Homestead owners

The author of the 1922 newspaper article "Land is our nation's strength" points to the Latvians' close connection with their land, explaining also their tenacious adherence to their cultivated piece of land on the native side and their ability to resist foreign powers. (1)

Although "countryside" or "rural areas" is a clearly and concretely defined concept in regulatory acts, they have a symbolic meaning in the nation's imagination. The term 'fields' refers to certain relationships that shape both people and place; "countryside" is a discursively constructed object of knowledge and interaction. (2) After regaining independence, the Latvian state denationalized real estate, and people regained their ancestral lands and houses. This prompted many to make quite radical decisions: to leave the city and move to the countryside, ending their professional career and actually starting a new life. Others were even encouraged by their recovered ancestral homes to return to their homeland after many years in exile. However, this process has also been influenced by such factors as the changing economic situation in the country, the feeling of instability caused by the pandemic and the desire to live ecologically responsibly. People in the countryside see an opportunity to provide themselves with a simple but harmonious life in harmony with nature with a small farm.

Such drastic changes might seem overly romanticized, but it turns out that supporting them is politically significant.(3)