A Political Awakening or Silencing through Migration?: The Political Vice of Migrants from Russia

• In Event: The Political Diversity of the New Russian Migration since February 2022: Demographics, Attitudes, Dynamics over Time

Abstract

This paper draws on large scale survey data collected in five of the main host countries of Russians who left their country in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. We study the extent to which the process of migration has contributed to a political awakening or silencing of these individuals. By comparing (more) democratic and (more) autocratic countries of destination, we trace the impact of the host country on the sense of political agency that migrants develop. In particular, our 2023 survey among more than 4,000 individuals asked about the level of political involvement and activism before and after migration. We argue that the extent to which political activism is pursued abroad is heavily dependent on the host country structures, with countries such as Armenia and Georgia seeing higher levels of political engagement also after migration, whereas in places such as Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, political activity is limited.

Authors

• Gwendolyn Sasse, ZOiS Berlin (Germany)

• Félix Krawatzek, ZOiS Berlin (Germany)