SUMMARY:

Lithuania has the highest rate of emigration within the European Union, yet the conception of the Lithuanian nation is often reinforced as a result of transnational mobility. This article examines reactive nationalism by tracking how migrants construct ideas about national belonging and ethno-national difference in response to exclusions they encounter. The article draws on interviews with Lithuanian migrants in the United Kingdom to show how ideas about nationhood mediate individuals’ interactions with England’s residents and other migrants, their interpretations of mobility, and their orientation to the Lithuanian state.