Report from the 41st World IIS Congress

1. Macro-Conditions of Class and Micro-
Patterns of Social Interaction:
Studying Labor Migrants' Discontent
Natalya D. Tregubova
Dmitrii M. Zhikharevich
Saint-Petersburg State University
41st
IIS Congress, Uppsala 2013

2. The Challenge of Labor Migration

Russia continues to attract labor migrants by
virtue of its 'soft power'

10-12 million per year, 70-80% from the FSU (2nd
place in the world after the US)

Labor migrants are still in a high demand; their
conditions in accepting community is highly
vulnerable
What's the experience of labor migrant's
uncertain condition?

3. Sociology of Emotions
'Discontent' as a long-term emotion,
(a) determined by the structural conditions
(b) produced and transmitted through the social
interaction
(c ) capable to result into collective action

4. Discontent and Agency Formation
STRUCTURESTRUCTURE
AGENCY AGENCY
? DISCONTENT

5. Emotions and Social Existence:
Scales and Temporal Regimes
'STRUCTURAL'
EMOTIONS
LONG-TERM
EMOTIONS
SHORT-
TERM
EMOTIONS

6. Macro-Conditions of Class

Emotional dimension of inequality: class
emotions

Inequality in dynamic: trade cycles

Emotions vs. Culture

7. Micro-Patterns of Social Interaction

Discontent as a long-term emotion produced in
chains of interaction

Balance of emotional energy: enough to be
discontent, not enough to act

Focus on the negative sacral objects

8. Micro-Patterns of Social Interaction

Discontent as a long-term emotion produced in
chains of interaction

Balance of emotional energy: enough to be
discontent, not enough to act

Focus on the negative sacral objects

9. Questions for Prospective Research

How to measure discontent?

Macro-conditions: economic crisis and social
exclusion?

Localization of interaction: where migrants
meet each other?

To be continued...

10. Questions for Prospective Research

How to measure discontent?

Macro-conditions: economic crisis and social
exclusion?

Localization of interaction: where migrants
meet each other?

To be continued...