Information on the thesis

The thesis presents the results of research on social aspects of Ukrainian labour
migrants communities formation and functioning in host societies from perspective of
theory of social capital. The given study is implemented from standpoint of a following
number of theories: conceptualization of the role of migration networks in formation of
migration flows (A. Portes, J. Sensenbrenner); theory of social capital and typology of
its modalities (P. Bourdieu, R. Putnam, M. Granovetter, F. Fukuyama); typology of
models of migrants integration into host societies (O. Ivankova-Stetsiuk, I. Markov,
G. Seleshchuk).
It has been found that in the understanding of community phenomenon there is a
shift from concentration on locational closeness to non-territorial conceptualization,
which emphasizes the commonality of life situations, needs and social ties. Migrant
communities often are resident (territorial) but also communities of identities and
common needs and interests. The most relevant concept that covers the functioning of
migrant communities is «social capital». Social capital theory allows us to focus on the
opportunities offered by the network of ties, resources, and constraints related to group
membership (including the measurement of so-called «forced trust»). The review of the
causal models of social capital functioning in context of migrant communities is given
and a comparative analysis of empirical studies of social capital of such communities is
presented. The current stage of migration from Ukraine is characterized by such features
as: circular model of external migration; growth of transnational and guest families; the
proliferation of transport and telecommunications technologies that mitigate the
problem of migrant absence in countries of origin and problem of of social ties
breakdown; relative gender balance (compared to previous historical waves of migration
from Ukraine); the weakening of inter-regional differences in external migration vectors
due to the significant redistribution of migration flow in the Euro-Atlantic direction and
shrink of the Eurasian direction of external migration, etc.
The peculiarities of Ukrainian migrants communities from the perspective of
social capital theory at previous and present historical periods of migration from
Ukraine are characterized. It is substantiated that the dynamics of community building
by Ukrainian migrants in host societies is characterized by the gradual transformation of
low-performance highly autonomous model of voluntary ghettoization and ethnically
and culturally homogeneous circles of trust to highly effective low-autonomous models
of deeper integration into the host society. A bridging type of social capital, which is
based on interpersonal relationships between new migrants, migrants of previous waves
and residents of host countries is being formed. Such transformations are taking place in
the context of transnational migration networks strengthening. Such networks function
relatively autonomously from communities formed on the basis of ethnicity or
confessionality or common citizenship.
The paper further develops theoretical idea of capital-generating structures of
social capital at the meso level as a collective resource, strengthening of which occurs
through the actualization of additional communication channels. Author argues that the
most powerful generators of social capital are religious as well as non-religious
nongovernment organizations. Among the largest Ukrainian denominations in terms of
purposeful work with migrant communities the UGCC differs significantly, which is
explained by historical development of this denomination, in particular by the long
period of operation abroad.
The features of social capital of Ukrainian migrants at the stage of previous
waves of migration from Ukraine in context of models of integration into host societies
are revealed. It was found that typical feature of Ukrainian migrants community
building in host societies at the stage of first wave of migration were voluntary
ghettoization, development of rich internal structure of the community, isolation,
development of quasi-family networks, relatively homogeneous in social status. Over
time, given the rich structure of migrants’ opportunities in host societies, migrant
communities transformed from Ghetto model to Diaspora model.
The experience of empirical research of social capital of migrant communities by
Ukrainian and foreign researchers is analyzed. It has been found that common for such
studies is the emphasis on the role of migration networks in stimulating the migration
process; migrant communities as an environment for the generation and use of
resources; the dilemma between migrants community building and successful
integration into host societies. The empirical data obtained from mass surveys, expert
interviews, materials of focus group discussions and statistics, which allowed to conduct
the comprehensive analysis of such aspects of the researched problem as: the formation
of migration flows and the role of transnational migration networks, peculiarities of
migrants needs at different stages of their stay in host societies, peculiarities of
resources used by migrants to satisfy their needs (with regard to network and non-
network resources), the role of formal and informal structures in migrants community
building.
Keywords: external migration, social communities, migrant communities, social
capital of migrant communities, social capital generating structures.