Extended kinship and mobility: the influence of non-nuclear family ties on the migration of young Ukrainians

• Authors: Luděk Jirka
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The nuclear family, consisting of children, mother and father, is often the primary unit of analysis in migration studies. However, this approach has been criticised for its normative context. More recently, scholars have emphasized the relational perspective and multi-layered family ties when debating the notion of family. Based on qualitative anthropological research in Western Ukraine and in the Czech Republic, this article adopts this approach by focusing on how the family practices of young Ukrainians (aged 15–16 at the time of migration) challenge the nuclear family framework. These young people are the first migrants from their nuclear families in the Czech Republic, while their parents have remained in Ukraine. The text focuses on the financial support, emotional support, and practical assistance provided to them by their relatives, demonstrating that parents were still important in all three categories, while cousins were significant in providing emotional support and practical assistance.

Keywords

EN

Ukraine; nuclear family; migration; Czech Republic; family practices; relational perspective

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Český lid: etnologický časopis (Český lid: Ethnological journal)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 112
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 233-251
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Luděk Jirka

• Český lid, redakce, Etnologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Na Florenci 3, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic