Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2022, 58(1): 29-51 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2022.009

Transnationalism, Integration and Identification: A Discussion of the Variability and Dynamics of Social Processes through the Example of Student Migration from Ukraine to the Czech Republic

Luděk Jirka1, Yana Leontiyeva2
1 Pedagogická fakulta, Univerzita Hradec Králové
2 Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., Praha

This article deals with Ukrainian student migration and the convergence of integration and transnationalism. Its main focus is the self-identification of young Ukrainians studying in the Czech Republic. The authors explore and describe international students' different integration and transnational dispositions and also discuss whether these dispositions could be seen as part of antagonistic or synergetic processes. The interconnection between transnationalism and integration is widely discussed in both sociological and anthropological literature, and most scholars identify them as synergetic processes. In the case of Ukrainian students in the Czech Republic, however, the authors argue that these processes can be understood as both synergetic and antagonistic because what matters is the students' self-identification. Most of the analysis presented in this article is based on in-depth interviews with Ukrainian students conducted between 2012 and 2019. The results of qualitative research are also compared to and discussed in relation to the findings from an on-line survey conducted among 258 Ukrainian students in 2018. The article suggests that Ukrainian students themselves could incline in both directions, towards an antagonistic and a synergetic understanding of integration and transnationalism, because it depends on their self-expressed dispositions. However, most participants most of the participants in the research express the synergy.

Keywords: Ukraine, student migration, transnationalism, integration, identification

Received: July 10, 2020; Revised: January 27, 2022; Accepted: January 31, 2022; Prepublished online: February 14, 2022; Published: March 8, 2022  Show citation

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Jirka, L., & Leontiyeva, Y. (2022). Transnationalism, Integration and Identification: A Discussion of the Variability and Dynamics of Social Processes through the Example of Student Migration from Ukraine to the Czech Republic. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 58(1), 29-51. doi: 10.13060/csr.2022.009
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