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Paper short abstract

The paper scrutinises the hierarchies of deservingness in the perception of war refugees from Ukraine in the context of private hosting in Poland. The place of origin (and its assumed safety), social class, gender, and ethnicity are the categories on which these hierarchies have been constructed.

Paper long abstract

In the wake of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland received the greatest number of refugees. At least half a million of them were spontaneously hosted in private homes, which is an unprecedented phenomenon, given the earlier, rather unwelcoming attitude of the Polish society towards refugees. Such a hosting, which often lasted for months, included providing refugees with shelter as well as extensive instrumental and emotional support. However, not all those fleeing Ukraine were equally considered by Polish hosts as refugees deserving support. Sometimes, hosts felt misplaced compassion and disappointment with their guests – among others, refugees from Western Ukraine, more affluent refugees, male refugees, or Ukrainian Roma.

In the paper, I scrutinise the hierarchies of deservingness based on moral judgements in the perception of war refugees from Ukraine in the context of private hosting in Poland. These hierarchies – that spanned between vulnerability and privilege – have been constructed upon the place of origin (and its assumed safety), social class, gender, and ethnicity. As a result, an indigent woman from Eastern Ukraine has been perceived as vulnerable and forced to flee, and thus a genuine refugee deserving support more than the others, e.g., those affluent or coming from Western Ukraine, who have been considered searching for a better life rather than a refuge.

The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Western Poland among Poles who hosted Ukrainian refugees in their homes, and hosted refugees (National Science Centre grant, no. UMO-2023/49/B/HS3/02706).