The article introduces the objectives, theoretical bases and activities of the Latvian National Oral History project, which was started in 1992. The project was defined by the prominence of life stories in the society as well as by a necessity to construct an interpretation of the recent history that would focus on individual experience. Over the past 17 years, the work of the project has resulted in establishing a remarkable life story archives, containing approx. 3,000 recordings, and more than 50 scholarly publications, issued in Latvia and abroad, that are based on the analyses of these stories. The research topics of the project and the related collecting and publication of life stories are dealt with from the biographical perspective, commonly used in sociology. Themes that address the methodological questions of life story and oral history research, the study of ethnic and religious identities in Latvia, as well as Latvian identity, cultures, and communities outside Latvia are considered more closely. The article concludes by an evaluation of the contribution of the Latvian National Oral History project, and more specifically, the collected life stories as a resource for studying Latvian society.
This article aims at studying the mobility of Polish highly skilled female workers who live in Italy, and at analysing their integration into the society and the labour market, with particular reference to the problem of brain waste. Using the biographical approach we analyse the reasons for migration from a transnational perspective. We highlight the active role of the Polish social network that explains the high presence of Polish people in Rome, determined by more than purely economic reasons. Eventually, in the light of brain waste, we try to understand the role of the academic and career paths by looking into possible problems related to the adequate utilisation of professional competences and acknowledgement of the level of educational attainment.
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