Family, Fear, and Precarity as the Drivers of Silence: The New Russian Migrants’ Political Remittances and Emotional Extraterritoriality of Authoritarianism

• In Event: Crossroads of Resistance: Exploring the Dynamics of Liberation and Authoritarianism through the Lens of Migration and Education

Abstract

The article investigates the impact of authoritarianism on the political engagement of new Russian immigrants—”relokanti”, it introduces the notion of “emotional extraterritoriality of authoritarianism,” to explain the migrants’ absence of public-facing political engagement. To do so, the article adopts the perspective of relokanti’s three distinct social statuses and roles: as citizens of Russia, as the relatives of the families continuing to reside in Russia, and as migrants living in Georgia. Through in-depth interviews and secondary research, it uncovers that despite the opportunity for activism and transmission of political remittances after exit, relokanti choose not to be politically engaged, even within their families

Author

• Liudmila Listrovaya, U of Michigan