The (Im)Mobile Ethnic Hungarian Minority Population in Transcarpathia, Western Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract This article aims to contribute to the growing international literature on (im)mobility. Drawing on the aspiration/ability model introduced by Jørgen Carling and developed by Hein de Haas (aspiration/capability), it analyzes the patterns of (im)mobility in the Hungarian ethnic minority living in Transcarpathia, Western Ukraine, in the last decade. The data, deriving from qualitative fieldwork conducted regularly since 2016 in multiple municipalities in Transcarpathia, illustrates the interrelatedness of mobility and immobility in family livelihood strategies in a peripheral region. The article highlights the impact of Hungary’s kin-state policies, particularly citizenship policies, and the geographical proximity to the kin-state in the ethnic-kin minority community, which enables the mobility of certain family members while rendering others immobile. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the diversified, age and gender-specific (im)mobility strategies are applied in geopolitical turmoil.