In which ways is the Ukrainian community in Scotland a diaspora?

Kormylo, Peter David (2021) In which ways is the Ukrainian community in Scotland a diaspora? PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Seventy-five years after the arrival of its significant number of post-WW2 displaced persons and refugees, Scotland’s Ukrainian community remains much understudied. The paucity of information concerning this community prompts deeper inquiry. Interdisciplinary research here focuses on this third wave of Ukrainian migration from homeland territories (1940-1954) and draws from a quadratic nexus of diasporic typologies, theories of identity maintenance, nationalist ideologies, and modes of assimilation. I briefly chart the community’s historiographical and geo-political pathways where Ukrainians entered Scotland as officially designated stateless persons or ‘aliens.’

My interpretivist, ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2014 and 2020 is focused on the salient, socio-cultural, and political dynamics of the first two generational cohorts. The interplay of social, cultural, and political complexities studied here is linked to élite actor attempts to identify and unify the settling community by the creation of formal organisations. A historiography of Ukrainian post war dispersion, homeland orientation and diasporic boundary creation is assisted by narrative extracted from semi-structured interviews, conversations, photo elicitation and embedded research.

Concluding scrutiny of the founding generational cohorts is assisted by employing Robin Cohen’s four tools of social science-the emic/etic relationship of embedded research, the time dimension, common diasporic features, and analysis of Weberian ideal types. The first generation is identified as a ‘victim diaspora’ while analysis of the second generation, the ‘bridging cohort’ opens discussion concerning the synergies and impact of collective memory. Qualitative research, quantitative evidence and analysis of hitherto unavailable primary source materials bring new synthesis and knowledge to the discourse.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Migration, diaspora, identity, assimilation, Ukrainian, Hartzian fragment, European Voluntary Worker, Displaced Person, Prisoner of War.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Central and East European Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Cheskin, Dr. Ammon and Smith, Professor David
• Date of Award: 2021
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2021-82517
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 18 Oct 2021 15:10
• Last Modified: 01 Dec 2022 16:02
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82517
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82517