Olena Fedyuk

The Interview in Migration Studies: A Step towards a Dialogue and Knowledge Co-production?

The interview in its various forms, applications and methods of analysing data remains a central tool in qualitative research. For migration studies, this method has proved indispensable, especially when researching vulnerable groups of people on the move, and collecting data about various aspects of irregularity, grey economic activities, and the autonomy and agency of mobile people. The interview is, however, being increasingly used in policy research, elite research, and to obtain expert opinion in various forms of qualitative research. Interviews are also essential to scholarly endeavours that pursue collaborative knowledge production and participant research. As a method, various forms of interview allow for the unveiling of knowledge which otherwise remains under the radar of formal surveys and other more standardized data collection forms. Additionally, forms such as biographical and life story interviews, or unstructured interviews, generate space for the respondent to actively direct the research inquiry, and for the researcher to map out areas not originally foreseen. Among the most contested aspects of the interview remains its interpretation through processing and presenting the data collected this way. Our chapter will therefore examine examples of exploring ways to present rich data collected through interviews, and discuss its potential for European migration studies.

Migration of Ukrainians to the European Union: Background and Key Issues

Ukrainians form one of the largest groups of all third-country nationals living and working in the European Union. This chapter critically reflects on the “four waves” perspective on migration. It provides briefly the historical context and the necessary background on Ukrainians worldwide. It outlines the structure of this volume and the key issues discussed in the book, such as the continuous transformation of migration from Ukraine, the progress and silence in certain research areas, and the national differences in data availability.

The Gender Perspective in Ukrainian Migration

Research on post-independence Ukrainian migration to the EU has seen a proliferation of qualitative works on women in migration. In Ukraine gendered analysis often bears a very narrow interpretation, in which gendered stands for female, while female stands for familial or emotional. Thus the migration debate is hijacked by a narrow understanding of gender as female migration. In other words, women, children and the familial sphere remain within the domain of gendered enquiries, while men and women outside families seem untouched by the gender discussion of Ukrainian migration. This chapter maps the development of gender perspectives in the explorations of Ukrainian labour migration to the EU and provides a critique of the shortcomings of the gendered analysis, while offering an agenda for further enquiries.