A moving target: reflexivity in migration studies within the tradition of the Vytautas Magnus university Lithuanian Emigration Institute

Abstract

This article analyzes the development of migration studies in Lithuania by reconstructing the intellectual trajectory shaped by the Lithuanian Emigration Institute at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and examining its relationship to the broader dynamics of post-Soviet science policy. Migration is approached not merely as a demographic or social policy phenomenon, but as a cultural and moral experience requiring a reflexive sociological imagination. The theoretical framework draws on Vytautas Kavolis’s perspective on cultural reflection and moral responsibility, combined with Charles Wright Mills’s concept of the sociological imagination complemented by insights from intellectual sociology.

The article argues that early diaspora and exile studies were characterized by a holistic and value-engaged approach, whereas the later institutionalization of migration research has been accompanied by a form of “entropy” – a weakening of normative and reflexive depth associated with the growing dominance of quantitative evaluation and project-based logic. The case of the Lithuanian Emigration Institute at VMU is presented as an alternative model of migration research grounded in cultural sensitivity and moral responsibility. The article calls for a reconsideration of science’s responsibility to society and for the restoration of deeper reflexivity in migration studies, linking