Dr Agnieszka Kubal

Dr Agnieszka Kubal  has been awarded a post-doctoral grant from the British Academy and an award from the University’s John Fell OUP Research Fund to pursue an international research project focusing on the socio-legal aspects of migrants’ integration in Russia, entitled: ‘Helots no more? Protection of Human Rights and Access to Justice for Migrants in Russia’.

Migration to Russia over the past twenty years is a fascinating but a little told story. Russia, after the US, is the second largest destination for migrants globally. Migrants, primarily from post-Soviet countries, arrive however in a legal environment that is notorious for the mistreatment of human and socio-economic rights of Russian citizens and non-citizens alike. This project grapples with the question: how do migrants access the justice and stand for their rights in Russia?  At a broader level it advances new theoretical perspectives on migrant socio-legal integration and access to justice. I use the case of Russia to offer new approaches to studying socio-legal dimensions of labour migrations globally, beyond the European/ American experiences, drawing upon ideas from law and society and migration studies. Employing multi-disciplinary perspectives I will cast more light on the interplay between migration governance and migrants as agents responding to the new socio-legal environment.

The research project will be hosted by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, which Agnieszka will be joining in October as a Research Fellow from her current research post at the International Migration Institute.