Paper short abstract:

The paper is focused on the analyses of both social, economic and emotional linkages which Lithuanian immigrants accumulate in the new societies as well as on explanations they used to give for feeling or not feeling themselves as a part of the new community.

Paper long abstract:

The paper is based on findings of the research project on migration, started in 2007 at VMU. Aiming to reveal the main pathways on immigrants incorporation into the new societies, the paper is focused on the analyses of both social, economic and emotional linkages which Lithuanian immigrants accumulate in the new societies as well as on explanations they used to give for feeling or not feeling themselves as part of the community. The case of Lithuanian immigrants suggests that for some of them incorporation may begin with crossing the border however it never ends. Those immigrants use to claim that they are never going to accumulate enough linkages of incorporation to allow them to become full member of the society in large. On the other hand, the majority of immigrants feel themselves as part of the new society. Their feeling of belonging is related to how well they overcome feelings of alienation, develop network of friends in the local community, acquire local cultural knowledge and in general how they learn to navigate in the society. However, even individuals who have accumulated a greater number of such linkages may find their full incorporation into the new society blocked because of their immigration status and the larger society's view of them as "outsiders". The paper suggests, that majority of Lithuanian immigrants, by choosing particular linkages to the new society draw on certain pathways of incorporation to it and use diverse motivations of considering themselves as part of it.

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