CROSSING SYMBOLIC BOUNDARIES: CAN PRECARITY MOBILIZE THE POLITICAL DISAFFECTION OF LATVIANS AND RUSSOPHONES?

Ethnic tensions have a long history in Latvia. Ever since the restoration of independence in 1991 Latvian society has experienced the symbolic confrontation between the ethnic Latvian majority and Russophone minority. Militant ethnopolitics and societal cleavages have overshadowed a persistent socioeconomic inequality. This paper seeks to explore whether the precarity induced by a neoliberal order can replace ethnocultural identification as an ideological source of tensions in Latvian society. In particular, the paper focuses on support for an alternative political system and to what extent such support can be explained by precarity and sympathies towards left-wing communitarian ideas. These findings suggest that precarity may enable trans-ethnic cohesion. Yet, this should not automatically imply that an ethno-linguistic element becomes irrelevant in terms of regime change.