Disrupt and Rebuild: Reconstruction Process of Entrepreneurial Identity among Ukrainian Refugee Entrepreneurs

CBEES Advanced Seminar with Sanita Rugina, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CBEES   

Speaker: Sanita Rugina, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CBEES.

Discussant: Johanna Palmberg, Associate Professor of Economics, Senior Lecturer at Södertörn University and Research Leader at Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum.

Chair: Yulia Gradskova, Associate Professor in History, Senior Researcher at the Department of Gender Studies, and Research Coordinator at CBEES, Södertörn Univeristy.

Abstract: Forced displacement jeopardizes refugees' original identities, while adjusting to a new environment in the host country poses significant challenges to self-redefinition. This transition, intertwined with entrepreneurial activities, remains underexplored in scholarly discourse. This study investigates how refugee entrepreneurs navigate the dynamics of identity reconstruction, addressing two key questions: (1) What are the drivers and hindrances for refugee entrepreneurs’ identity reconstruction? (2) How do refugee entrepreneurs reconstruct their entrepreneurial identities? Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with Ukrainian female refugee entrepreneurs across several European countries, this research identifies two approaches to identity reconstruction: dismantling and reassembling. By shedding light on these dynamics, the study contributes to understanding refugee entrepreneurship and post-displacement identity reconstruction in entrepreneurial contexts.

Sanita Rugina is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Södertörn University, Sweden. She holds a PhD degree from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Sanita is currently researching refugees and entrepreneurship in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, focusing on how it supports economic and social integration despite structural challenges.

She is also interested in female entrepreneurship research as well as how post-soviet post- transition context of the region influence the evolution of formal and informal institutions related to the development of democratic processes, entrepreneurship, education, and others.