GENDERED ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RURAL LATVIA: EXPLORING FEMININITIES, WORK, AND LIVELIHOOD WITHIN RURAL TOURISM

This article explores different geographies of tourism, femininities and livelihood in post-socialist rural Latvia, with a focus on women's entrepreneurship within rural tourism. Based on a case study in the Cesis district, its aim is to analyze women's livelihood strategies, including both economic and lifestyle-oriented motives behind entrepreneurship within tourism. The study illustrates women's day-to-day livelihood practices and how they organize their lives in time and space. The article reveals how women negotiate their 'livelihood action space', which includes a number of paradoxes between the quest for independence while facing both economic and social restrictions.