Caring on the move: Displacement, violence and social reproduction

The paper examines how social reproductive labour intersects with displacement in the context of war. It argues that social reproductive labour both shapes and is shaped by the reality of displacement. Building on the evidence from Ukraine, the paper traces how forced displacement reconfigures support networks, changing the distribution of the care labour necessary of survival; how the necessity of social reproduction dictates the rhythms of the forced displacement – who moves, when, and how; and how displacement creates ruptures and tears in the social fabric, which – in turn – necessitate more social reproduction labour in order to sustain community and a collective memory. The paper seeks to theorize the complex and multiple relationships between forced displacement and social reproductive labour, and in doing so contributes to the discussions around nuancing the relationship between violence and social reproduction.