Understanding communities in crisis through the lens of resilience: the case of Ukraine
05/2022 – 07/2022
This project piloted an innovative model of resilience in practice, by studying communities of relations affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine. It built on the findings of the GCRF COMPASS project (ES/P010849/1), testing the validity of the model of resilience in the context of Ukraine. Resilience is understood as a capacity of an entity, and a process of self-organisation, which is used to manage fragilities from bottom-up, with external support only as necessary (Petrova and Korosteleva 2021: 125).
To test the model and learn about real relations during the war, 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with Ukrainians, affected by the war. These included refugees in the UK and the EU (Lithuania, Poland), internally displaced Ukrainians and Ukrainians, living near the frontlines.
The analysis has demonstrated the importance of seeing communities as pluriversal, grounded in real lives relations and defined by physical spaces. It has also revealed relations within communities, encompassing human and non-human subjects, and a strong ideational base as sources of resilience.
Project team
The University of Warwick, IGSD
PI Professor Elena Korosteleva
Research Fellow Dr Anastasiia Kudlenko
Aberystwyth University
COI Professor Milja Kurki