Wednesday, February 25, 20264:15 PM - 5:45 PM
Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
The Center for European and Russian Studies hosts a quarterly graduate student lecture and mixer. The lecture by Natasha Bluth (Department of Sociology) is entitled "War, Migration, and Asymmetrical Gender Transformations in Ukrainian Households" and will include a presentation, time for Q&A, culminating in an informal mixer for students of all disciplines with an interest in Europe and/or Russia. This event will be held in Bunche Hall Room 10383 on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 4:15 pm. Register here.
About the Talk
Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has generated profound demographic shifts in Ukrainian society and the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. These dynamics are also deeply gendered: international protection policies and Ukrainian mobilization laws have facilitated the mass displacement of Ukrainian women and children while restricting the mobility of men. Drawing on fieldwork with Ukrainian families in Krakow, Poland, and Ukraine, between 2022 and 2025, this talk explores how these gendered processes are shaping three dimensions of household life: wartime migratory decision-making, marital relations, and coming-of-age experiences for young adults. I show that while war and displacement tighten traditional gender norms, they also create new opportunities for women to transcend these norms—at the same time that horizons narrow for men. These results carry important implications for Ukrainian families and for the future of Ukraine, where gender politics have become a key terrain of differentiation from Russia.
About the Speaker
Natasha Bluth is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research examines how gender politics and discourses relate to state-building, nationalism, and everyday life in postsocialist Russia and Ukraine. She was a 2025 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellow and holds a BA in international relations and Slavic Studies from Brown University.
Venue
Bunche Hall Room 10383 (10th Floor of Bunche Hall)
11282 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Sponsor(s): Center for European and Russian Studies