Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331392 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CMR Working Papers No. 139/197
Publisher: 
University of Warsaw, Centre of Migration Research (CMR), Warsaw
Abstract: 
In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus and the ensuing political crisis, many women were forced into exile. This article explores how Belarusian women continue their engagement in political, socio-cultural, and economic initiatives abroad, often beyond the traditional frameworks of political participation. Drawing on feminist methodology by locating women's voices as central to inform this research, 10 interviews with women from diasporas in Poland, Lithuania, and Georgia, and ethnographic observation were conducted in 2022. This research includes community support for both Belarusians and Ukrainians, cultural preservation, assistance to political prisoners and migrants, and educational and humanitarian initiatives. The article argues that women's work in exile not only sustains diasporic life but also constitutes a meaningful form of resistance that challenges dominant notions of visibility, leadership, and political agency. I suggest operationalising non-mainstream political organising through the notion of social reproduction, extending it to the public political domain.
Subjects: 
Belarusian Diaspora
Women's Activism
Alternative Organising
Ethnography
Grassroots initiatives
Political Activism
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.