Research Question: how are Lithuanian international long-haul truck drivers’ livelihoods constructed in terms of work, home, and everyday life? Research Problem and significance. The aim of this research is to look at work, home, and everyday life in the context of mobility and mobile livelihoods in Lithuanian international long-haul truckers. Portrayals of truckers in media and pop culture are often negative or sensationalized, including stories about truck accidents, smuggling, immoral behaviors, or problems with the law. This research is a response to such perceptions, motivated by the fact that there is no qualitative research on truck drivers in Lithuania. Research Tasks 1. Create a theoretical base for analyzing and interpreting mobile lives using various theoretical approaches on mobility, place, home, community, and boundaries. 2. Present and analyze empirical work from the field of Lithuanian long-haul truck drivers based on emic frameworks of ‘kasdienybė’ and ‘namai’. 3. Apply theoretical approach of mobile livelihoods along with emic frameworks of ‘kasdienybė’ and ‘namai’ from the Lithuanian case toward an analysis of Cameroon long-haul truck drivers’ work-lives. Methods. Fieldwork conducted with Lithuanian international long-haul truck drivers who spent 5-6 days or more on the road at a time, with just 2-4 days per month ‘at home’ (in Lithuania). Empirical section relies on two primary informants with whom I spent a total of 3 ½ weeks traveling. Research... [to full text] / Tyrimo klausimas. Ką reiškia namai, darbas bei kasdieniniai poreikiai Lietuvos tarptautinių tolimųjų reisų vairuotojams, „gyvenantiems ant ratų“ ? Tyrimo problema ir reikšmė. Šio tyrimo tikslas yra pažvelgti į Lietuvos tarptautinių tolimųjų reisų vairuotojų. kultūrą ir vietą mobilumo ir mobiliojo pragyvenimo kontekste. Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje tolimųjų reisų vairuotojai dažnai yra apibūdinami neigiamai arba hiperbolizuotai, įskaitant pasakojimus apie transportą, nelaimingus atsitikimus, kontrabandą, amoralų elgesį, ar problemas su įstatymu. Šis tyrimas yra atsakas į tokį suvokimą ir motyvuojama tuo, kad Lietuvoje nebuvo atlikta tolimųjų reisų vairuotojų gyvenimo kokybiško tyrimo. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Sukurti teorinį pagrindą, skirtą analizuoti ir interpretuoti mobilų gyvenimą, taikant įvairius teorinius požiūrius į mobilumą, vietą, namus, bendruomenę ir etninius skirtumus. 2. Pateikti ir išanalizuoti empirinį darbą apie Lietuvos tolimųjų reisų vairuotojus, remiantis eminiais terminais - "kasdienybė" ir "namai". 3. Pagal atliktą analizę, palyginti požiūrį į mobiliojo gyvenimo esmę kartu su eminiais terminais - "kasdienybė" ir "namai" – tarp Lietuvos ir Kamerūno tolimųjų reisų vairuotojų. Metodai. Taikytas duomenų rinkimas apie Lietuvos tolimųjų reisų vairuotojus, kurie vidutiniškai praleidžia 5-6 dienas ar daugiau kelyje, su 2-4 dienomis per mėnesį "namuose" (Lietuvoje). Empirinio skyriaus duomenys pagrįsti dviejų pagrindinių asmenų, su kuriais aš praleidau 3 ½... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

This thesis explores and analyses the manifold relations between migration and health, what I call the migration-health nexus, in the contemporary Nicaraguan context. The study is based on fieldwork in León and Cuatro Santos and a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative survey data. In the thesis health is “traced” within the migration process; i.e. in places of origin, during travel, at the destination and after return, including the situation and consequences for both migrants and family members to migrants (“left-behinds”). The study shows that migration-health relations in Nicaragua are connected to broader economic, social and political factors and to the country’s historical experiences of colonization, neo-colonization and structural adjustments. Contemporary Nicaraguan migrations are primarily related to the strategies of making a living and the struggle for a better life (i.e. a practice of mobile livelihoods). In the study setting health concerns were both indirectly embedded in people’s mobile livelihoods, as well as directly influencing decisions to move or to stay, and migration involved both advantages and disadvantages for health. Through migration, women could see an end to physical violence and sexual abuse. Internal migrants could improve their access to health care and medicine. Vulnerabilities related to the unpredictable nature conditions could be avoided through moving. And, through the money made from migrant work people’s everyday lives and health could be improved, in terms of better nutrition, housing, and access to education, health care and medicine. However, remittances do not necessarily lead to development, as they are used to compensate for the lacking public sector in Nicaragua. Under these circumstances, I argue that the Nicaraguan population is not guaranteed their social rights of citizenship. I also argue that the negative aspects surrounding migration must be taken into account when discussing the development potentials of migration and remittances. Both internal and international migrants in this study experienced stress while moving to a new place. International migrants had difficulties accessing health care in the destination, particularly those lacking documentation. The separation within families due to migration often caused emotional pain. Family members left behind did not rate their physical health as good as often as non-migrant families. The vulnerability, stress experiences and sufferings of migrants and left-behinds varied, however. I therefore conclude that social differences (in terms of e.g. gender, class, skin colour, and legal immigration status) are key for the enactment of the migration-health nexus, and that an interplay of individual, social and structural factors influence the outcome.