Migration, Refugee Policy, and State Building in Postcommunist Europe

Oxana Shevel is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. She is an associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. She is also a member of the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS) and of the EUDO Citizenship expert group as a country expert on Ukraine. Her research focuses on comparative politics of the postcommunist region, especially on issues of nation- and state-building, the politics of citizenship and migration and the influence of international institutions on domestic politics. Her work has appeared in Comparative Politics, East European Politics and Societies, Europe-Asia Studies and Slavic Review.

• 1. Introduction: postcommunism, nationalism, and refugees; 2. A theory of refugee politics in 'contested' and 'uncontested' postcommunist states; 3. Refugee policy in the Russian Federation; 4. Refugee policy in Ukraine; 5. Refugee policy in the Czech Republic; 6. Refugee policy in Poland; 7. Conclusion.

“This nuanced account of immigration policy in Eastern Europe shows how crucibles of nationalism can, in the presence of vigorous political contestation, produce liberal and inclusive policies. Shevel’s meticulously researched analysis will be of interest to students and scholars of Eastern Europe and should attract the attention of policymakers and participants in debates about immigration on both sides of the Atlantic.” – Jessica Pisano, University of Ottawa