Ukrainians in and out of the Czech Republic: Motivations, Meanings, and Future Trajectories

Bc. Tetiana O. Ivanova

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Return migration appears to be an underdeveloped topic within migration studies. In fact, there are many different motives to migrate and to come back home – different patterns, and social, political, economic, or other circumstances of migration. In spite of all this, economic motives as the only, or dominant ones, are generally considered responsible for migration movements. In addition, the importance and influence of the receiving country upon migrants are often overlooked. The major tasks of the following study were to explore the factors which influence the decisions of people to migrate and to return home, the impact of the receiving country on people who migrate, the re-adjustment period after migrants return home, and the future trajectories of the return migrants. A group of Ukrainian return migrants from the Czech Republic was studied, using the method of in-depth interviewing and applying some of the principles of grounded theory methodology to the analysis. The findings suggest that migration is a much more complex phenomenon than it is often assumed, and there is much more to it than the economic factors. The receiving country appears as an “in-between” place, having the power to influence migrants’ worldviews, life choices, and future movements.

Keywords

Czech Republic, factors of migration, ‘in-between-ness’, migration trajectories, receiving context, re-emigration, return migration, Ukrainian migrants

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 16. 5. 2011

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 6. 6. 2011
• Supervisor: doc. Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, Ph.D.
• Reader: Mgr. Benjamin Jeremiah Vail, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
Sociology / Sociology (Eng.)