Ukrainian Migration Research Before and Since 1991

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of research on trends in Ukrainian migration before and since independence in 1991 with the aim of historicizing both the mobility patterns and research agendas of such mobilities. The chapter specifically sets out to analyze continuities and disruptions emerging from two distinct ideologies of Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine that shaped approaches to researching and documenting migration. In seeking to link these two periods of migration it suggests factors for further research. Previous research agendas have been dominated by studies examining “hard facts” and major migration trends; in-depth studies of macro-level determinants of migration and the micro-level aspirations associated with it remain neglected. Post-independence research treats migration from Ukraine as a new economically driven phenomenon, neglecting the continuities linking it to mobility patterns of Soviet times.