This workshop is organized in the framework of the collaboration between the Institute of Sociology at the University of Neuchâtel and the Center for the Study of Transnational Families at the University Babes-Bolyai related to two research projects: “Dealing with Crises and Liminal Situations: The Agency of Ukrainian and Syrian Forced Migrants in Three National Contexts” and “Transnational Family (Re)Configurations in a Context of Crisis Migration: The Case of Ukrainian Forced Migrants in Romania and Switzerland”, both funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Organizers:
Prof. Mihaela Nedelcu, University of Neuchâtel
Dr. Viorela Ducu, University Babes-Bolyai

Workshop Description
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the largest waves of forced displacement in Europe since World War II, leding to a massive transnational dispersal of families, sometimes scattered across several countries. Ukrainian forced migrants, who are predominantly women and children, are leaving behind family members for whom they have cared, and they face multiple challenges in maintaining meaningful relationships and solidarity across borders. This has brought new forms of interdependence to the fore, revealing the complex relational mechanisms through which forced migrants and their relatives, whether left behind or living in other countries, act together to cope with the challenging reality of everyday life in contexts of displacement and war.

This two-day workshop proposes to explore transnational family processes within forced displacement from a relational perspective and through the lens of co-agency. In other words, it aims to analyze and discuss family life within forced migration as a process that is co-constructed, negotiated, and enacted together with others, and thus understand how migrants and non-migrants, those who leave and those who stay, actively shape one another’s’ lives, identities, and futures across time and borders, while embedded within various relational and sociopolitical contexts.

Workshop Venue
Babeș-Bolyai University
Centrul pentru Studiul Familiilor Transnaționale (Center for the Study of Transnational Families)
FSPAC 2 building, 85 Minerilor Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Registration
The workshop is open to the public. If you would like to attend, please register by 20 October 2025 by sending an email to: mihaela.nedelcu@unine.ch and viorela.telegdi@ubbcluj.ro.

Contact
If you have any questions, please contact the local organizers: viorela.telegdi@ubbcluj.ro or
alina.barbuta@ubbcluj.ro

Program