Description
Ukrainians fleeing their homes and leaving behind their life as they knew it, were taking with them not only physical objects, but also a heavy and invisible luggage: the emotional luggage that all displaced people, be it refugees, migrants, expatriates, carry with them. Migration is recognised as a key issue in public diplomacy and IR; yet the medium- and long-term consequences of the emotional luggage that shapes the identity and the integration of displaced people in their new host places have been rarely scrutinized in depth in public diplomacy and even in diaspora diplomacy scholarship. In fact, emotions in general are marginally discussed by public diplomacy scholars, with few notable exceptions (Duncombe 2019, Chernobrov 2022, Di Martino 2021). The marginality of emotions in the field is more surprising because the topic has become a rapidly growing field of inquiry in IR (Bleiker and Hutchison 2014, Koschut et al 2017). Drawing on these advancements in IR, we propose an engagement with the psychoanalytical work of Vamik Volkan (2017) to shed some light on the psychology of newcomers (Ukrainian refugees) and the reactions of a host population in the UK. We argue understanding the complex psychology, loss, emotions, and trauma of displacement is essential in diaspora diplomacy. It is necessary for theory building to develop analytical frameworks and research questions that link psychological processes with diaspora engagement and disengagement. In terms of practice, it can inform medium- and long-term policies of support and integration of refugees in host countries, as well as programs to encourage grassroots initiatives and increase multi-cultural awareness, communication and collaboration between newcomers and hosts. Psychoanalytical approaches can shed light on the psychological processes that make illiberal, populist, and extremist discourses effective as they instrumentalize chosen traumas and chosen glories.
