Emigration from Russia and Transformations of Non-Material Capital
Mentors
Dr. Anna Kuleshova is a sociologist and a project coordinator of the Social Foresight Group. She was a scientific editor of the Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes Journal and co-authored the books “Open Question: Public Opinion Polls in the Modern History of Russia”, and “Parenthood 2.0”. She has participated in international research projects with scientists from Hanguk University in Seoul. Her main research interests are comparative sociological studies, parenthood, and scientific ethics. She has profound professional experience in the third sector, grassroots initiatives, and educational and cultural institutions. She is the Chairwoman of the Russian Council on the Ethics of Scientific Publications, a founder of the association Social Researchers Across Borders, and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Commission on Countering Scientific Research’s Falsification. Author of the lectures on the ethics of scientific publications.
Dr. Polina Aronson is an independent researcher and a journalist born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now living in Berlin. Her main field of interest is the place of emotions and public affect in post-socialist societies. Polina holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Warwick University (Great Britain) and is a 2013 winner of the highly competitive Einstein Fellowship (Potsdam, Germany). She regularly contributes to various international and Russian language outlets, such as der Freitag, AEON, Deutsche Welle, and others. She has also authored and edited two books on the transformation of emotional culture in contemporary Russia: “Love DIY. How We Turned into Managers of Our Feelings” (2020, Individuum, in Russian) and “Complex Feelings. Dictionary of a New Reality from Abuse to Toxicity” (2021, Individuum, in Russian).
Project Description in English
“We thought we were migrants, but it turned out we were refugees.” “It wasn’t emigration, it was evacuation.” “Once tourists, now wanderers.” Finding themselves in different countries, with varying rights and resources, many Russians who left their homeland since 2022 share similar sentiments and undergo parallel experiences: reevaluating their own identities and reassessing the wealth accumulated throughout their lives. This is echoed in studies on emerging diasporas conducted by sociologists over the past two years.
In the course of this research project, led by sociologist of emotions Polina Aronson and sociologist of daily life Anna Kuleshova, the researchers explore how migration influences people’s strategies to manage non-material forms of capital, such as knowledge, skills, social ties, and reputation. How does the “liquidity” of these forms of capital shift when they are transported beyond the borders of the country of origin and its systems of social mobility, professional validation, and stratification? How may these forms of capital be invested in countries of destination, and what dividends do they yield? How does migration impact personal and cultural identity, as well as the methods through which migrants transmit their knowledge and skills to a new society? What strategies exist for surmounting barriers tied to educational deficits and employment challenges?
The outcome of this study is a series of small case studies using qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, content analysis). The case studies allow us to see a more diverse picture and better understand similarities and differences in the strategies of non-material capital management among different representatives of the new Russian diasporas.
Report on the Results of the Study: