Topos

2026-02-25T12:36:42+00:00

THE PROMISE OF (UN)HAPPINESS? GENDER, LABOUR, AND MIGRATION

2026-02-25T13:22:43+00:00

This editorial preface introduces the thematic issue of Topos, inspired by the conference “The Promise of (Un)Happiness? Gender, Labour, and Migration,” held at the European Humanities University in September 2024. The volume explores the multifaceted intersections of gender, labor, and migration, with a particular focus on the experiences of women affected by war, political upheaval, and displacement, especially in Eastern Europe. The collection examines both the challenges and transformative opportunities that arise from exile and forced migration. Contributions span diverse methodologies and genres, including ethnographic studies, autoethnographies, and collaborative interviews, highlighting issues such as psychological support for refugees, professional adaptation, gender imbalances in high-tech industries, and the emotional and social dimensions of displacement. By bringing together voices from academia and activism, the issue provides a comprehensive, multidimensional perspective on the quest for happiness and fulfillment amid instability, offering scholarly insights and solidarity to those navigating migration’s complexities.

SEEKING AND AVOIDING: ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP FOR BELARUSIAN REFUGEES

2026-02-25T13:24:33+00:00

This paper responds to an apparent public consensus about the need for psychological help for Belarusians who have experienced repression and forced migration. Using data from interviews and participant observation conducted within long-term ethnographic fieldwork, I examine various forms and meanings of psychological help as it was practised, understood and dealt with within the community of Belarusian political refugees who fled to Lithuania after 2020. The article provides an overview of heterogeneous psy encounters in the field, zooming in on two practices that were organised within the community. I argue that informal and community-based psychological help, as it was practised within my field, should be understood as a dynamic entanglement of practices, charged
with past experiences and current predicaments. The proposed approach allows us to see how so-called ‘psychological help’ can take various forms even within a relatively small community. Those forms can be entangled with different historical and socio-cultural contexts, state bureaucracies and relationships within the diaspora. The meaning of such help to its recipients, as well as their desire to resist psychologisation, should be taken into account by activists, practitioners, and community members.

NOT AT (A) HOME: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEPRIVATIONS OF BELARUSIAN WOMEN MIGRANTS IN LITHUANIA

2026-02-25T13:26:24+00:00

The intensity and structure of the migration flow from Belarus to Lithuania after 2020 indicate that the emigration of Belarusians is already long-term and potentially irreversible. Despite the fact that the main migration flow from Belarus to Lithuania after 2020 was formed by men, the increase in the number of female immigrants (measured as the number of valid resident permits issued for women) during this period was also significant: it increased from 3,064 in 2019 to 9,725 in 2024 (end of period). Women’s emigration experience differs significantly from men’s, and the adaptation and integration strategies of emigrants become more diverse
if women are involved in emigration. As the study showed, the deprivations faced by immigrant women are caused by both the fact of emigration itself and the difficulties in adapting to life in new conditions, as well as limitations in access to social (informational and emotional support, the system of social connections and interactions, health, access to social services and the social protection system, etc.) and economic (work, especially in a specialty, material support, availability of financial services, the presence and possibility of using previously made savings, etc.). Building individual strategies for adapting to life in a new country allows women to
restore (in full or in part) access to social and economic resources and reduce the risks of deprivation. The research goal is to study the situation of women migrants from Belarus in Lithuania, to identify vulnerabilities that lead to social and economic deprivation of women in emigration. The research methodology was based on qualitative methods, namely, conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with representatives of the target group (Belarusian women who moved to Lithuania after 2020). The qualitative analysis was supplemented by a quantitative assessment of the scale of emigration of Belarusian women to Lithuania after 2020, as well as an analysis of the profile of female migration based on official migration data published by Eurostat.

FROM EMPOWERMENT TO EMERGENCY RELIEF: HOW WOMEN’S NGOS IN UKRAINE RESPONDED TO DISPLACEMENT DURING WARTIME

2026-02-25T13:32:03+00:00

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has profoundly reshaped the role of civil society organizations, compelling them to move from advocacy and long-term empowerment strategies toward emergency humanitarian responses. This article examines how women’s NGOs adapted their missions, priorities, and organizational practices under wartime conditions, focusing specifically on their engagement with internally displaced persons (IDPs). Drawing on seven semi-structured interviews with leaders of women’s NGOs, the study applies a conceptual framework that combines civil society theory with feminist organizational analysis. Methodologically,
it adopts a participatory qualitative approach, involving NGO representatives as both interviewees and co-thinkers, thereby centering
their lived experiences, adaptive strategies, and perceptions of displacement-related challenges. The findings demonstrate that the war constituted a critical juncture, producing rapid humanitarianization of women’s NGOs. Organizations that previously specialized in advocacy, education, and women’s empowerment shifted to delivering food aid, temporary shelter, legal support, and psychosocial
services. Interview data highlight five interrelated dynamics: the humanitarianization of missions; the gendered dimensions of psychological trauma among displaced women; the reliance on volunteerism and donor-funded rapid-response mechanisms; strained cooperation with state institutions; and the marginalization of long-term advocacy goals. Despite resource constraints and institutional tensions, women’s NGOs exhibited resilience by mobilizing solidarity networks and leveraging their experience in gender-sensitive service delivery. However, their strategic capacity for policy influence and gender advocacy has been curtailed, raising concerns about the sustainability of feminist agendas in post-war reconstruction. The article contributes to debates on civil society under crisis, NGO-ization, and feminist organizational practices. It argues that women’s NGOs in Ukraine embody both resilience and fragility: indispensable as frontline humanitarian actors, yet vulnerable to donor dependence and the sidelining of advocacy work. The study underscores the importance of supporting women’s NGOs not only as service providers but also as agents of long-term social transformation in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY, CAREER, AND WORKING CONDITIONS: THE CASE OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN UKRAINE

2026-02-25T13:05:08+00:00

This article examines the impact of forced internal migration on the professional identity, career trajectories, and working conditions of
women in the context of the war in Ukraine. The object of the study is the professional adaptation of internally displaced women, including their ability to restore career development and integrate into new socio-economic conditions. The aim of the study is to identify key factors that facilitate or hinder access to the labor market, professional self-determination, and social adaptation of internally displaced women. The main tasks include analyzing theoretical approaches to forced migration and professional adaptation, identifying barriers to employment, assessing the influence of psychological resilience, education, and retraining programs on
career opportunities, and examining the role of local authorities’ support and participation in international programs in promoting the integration of internally displaced women. The methodology employs a comprehensive approach, including the analysis of scientific literature and theoretical frameworks, a survey conducted among internally displaced women in four regions of Western Ukraine, and a comparison of the results with international practices in migrant adaptation. The key findings indicate that professional adaptation of internally displaced women largely depends on psychological resilience, access to retraining and upskilling programs, active
support from local authorities, and opportunities to participate in international projects. It was found that involving women in decision-making processes regarding integration programs enhances the effectiveness of their social and professional adaptation. Based on the study, recommendations are proposed to improve conditions for professional integration and social recovery of internally displaced women, aimed at strengthening economic stability, ensuring gender equality, and supporting sustainable development of local communities.

ADDRESSING GENDER IMBALANCE IN IT COMPANIES IN UKRAINE

2026-02-18T19:35:15+00:00

Gender imbalance in the Ukrainian information technology (IT) sector remains a critical issue, with women significantly underrepresented in both technical and managerial roles. In 2024, women comprised only 26 percent of the IT workforce, highlighting persistent disparities despite recent sector growth. This study investigates the socio-professional characteristics of female IT specialists in Ukraine, aiming to identify patterns in employment, career progression, and income, as well as to assess the influence of education, English proficiency, work experience, family status, and organizational factors on professional development. The empirical basis of the study comprises 26 in-depth surveys conducted with women working in diverse IT companies. The questionnaires collected information on respondents’ educational background, employment type, professional role, income, career intentions, mentorship experiences,
and perceptions of gender-related challenges in the workplace. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation methods were applied to
examine the relationship between key variables, including age, years of experience, and monthly income. The results indicate that higher education and advanced English language skills are associated with greater access to senior positions and higher income, while income levels are more influenced by company sector and professional role than by years of experience. Mentorship, ongoing professional development, and willingness to assume managerial responsibilities emerged as important factors for career
advancement. The study emphasizes the role of inclusive leadership, supportive organizational culture, and targeted managerial strategies in fostering equitable workplaces. Digital tools and technologies were identified as enablers of professional growth, providing women with improved access to resources, training, and networking opportunities. The findings underscore the necessity of coordinated efforts among companies, educational institutions, and governmental agencies to address systemic barriers, promote
women’s participation in IT, and strengthen the sector’s competitiveness. By providing empirical insights and practical recommendations, this research contributes to the development of a more inclusive and innovative IT ecosystem in Ukraine, highlighting strategies to reduce gender disparities, enhance professional opportunities for women, and support sustainable
sector growth.

DEALING WITH RELOCATION: PROBLEMATIC INTEGRATION OF EAST EUROPEAN MOTHERS WITH PRESCHOOLERS IN POLAND

2026-02-25T13:08:43+00:00

This research examines the agency and integration of skilled Eastern European migrant mothers with preschool children living in Poland, who relocated through family migration channels accompanying IT professionals. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews with women from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, the study investigates how these mothers navigate structural, cultural, and institutional constraints while reconstructing their professional and social identities in the host society. The analytical framework integrates Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory-particularly the concepts of the duality of structure, routine, and reflexive monitoring of action-with Hannah Arendt’s notion of agency, Andrea Thuma’s four-dimensional model of subject visibility, and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and capital. The findings reveal that migrant mothers construct alternative spaces of empowerment within online and offline migrant communities, where their pre-migration cultural and professional capital is revalorized and transformed into social and symbolic capital. These informal networks provide social support and partially compensate for the lack of institutional integration measures in Poland. However, Poland’s current migration policy is not geared toward the integration of migrant mothers, and for the mothers themselves, integration is not a priority. Additionally, they feel that Polish society is not ready for integration as a two-way process. Therefore, the potential of habitus is not fully utilized to foster the creation of a multicultural society. In turn, habitus determines practical activities that, in the absence of effective integration, continue to stem from dispositions formed before relocation. This perpetuation of pre-existing social patterns may contribute to growing interethnic tensions between Poles and Eastern European migrants.
The study concludes that recognizing and mobilizing the agency and resources of skilled migrant mothers is essential not only for their empowerment but also for fostering social cohesion in contemporary Poland.

GETTING THE BEST OF “UNWANTED RECOGNITION”

2026-02-25T13:34:45+00:00

This article examines systematic attacks on Gender Studies as part of broader anti-gender campaigns within illiberal states, using the
personal experience at Central European University as a case study. When Gender Studies was deleted from Hungary’s accredited study list in 2017 without consultation, CEU was forced to relocate from Budapest to Vienna in 2020, demonstrating how attacks on academic freedom occur within EU member states rather than distant authoritarian regimes. These attacks transform Gender Studies into “popular science”, where politicians and public intellectuals make authoritative statements without relevant training, paradoxically occurring during renewed public trust in scientific expertise following the pandemic. Illiberal states exploit neoliberal evaluation systems, replacing international peer-reviewed journals with pro-government local publications and reorienting scientific discourse
from the Global North toward Russia and China — a twisted form of decolonization that reduces democratic inclusivity. The article argues that European scientific infrastructure remains unprepared for illiberal scientific institutions that appear legitimate but operate fraudulently using neoliberal language of excellence and impact. Resistance strategies include finding alternative sites for knowledge production, redefining scholarly identities, constituting support networks, and mobilizing internationally.

ON THE EDGE OF FAILURE: STORIES OF FEMALE DISPLACED SCHOLARS FROM BELARUS

2026-02-18T19:43:01+00:00

The article examines the experiences of displaced female scholars who struggle to maintain their professional identities due to the
challenges of forced migration. It draws on the stories of women who have involuntarily emigrated and experienced setbacks in their success, achievements, and overall happiness — whether through a complete loss of professional status or significant changes to their identities. Notably, the paper focuses on female scholars from Belarus, who were forced to leave the country after 2020. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with these scholars, representatives of host institutions, and the Scholars at Risk program, the author argues that, rather than viewing lack of success as a personal failure, this perspective helps to highlight the complexities of the integration process and reveals existing structural and institutional gaps in the support programs designed for displaced female
academics from peripheral societies.

Dis/Placement, Dis/Location, Dis/Engagement? FEMINIST REFLECTIONS ON THE PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN EXILE

2026-02-25T13:10:22+00:00

This article examines the production of feminist knowledge under conditions of exile through the case of Belarusian gender studies after 2020. Drawing on feminist epistemology and most notably Donna Haraway’s concept of situated knowledges, the article conceptualizes displacement as an epistemic condition that reshapes research agendas, methods of study, and modes of engagement. Problematizing the notions of dis/placement, dis/location, and dis/engagement, the author states that what may be perceived as a disruption in professional occupation and loss of cultural belonging, burdened by uncertainty, precariousness and nomadic life, eventually results into a reconfiguration of feminist epistemic labor and the production of new knowledge on gender subjects.

WHEN ATTITUDES BECOME INFRASTRUCTURE: ARTISTIC PRACTICES AT THE LIMITS OF MIGRATION SYSTEMS AND INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE

2026-02-25T13:12:02+00:00

Understanding migration itself as an infrastructure — one that is structurally fragmented, bureaucratically opaque, and often deliberately dysfunctional — the paper explores contemporary artistic practices through the concept of infrastructural art, focusing on how artists engage with systemic failures. Using a case study approach, it analyses three artistic tactics — invasive, fugitive, and counter-infrastructure — that intervene in broken systems not as metaphors, but as operational responses. The article argues that, rather than merely representing displacement, these practices materialise alternative infrastructures of care, education, and integration.

CREATING SPACES OF SOLIDARITY: GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON MIGRATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

2026-02-25T13:33:37+00:00

This interview brings together three practitioners working at the intersection of migration, gender, and art to examine how cultural practices become forms of resistance in contexts of displacement. Through reflections on community organising, feminist pedagogies, and the politics of fear shaping contemporary Europe, the conversation highlights the gendered dimensions of migration, the risks of institutional instrumentalisation, and the transformative potential of art for visibility and agency.

EMOTIONAL DISPLACEMENT AND THE FRAGILITY OF BELONGING. THE MEANING OF HOMING IN ITS TRANSITION

2026-02-25T13:13:46+00:00

This study investigates how Belarusian migrants and political exiles reconfigure the meaning of home and belonging following forced
displacement after the 2020 political crisis. The object of inquiry is the emotional and symbolic reconstruction of home in exile, shaped by practices of homing, relational care, and identity negotiation. The main task is to examine how migrants experience and enact belonging in uncertain sociopolitical landscapes, and how emotional geographies and symbolic rituals serve as coping mechanisms amid loss, mobility, and precarity. This study asks: how is home performed beyond physical space? What makes belonging possible in contexts of rupture? The study employs a qualitative methodology, grounded in reflexive thematic analysis of 13 in-depth interviews
with Belarusian migrants living in Lithuania, Poland, and Georgia. Data were coded to trace patterns in affective spatial practices, identity transformations, and diasporic community formation. The analysis draws on theoretical frameworks from diaspora studies, emotional geography, and feminist theory, particularly the works of Brah, Ahmed, and Blunt & Dowling. Findings reveal that home is not a static location but a mobile, affective infrastructure — reassembled through sensory cues, symbolic objects, and everyday rituals. Belonging emerges through emotional labor, repetition, and relational investments, often despite legal and spatial instability. Participants describe homing as a dynamic process: making spaces livable through routine, care, and memory. Communities in exile are revealed as fluid emotional cartographies rather than fixed social networks. The study concludes that emotional displacement creates both fragility and opportunity: while rootedness is undermined, new forms of resilience, identity, and political imagination emerge. These insights contribute to migration scholarship by foregrounding the intimate, embodied, and relational dimensions of belonging, offering a nuanced understanding of exile not only as loss but also as a site of becoming.

NO HOPE? — SINGLE MIGRANT MOTHERS AS A PRECARIAT: AUTOETHNOGRAPHY CASE FROM BATUMI, GEORGIA

2026-02-25T13:15:26+00:00

Childcare dramatically affects careers, opportunities, and happiness in migration. Single migrant mothers (solo moms) face additional
difficulties (exclusion factors), which make them unhappy and overworked, lacking motivation, hope, and professional identity, and on the way to becoming a member of the precariat. The complex intersection of solo parenting combined with a migration has not been thoroughly researched yet, especially in relation to Belarusian migrants, but there are some connecting issues in the field of higher education, academic, and art careers. This autoethnographic study analyzes the experience of a single mother living with a three-year-old boy in migration in Batumi, Georgia from February 2022 to July 2023, highlights exclusion factors, and shows some examples
of inclusive practices for single migrant mothers in Georgia.

TOWARDS A CONCEPTUALISATION OF ‘ALTERNATIVE’ POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

2026-02-18T19:49:50+00:00

This paper conceptualises ‘alternative’ political participation. The lack of definition for ‘alternative’ political participation overlooks various political actions that do not fit the conventional-unconventional distinction. The present study offers a definition of ‘alternative’ political participation and the challenges facing civil societies in the digital era. The definition is based on Sairambay’s (2020) reconceptualisation of political participation, taking into account the role of civic engagement. Various examples, arguments, and sources for ‘alternative’ political participation are discussed. Responding to Marcin Kaim’s call, this paper further elaborates the topic of ‘alternative’ political participation.

NARRATIVE TOLERANCE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF CONCEPTUAL TOOLS OF THE NARRATIVE THEORY OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE

2026-02-18T19:51:11+00:00

The article is devoted to the elaboration of the concept of narrative tolerance as a conceptual and methodological tool for processing the past, based on such conceptual grounds of the narrative theory of historical knowledge as constructivism, methodological openness, instrumentalist approach to the understanding of historical narrative, revisionism and perspectivism. Narrative tolerance is proposed to be understood as a refusal to impose one’s historical narrative on others (in accordance with the principle that “history is written by the victors”), as well as the possibility of including the voices of different historical agents in the narrative and taking into account different points of view without reducing the overall conclusions of the investigation to a “common denominator”, especially
in situations with long-term historical conflicts. It is pointed out that the historical past — the historical reality as we know it through historical works — is always, to a large extent, an “augmented reality” to the real past. The components that a historian “adds” to the
real past, creating the historical past in the process of researching, explaining and interpreting the available material, include theories, methodologies, and conceptual apparatus that are modern and regularly updated. The main mechanism for creating and changing the historical past as an augmented reality is the historical narrative. Thus, a set of historical narratives can be viewed as a way and mechanism of narrative engineering, a permanent process of re-description and re-evaluation of existing historical knowledge in the light of new data or theoretical and methodological approaches within the contemporary humanities.

Lackey, J. EPISTEMIC REPARATIONS AND THE RIGHT TO BE KNOWN. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 96, 2022: 54–89.

2026-02-26T12:36:40+00:00

Lackey, J. (2022). Epistemic reparations and the right to be known. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 96: 54–89.
Lackey, J. (2025). The Case for Epistemic Reparations. Lackey, J., & McGlynn, A. (Eds.). (2025). The Oxford handbook of social epistemology. Oxford University Press: 394–420.

PASTERNAK, A. RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS, IRRESPONSIBLE STATES: SHOULD CITIZENS PAY FOR THEIR STATES’ WRONGDOINGS? Oxford University Press, 2021

2026-02-26T10:38:35+00:00

Pasternak, A. (2021). Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States: Should Citizens Pay for Their States’ Wrongdoings? Oxford University Press.

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2026-02-25T12:51:37+00:00