Between Work and Family – Experiences of International Scholars in Japan and Latvia

Description

In this presentation, I examine the tension between two contradictory factors shaping the (im)mobility of research workers. On the one hand, scholars face the demands of the dominant regimes of knowledge production, which increasingly prioritize short-term employment contracts and expect researchers to move across borders from one position and institution to another. On the other hand, many scholars struggle to balance their work and personal lives and consider the building and maintenance of close relationships important.. Semi-structured interviews with international scholars in Japan and Latvia as well as other ethnographic data.. I  suggest that researchers consider personal relationships and kin ties an important factor when making decisions about their potential employment locales. As the narratives of my interlocutors reveal, researchers often make decisions to move to or, importantly, remain in places significant to their family members—and places that may enable the creation of new kin ties or the maintenance of already established ones.. The findings described in the paper destabilize the oft-accepted assumptions about the “ideal” research career path and “desirable” locales of knowledge production, highlighting the importance of family-focused rationales when it comes to making decisions about one's work life. 

Period	29 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU Research week 2023: PLACES
Event type	Conference
Conference number	3
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Rīga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International