From differences to relations: Towards diaspora-forming processes

Abstract

Already before the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine, Poland has been a country inhabited by autochthonous Ukrainians and has remained a popular destination for their co-ethnic migrants from Ukraine. Many research on diasporic collectivities and their mutual relations identify various ‘diaspora segments’ or connections of ‘groups’ and ‘communities’ within the given diaspora. The focal point on intra-diasporic differences is a kind of deconstruction of the seemingly coherent communities. However, it is based on taking their existence for granted. An attempt to overcome this perspective is focusing on diaspora-forming processes as a non-essentialist and processual approach that localizes the diaspora in the sphere of social imaginings and cultural practices. The diaspora-forming processes concept, which this paper offers drawing on the ethnographic fieldwork among Ukrainians in Poland, helps to trace intra-diasporic relations (instead of differences), and multiple identifications that create diasporic groups in peoples' minds.