Reclaiming the voice? Precarity and the quest for freedom in Belarus

Abstract

This article examines the nexus of state-engineered precarity and transformative resilience following the 2020–2021 protests in Belarus. It argues that precarity and resilience co-exist and operate within the realm of everyday life. Building on the literature on precarity, resilience, and Belarus-focused scholarship, it analyses this relationship across physical, legal-administrative, social, and transnational dimensions. Far from being mere top-down state pressures or bottom-up grand civic strategies, both phenomena operate as highly practical, localized, and routine realities, affecting daily lives of Belarusians. By looking at the precarity-resilience nexus in a contested and violent environment, this article unpacks how the state suppresses agency, while simultaneously demonstrating how individuals reclaim it. Discussing the interplay between precarity and transformative resilience in Belarus, this article seeks to contribute to the broader debate on security as lived experience, reaffirming the importance of mundane, bottom-up developments.