Czechia: Resilience in the context of migration

The latest issue of the Czech Sociological Review, entitled Migration in Uncertain Times of Multiple Crises: Increasing Vulnerability or Growing Resilience?, examines how migrants and host country institutions respond to challenges associated with migration. The issue includes summaries of 3 recent academic studies conducted in Czechia.

The 1st study, produced by a research team from the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, analyses the Czech healthcare system’s response to the sudden arrival of a large number of displaced people from Ukraine following the Russia’s war against Ukraine. The authors assessed the system’s capacity to absorb this population - both in terms of immediate needs and long-term sustainability - while maintaining its functionality, quality, and resilience. This study is among the first to comprehensively analyse the resilience of the Czech healthcare system in the context of immigration, providing empirical data that indicate a predominantly reactive approach to maintaining the core functions of this essential infrastructure.

The 2nd study summarised in the publication comes from Tomáš Knor and Tereza Freidingerová at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. This study focuses on the role of diaspora associations in the social adaptation of Vietnamese people who are second-generation migrants in Czechia. The authors analyse how these support groups enhance their members’ resilience against pressures stemming from the expectations of both the majority population and their own ethnic community.

The 3rd study, authored by a team from Palacký University in Olomouc and the University of Hradec Králové, examines highly skilled Ukrainian holders of temporary protection. The researchers explore how the “non-permanent” nature of temporary protection and the ongoing war in Ukraine affect this group’s ontological security, life goals, and career aspirations in a new country.

The Czech Sociological Review is a peer-reviewed open-access journal. It aims to serve as an international platform for advancing sociological theory and methodology in Central and Eastern Europe. The studies discussed in this article can be accessed in Czech, with summaries available in English.