Transnational and gender paradigms in the study of international mobility: the case of Ukraine

Abstract

The paper is aimed at the analysis of the latest approaches to research in the social sciences including  mobility paradigm, the transnational perspective and the gendered approach to the study of social phenomenа. The research problem addressed in the paper is the possibility of examining these innovative approaches to social phenomena in a dialectical nexus. The paper draws from the analysis of secondary theoretical sources backed up by the findings of a multi-cited field research focused on the study of gendered implications of Ukrainian labour migration using a mixed-method approach. The paper illustrates the possibilities of applying the transnational paradigm to migration and mobilities studies, placing special emphasis on its advantages. It traces existing approaches to the research on transnational family and cross-border parenthood, using the Ukraine as the case in point. The heuristic and social relevance of the paper consists in casting light on the specificities of gendered approach to the study of economic mobility and labour migration in Ukraine, in outlining the effect of migration and transnationalism on families of Ukrainian trans-migrants, in showcasing the specificity of independent female migration in the context of global care chains, and in examining its gender effect on the transformations of mentality and identities of Ukrainian labour migrants.