Challenging Vulnerability-Productivity Dichotomies: The Transformative Potential of Solidarity with Displaced Ukrainians

This paper examines how civic solidarity initiatives addressing displaced Ukrainians in Prague and Budapest navigate and challenge the entrenched dualities of vulnerability and productivity. The proximity of Russia’s war against Ukraine, its media coverage, and the perceived cultural similarity of Ukrainians have contributed to constructing a narrative of "collective vulnerability" and "collective deservingness" for access to labour markets, education, and healthcare (albeit under the condition of "temporariness"). At the same time, as state support diminished and displaced Ukrainians began actively navigating their lives, public perceptions of their vulnerability gradually shifted towards increased expectations of productivity (Chauvin and Garcés-Mascareñas 2014; Welfens 2023) - though largely within invisible sectors. Focusing on the dichotomy of deservingness, based either on vulnerability or productivity, this paper explores the practices of grassroots organisations, local communities, and displaced individuals themselves. It examines how the acts and relations of solidarity create spaces of care and resistance. By asking whether civic solidarity can disrupt these dualities, the paper highlights the transformative potential of solidarity practices in reshaping narratives and redefining displaced people’s roles beyond "passive victims" or "productive contributors."