Sustainable/Intentional Communities and Lifestyle Environmentalism in Exile

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

Abstract

This paper explores intentional communities formed by individuals who fled Russia due to the war with Ukraine and examines the roles of the societal and historical contexts to which the activists have been migrating. The research question is: What factors shape the varieties of intentional communities in exile? Through qualitative methodologies such as interviews and participant observations conducted in 2022-2024, three intentional communities are compared: Château Chapiteau in Georgia, the Activist Hub near Tbilisi, and Mountain Land in Montenegro. I discuss factors that shape the varieties of activism that community members pursue in exile including their former position within the organizations and networks of activism, but also the opportunities of the locations to which they have moved, including the rural landscapes available for community building. What also matters is the political context in the host country – the general political orientation there has an impact on how the activists take action in the new location.

Author

• Maria Tysiachniouk, U of Eastern Finland (Finland)