Mobility that emplaces: governance of presence in the aftermath of the Donbas war

This thesis examines displacement in the context of the war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine that began in 2014. I argue that displacement has affected both those who left Donbas as well as those who stayed. While conventional definitions of displacement posit movement as part of the problem of displacement, I argue that for current and former residents of Donbas mobility is often a means for overcoming it. The thesis is organised around experiences of the “mobile displaced,” that is, people who left from Donbas after 2014 but whose attempts at emplacement elsewhere were frustrated. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork in multiple sites in Ukraine and Russia carried out over the course of a year, as well as a rich selection of historiographical materials, books, and films. The thesis describes how in their quest for emplacement, the mobile displaced encountered certain displacement effects in their new places of residence produced by the governance of presence. These displacement effects were different in Ukraine and Russia: housing emerged as the most important issue for the mobile displaced in Ukraine, whereas in Russia they were mainly concerned with legalisation of their status. The fact that struggles for emplacement are articulated in relation to different issues in Ukraine and Russia shows the divergences in how these states perceive and govern the presence of people from Eastern Ukraine, as well as how they configure a person’s relationship to place and time. Critically examining the role of mobility and immobility in producing displacement allows this thesis to enrich the literature on migration by turning the analytical gaze to mechanisms hindering emplacement rather than placing the onus of integration on the migrant. The thesis also offers an alternative take on mainstream concerns with debunking disinformation in the aftermath of the Donbas war. It examines the production of knowledge about the war, as well as the role of different ways of knowing in shaping eastern Ukrainians as particular kinds of acting subjects.