Moldovan Young Adults Navigating Everyday Peace, (Im)mobility, and Structural Insecurities

Abstract

The Republic of Moldova can be characterised as a divided country in several ways. For instance, Moldova is fragmented concerning language issues and the divide between the ‘West’ and the ‘East’. In addition, the Transnistrian conflict has remained without an official peace settlement for more than 30 years. Moldova also faces various economic, social, and political problems. To access better living opportunities, many Moldovans, especially young adults, have followed the path of temporary or permanent emigration. This thesis aims to complement existing qualitative information in the context of Moldova, particularly from a youth perspective. By utilising everyday peace as the main approach, the study explores how ordinary young adults from Moldova make sense of peace. Mobility, a key determinant in the lives of many Moldovan young people, serves as one of the frameworks for this study. The primary data consists of semi-structured interviews with four Moldovan young adults from Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. Qualitative content analysis was used as the method for analysing the interviewees’ perceptions of everyday peace and mobilities.

The meanings of everyday peace for the young adults were framed as structural insecurity, perceptions of ‘self’ and ‘others’, as well as (im)mobile futures. The findings suggest that limited opportunities, caused by forms of structural violence, disrupt everyday peace. The prevalence of emigration implies the youth need to navigate transnational social relations. Regarding Transnistria, the participants’ attitudes towards the inter-group ‘other’ and the frozen conflict could be characterised by some level of indifference. Furthermore, the interviewees deem multilingualism in Moldova as a valuable part of the society that both enables and challenges everyday peace. The 'Soviet-style' mentality is perceived negatively as it hinders Moldovan society from progressing. According to the participants, there will be no significant societal changes in the near future. For the young individuals in this study, everyday peace is linked to the idea of a socioeconomically secure everyday and a less problematic future. Emigration often offers better living conditions, yet mobility can also provide a break from the feeling of stagnation and perceived narrow-mindedness in society. This study suggests that further applications of the everyday peace theory are needed to better understand different contexts of peace.