From War to Waste: The Multifaceted Activism of Russian Migrants in Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan

• In Event: Activism among Russian Migrants

Abstract

This paper examines environmental activism among Russian migrants in three post-Soviet countries—Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan—exploring how migration patterns, host country policies, and pre-migration experiences shape engagement. Based on 73 biographical interviews (2022-2024), the study highlights how memories of activism in Russia influence post-migration efforts, analyzed through social movement theories and political opportunity structures. Migrants chose these destinations due to geographic proximity, Russian-speaking communities, and networking potential, with host countries’ migration policies also playing a key role. Despite multiple challenges, Russian migrants in Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan adapt their environmental activism to new contexts, filling local gaps, leveraging transnational networks, or redirecting efforts toward humanitarian causes, demonstrating the dynamic interplay between migration, political structures, and activism.

Author

• Maria Tysiachniouk, U of Eastern Finland (Finland)