“Return after Return”: Repeated Labor Migration to Russia

Abstract

This paper contributes to the discussions on the return of labor migrants from Russia to Central Asia and on the diversity of migration patterns in today’s uncertain world. The focus of the paper is the processuality of decision making and narrative strategies employed for the justification of decision making by migrants with consequent reframing of emotions, meanings, and evaluations. The paper is based on the materials of the project that partially consisted of interviews with migrants from Central Asia in Russia as well as with members of their families at home. The paper specifically discusses a case of one family’s labor migration from southern Kyrgyzstan to St. Petersburg. After three years spent in Russia, the family decided to return home, but subsequently changed their mind after another two months at home and returned back to Russia.