Difference between revisions of "Zarobitchanstvo (Ukraine)"

[[File:Photograph of a returnee from Canada.jpeg|250px|thumb|left|Photograph showing a returnee from Canada.]]

[[File:Photograph of a returnee from Canada.jpeg|250px|thumb|left|Photograph showing a returnee from Canada.]]

‘New Cinderellas’ (Tolstokorova 2011)<ref>Tolstokorova, 2011. 'Novye Zolushki v staroj Evrope: Formirovanie rynka domashnego obsluzhivajuschego tryda v Ukraine v kontekste global’noj ekonomiki zaboty i uhoda' ('New Cinderellas in Old Europe: The emergence of the labour market for domestic care services in Ukraine in the context of the global care economy'), in E. Yarskaya </ref> or ‘Naples Cinderellas’. These terms describe Ukrainian migrant women whose target country of migration is often (though not always) Italy, again with Naples as a frequent destination.

‘New Cinderellas’ (Tolstokorova 2011)<ref>Tolstokorova, 2011. 'Novye Zolushki v staroj Evrope: Formirovanie rynka domashnego obsluzhivajuschego tryda v Ukraine v kontekste global’noj ekonomiki zaboty i uhoda' ('New Cinderellas in Old Europe: The emergence of the labour market for domestic care services in Ukraine in the context of the global care economy'), in E. Yarskaya </ref> or ‘Naples Cinderellas’. These terms describe Ukrainian migrant women whose target country of migration is often (though not always) Italy, again with Naples as a frequent destination.

‘Skype mommy’ (Savka 2013)<ref>Savka, М. 2013. Mama po skajpu (Skype mommy). Lviv: Old Lion Publisher</ref> and ‘transnational supermom’ (Tolstokorova 2013). These terms refer to migrant mothers whose children remain in Ukraine.

‘Skype mommy’ (Savka 2013)<ref>Savka, М. 2013. Mama po skajpu (Skype mommy). Lviv: Old Lion Publisher</ref> and ‘transnational supermom’ (Tolstokorova 2013). These terms refer to migrant mothers whose children remain in Ukraine.

‘Italian syndrome.’ This term was coined by psychologists in western Ukraine to cover a complex of mental and physical disorders that migrant workers, especially women, may develop during their time abroad (not necessarily in Italy, but also elsewhere). These include depression, paranoia, agoraphobia and other psychological problems resulting from alienation from family and loss of familiar social connections. Female domestic workers may suffer spinal injuries, for example as a result of having to lift bed-ridden patients. Long absences from home and a fragmented style of transnational family life may also encourage unsafe sexual relations which may in turn harm migrants’ reproductive health.

‘Italian syndrome.’ This term was coined by psychologists in western Ukraine to cover a complex of mental and physical disorders that migrant workers, especially women, may develop during their time abroad (not necessarily in Italy, but also elsewhere). These include depression, paranoia, agoraphobia and other psychological problems resulting from alienation from family and loss of familiar social connections. Female domestic workers may suffer spinal injuries, for example as a result of having to lift bed-ridden patients. Long absences from home and a fragmented style of transnational family life may also encourage unsafe sexual relations which may in turn harm migrants’ reproductive health.

‘Italian children.’ (Majdanik 2010)<ref>Majdanik, I.P. 2010. Ukrajinska molod’ na rynkah praci zarubiznyh derzhav (Ukrainian Youth on the Labour Markets of Foreign States). Kyiv: M. Ptukha Institute for Demographic and Social Research</ref>. This describes children of migrant workers (again, not only those working in Italy) who, in the absence of their parents, become ‘social orphans’ – a term usually used in Ukraine to describe children who have biological parents but who live on the streets, with foster families, or in boarding houses. Deprived of family socialisation and gender role-models, these young people often lack opportunities to learn survival skills such as self-organisation, individual responsibility and emotional maturity. As a result, labour migration has been accused of fostering a generation of young people who are reluctant to work and choose instead to live on remittances sent by their parents, frittering them away on luxuries, alcohol or drugs (Kyrchiv 2004)<ref>Kyrchiv, A. 2004. Trudova mighracia i nacional’na bezpeka Ukrajiny (Labour migration and national security in Ukraine), Ji-Magazine, http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua/kordon/migration/2004/kyrchiv07-10.htm</ref>. They do not see how hard their mothers and fathers work abroad to provide for their wellbeing. All they see is the remittances arriving from abroad and they regard their parents as ‘paycheck Moms’ (Tolstokorova 2010)<ref>Tolstokorova, A. 2010. ‘Where Have All the Mothers Gone? The Gendered Effect of Labour Migration and Transnationalism on the Institution of Parenthood in Ukraine’, The Anthropology of East Europe Review, 28(1): 184-214</ref>, ‘personal money bags’ and ‘private ATMs’ providing them with banknotes. They come to associate international employment with easy money and la dolce vita, and to believe that money can only really be made abroad. Being financially better-off than children from non-migrant families, they are perceived by their peers as proof of this belief. A sociological poll of migrants’ children at several Kyiv high schools found that 86 per cent of them did not see their futures in Ukraine, and that 65 per cent of school-leavers wanted to leave Ukraine and work abroad as soon as possible (Kyrchiv 2004)<ref>Kyrchiv, A. 2004. Trudova mighracia i nacional’na bezpeka Ukrajiny (Labour migration and national security in Ukraine), Ji-Magazine, http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua/kordon/migration/2004/kyrchiv07-10.htm</ref>. This suggests that ‘Italian children’ may come to represent a lost generation that is unlikely to contribute directly to Ukraine’s national economy.

‘Italian children.’ (Majdanik 2010)<ref>Majdanik, I.P. 2010. Ukrajinska molod’ na rynkah praci zarubiznyh derzhav (Ukrainian Youth on the Labour Markets of Foreign States). Kyiv: M. Ptukha Institute for Demographic and Social Research</ref>. This describes children of migrant workers (again, not only those working in Italy) who, in the absence of their parents, become ‘social orphans’ – a term usually used in Ukraine to describe children who have biological parents but who live on the streets, with foster families, or in boarding houses. Deprived of family socialisation and gender role-models, these young people often lack opportunities to learn survival skills such as self-organisation, individual responsibility and emotional maturity. As a result, labour migration has been accused of fostering a generation of young people who are reluctant to work and choose instead to live on remittances sent by their parents, frittering them away on luxuries, alcohol or drugs (Kyrchiv 2004)<ref>Kyrchiv, A. 2004. Trudova mighracia i nacional’na bezpeka Ukrajiny (Labour migration and national security in Ukraine), Ji-Magazine, http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua/kordon/migration/2004/kyrchiv07-10.htm</ref>. They do not see how hard their mothers and fathers work abroad to provide for their wellbeing. All they see is the remittances arriving from abroad and they regard their parents as ‘paycheck Moms’ (Tolstokorova 2010)<ref>Tolstokorova, A. 2010. ‘Where Have All the Mothers Gone? The Gendered Effect of Labour Migration and Transnationalism on the Institution of Parenthood in Ukraine’, The Anthropology of East Europe Review, 28(1): 184-214</ref>, ‘personal money bags’ and ‘private ATMs’ providing them with banknotes. They come to associate international employment with easy money and la dolce vita, and to believe that money can only really be made abroad. Being financially better-off than children from non-migrant families, they are perceived by their peers as proof of this belief. A sociological poll of migrants’ children at several Kyiv high schools found that 86 per cent of them did not see their futures in Ukraine, and that 65 per cent of school-leavers wanted to leave Ukraine and work abroad as soon as possible (Kyrchiv 2004)<ref>Kyrchiv, A. 2004. Trudova mighracia i nacional’na bezpeka Ukrajiny (Labour migration and national security in Ukraine), Ji-Magazine, http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua/kordon/migration/2004/kyrchiv07-10.htm</ref>. This suggests that ‘Italian children’ may come to represent a lost generation that is unlikely to contribute directly to Ukraine’s national economy.

In today’s Ukraine, zarobitchanstvo is perceived not merely as a spontaneous form of self-organisation of the population but as a frame of collective thinking. It is a specific Ukrainian phenomenon with its own social values. It is not just a means of making money, but a life-style choice that has implications for Ukrainian society at large.

In today’s Ukraine, zarobitchanstvo is perceived not merely as a spontaneous form of self-organisation of the population but as a frame of collective thinking. It is a specific Ukrainian phenomenon with its own social values. It is not just a means of making money, but a life-style choice that has implications for Ukrainian society at large.

<references />

<references />