Abstract
The CR & the FSU countries have strong historical and economic connections. The recent shared socialist past plays a crucial role in understanding what is happening in CR as a receiving country since 1989/91.
By 2012 almost 40% of all migrants in the Czech Republic are from former Soviet Union countries. The common socialist past embedded in collective memory, transmitted to new generations and served as foundation for the current relations between people.
The collective memory is often connected to emotions as each social group brings her own interpretation of a common past. This paper deals with the process of identity construction and negotiation of migrants from former Soviet Union countries in the Czech Republic.
The social constructionism as the main theoretical foundation was employed. The research is focused on younger migrants from Russian & Kazakhstan who moved to the Czech Republic for educational purposes.
The literature on student mobility seems negligible due to the fact, that studying abroad is considered as a short-term experience. But young people more often migrate for education and it plays a significant role in receiving as well as in sending countries.
The fieldwork was conducted in few cities in Russia, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic. It involved in-depth interviews with 44 informants (10 male and 34 female), including young migrants, their parents, teachers at universities and language schools.
The author herself explored the relations between collective memory and identity construction in the post-socialist space by incorporation of personal narrative. The case of migrants from Russia and Kazakhstan in the Czech Republic will be used to demonstrate the complexity of the application of post-Soviet identity concept.