: Ilze Koroļeva.- Latvian Migrants in Foreign Labour Markets: Job Placement and Discrimination: Aivars Tabuns.- PART II Case Studies on Transnational and National Belonging of Migrants: Latvian Migrants in Great Britain: ‘The Great Departure’, Transnational Identity and Long Distance Belonging: Mārtiņš Kaprāns.- Growing Up to Belong Transnationally: Parent Perceptions on Identity Formation among Latvian Emigrant Children in England: Daiga Kamerāde and Ieva Skubiņa.- Manoeuvring in between: Mapping out the Transnational Identity of Russian-speaking Latvians in Sweden and Great Britain: Iveta Jurkane-Hobein and Evija Kļave.- Cultural and Media Identity among Latvian Migrants in Germany: Laura Sūna.- Latvian Emigrants in the United States: Different Waves, Different Identities?: Andris Saulītis and Inta Mieriņa.- ‘I Am One of Them’: Exploring the Communication of Identity of Latvian Migrants on Social Networking Sites: Ianis Bucholtz and Laura Sūna.- Part III Return Migration and Policies of the Sending Country: Return Migration Process in Policy and Practice: Evija Kļave and Inese Šūpule.- The Nexus between Higher Education Funding and Return Migration Examined: Rita Kaša.