The Ukrainian Diaspora in Poland after February 2022: Lifeworlds of the Labor Migrants and Female Refugees

The article examines the experiences of Ukrainians living in Poland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, focusing on the interpretive patterns they use to navigate in their daily life in a foreign country. Based on focus group interviews with pre-war labor migrants and female refugees in Warsaw, Wrocław, and Łowicz, the data was analyzed using grounded theory methodology and Contact Theory. The article employs the concept of lifeworlds to explore differences between respondents’ lives in Poland and Ukraine, their relationships with Poles and fellow Ukrainians, and their perspectives on the future of the Ukrainian community in Poland.