WHEN:

Monday, 27 March 2017, 7pm (doors will open at 6.30pm)

WHERE:

Ukrainian Institute, 79 Holland Park, London W11 3SW

Admission:

Event is free but registration is required. Please click here to register.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has seen the creation of ‘quasi states’, significant declines in living conditions and the displacement of more than two million people, which, according to the UN, is the 9th largest displaced group in the world. Many many of them suffering a significant drop in income and problems in accessing services such as health care and education. While a relatively large amount is known about the conflict in eastern Ukraine little is known about the social problems, fracturing of identities as a result of the country’s division, and the lack of legal and social support internally displaced peoples in Ukraine and refugees in Russia face on a daily basis.

In this seminar Irina Kuznetsova will present some of results of her British Academy funded research on Ukrainian refugees in Russia, who consist about a million people  – what motivated them to move to Russia and not going back, which issues around social identity they face and how they cope with settling in. Oksana Mikheieva will point out on issues around relations between Donbas and other parts in Ukraine in terms of people’s everyday live perspectives and identities based on several studies which she conducted on internally displaced people and also on volunteer soldiers in Donbas.

Ben Robinson will tell about his experience of photographic work in Ukraine (2014-16) focused on those displaced through the war, as well as military veterans, and will show some of his photos. During the autumn of 2016 Ben travelled to Avdiivka, Stanitsa Lughansk and Poposnaya. Some material was previously featured at an exhibition at the EBRD – in conjunction with a round-table discussion led by Svyatoslav Vakarchuk – in December 2014, as well as an exhibition at the Ukrainian Embassy in London, September, 2015 titled “Fragile Independence”. A collection of images – “Still Displaced” – was exhibited at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in June 2016.

The seminar aims to discuss how understanding of the currently fractured identities and the social/legal problems IDPs and refugees face could take us to developing meaningful strategies to bring Ukraine back together.

Speakers biographies:

Irina KuznetsovaDr Irina Kuznetsova is a Birmingham Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, the University of Birmingham. Currently she leads the project funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council UK ‘Ukraine’s hidden tragedy: understanding of the outcomes of population displacement from the war-torn regions’ (www.idpukraine.com). She is an expert in migration in Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia, and critical urban and policy research. Dr Kuznetsova has led and participated in various applied and academic studies founded by the European Commission, Open Society Institute, MacArthur Foundation and others.

Oksana MikheievaProfessor in Sociology (2014), Head of the Department of Sociology at the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv). Previously she worked in at the Donetsk National University, which she had to leave in 2014 because of armed conflict. Oksana Mikheieva led and participated in over 20 local and international sociological research projects focusing onsymbolic marking of urban space, Ukrainian refugees, military men in armed conflict.She is a member of International Association for the Humanities, Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society, Ukrainian Sociological Association; member of the Editorial Board of the academic peer-reviewed journals “UkrainaModerna”,“East (Skhid)”, journal of the Theological Faculty of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn “The Studies of Warmia.” In 2015 she was anEugeny and DanyelShklarResearch Fellow at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University; in 2016 she was the fellow atthInstitute for Human Science, Vienna.

Ben RobinsonBased now in the UK, Ben Robinson is a free-lance photographer and writer, working alongside a diverse range of clients and organisations to help tell stories that need to be told. Ben is also working with the Integrity Initiative, a partnership led by the Institute for Statecraft in London focused on identifying and countering Russian disinformation. Previously, Ben worked in Ukraine with the Centre for Leadership Development and Kyiv Business School from 1995-2010 after graduating from Oxford University with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE).

The University’s of Birmingham and AHRC PaCCS funding supports the event.