Power of Disempowered: Civic Activism and Forced Displacement in Ukraine

My study aims, using Ukrainian IDPs and refugees as a case, to change the prevailing perspective on the specifics of civic society engagement in the post-Soviet space that is often described as ‘weak’ and limited to the quantifiable measurements and institutionalised organizations. It offers a multi-scalar perspective based on quantitative and qualitative data on the transformational effects of war and dislocation on civil society. It explores the involvement of internally displaced persons living in Ukraine or refugees and receiving communities in different forms of civic activism (formal or informal) and its role in giving the IDPs/refugees agency. My analysis demonstrated that Crimean Tatars differed from other IDPs coming either from Crimea or the Donbas. They more actively cooperated with local activists and promoted their ethnic and cultural uniqueness in public events and newly established national-cultural organisations and businesses. IDPs from the Donbas often opted for contactless coexistence with state, as a result the local community activism and self-aid informal networks became important factor in their resettlement and integration.