In March I was invited to present a paper dedicated to the conditions of cultural workers from Ukraine, as part of a symposium in Berlin dedicated to working conditions generally through the full-scale invasion.
My final paper was entitled Precarious Acceleration: Cultural Work through the Full-Scale Invasion. As research, I interviewed several colleagues and heard their stories and challenges.
The final results showed a few familiar patterns: of dependency, of abuse and resistance against it, of depression and despair, and of co-operation and solidarity.
Thanks to the Centre Marc Bloc, KIU Competence Network of Viadrina University, and ZOIS in Berlin for the opportunity to be a part of things. The conference itself was full of information that painted a surprisingly normal picture of working trends in Ukraine, despite colleagues working in hugely adverse conditions and the threat from the East necessitating a lot of resource-allocation to defence.
Conference Website: https://cmb.hu-berlin.de/events/ukrainian-working-lives/
Full Program (pdf): https://cmb.hu-berlin.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Programm_Ukraine_2026_2seitigDweb-2.pdf
The paper will be published in its entirety - more soon.
