Based on original survey data, this essay analyses the political attitudes of individuals displaced by the war in eastern Ukraine. We systematically compare attitudinal differences and similarities along three axes: the displaced relative to the resident population; the displaced in Ukraine relative to the displaced in Russia; and the displaced from the (non-)government-controlled areas relative to the resident population in the (non-)government-controlled areas of Donbas. This fine-grained comparative analysis highlights the variety of attitudes held by the displaced, similarities in attitudes across displacement locations, and the effect of war casualties on attitudes and self-declared political interest. WAR AND DISPLACEMENT FUNDAMENTALLY DISRUPT PEOPLE'S everyday lives. These disruptions are likely to shape attitudes and behaviour, but social scientists tend to lack the data to study the attitudes of those who are most directly affected by war. Beyond a focus on the needs, health and rights of the displaced, or their views on issues directly related to the war-for example, their self-reported identities and perspectives on inter-group relations or proposals for peace-we lack a good understanding of the views of these individuals on a wider range of political issues. What do people experiencing war and displacement think of democracy or the direction their country is headed in, and how interested are they in politics in general? Including these issues in the discussion prevents us from reducing the people exposed to war and displacement to these experiences. Painting a fuller picture of their attitudes also provides us with an insight into some of the more long-term political challenges linked to war and displacement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.