Formerly incarcerated women face multidimensional barriers post-release, ranging from individual,... more Formerly incarcerated women face multidimensional barriers post-release, ranging from individual, relational, institutional, to systemic. Drawing on the conceptual framework of interlocking barriers facing formerly incarcerated women, this qualitative case study set in one minimum-security prison in Ukraine with 21 interviewed women, four teachers, and eight staff demonstrates that interlocking systemic barriers cemented in Ukrainian society complicate formerly incarcerated women's integration in society and may set them up for failure and recidivism. The study illuminates how the absence of housing, employment and discrimination, stigma, inadequate support system, lack of economic and cultural capital to pursue further education, and health challenges confronting incarcerated women post-release disadvantage the already vulnerable population in Ukraine. The findings of this study contribute to the field of sociology by highlighting the interlocking barriers confronting women post-incarceration and elucidating a gendered approach to understanding women's reentry experiences in Ukraine.
Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 2021
The Constitution of Ukraine mandates that the complete secondary education be compulsory. While w... more The Constitution of Ukraine mandates that the complete secondary education be compulsory. While women have access to free secondary education in prisons, this constitutional requirement is not enforced across all prisons. Furthermore, higher education is not easily accessible in prison and is further fraught with challenges post incarceration. This qualitative research study draws on the conceptual framework of adult education motivations and barriers. Conducted in a minimum-security prison for women in Ukraine, it illuminates incarcerated women’s education experiences, post-secondary education aspirations, and barriers. The findings, derived from interviews with 21 women, four teachers, and eight staff, elucidate how incarcerated women downplayed the institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers. Instead, they focused on what I term ideological barriers. The study sheds light on the need to expand the framework of education barriers by including ideological barriers couched in the dominant neoliberal belief system of individual will and accountability.
Euromaidan Abroad: The Social Movement Motivations of Young Ukrainian Immigrants, 2020
This article examines the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan fro... more This article examines the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan from abroad. Existing research has documented social movements within their national boundaries and the participation of young people in them. However, it has rarely examined the expansion of social movements beyond their national boundaries and the engagement of young immigrants in such movements. Drawing on a larger qualitative study, this article presents the findings about what motivated 24 young Ukrainian immigrants residing in the USA to support the Euromaidan movement of 2013-2014 and compares their motivations to those of the protestors in Ukraine. We argue that motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan from abroad manifest themselves in symbolic or psychological causes. Our findings demonstrate that the individual motivations were driven by an ideological commitment to systemic change in Ukraine, manifested through young Ukrainian immigrants' (1) desire to end injustice, (2) solidarity with fellow Ukrainians, (3) moral obligation to raise awareness among the US public, and, most prominently, (4) sense of agency to contribute to the long-awaited change in the homeland. Our findings also show that overall, the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to join the movement aligned with those of the protestors in Ukraine.
In this research we put forth a theoretical framework that explores the nature and value of multi... more In this research we put forth a theoretical framework that explores the nature and value of multi-modal narratives as a tool for studying young children's conceptions of themselves as scientists as they exist in relation to scientists out in the world. This framework shapes and is shaped by an empirical study that took place within the context of a year-long program that engaged children in integrated science-literacy experiences around two units -- one on matter and one on a forest ecosystem. Thirty-six children were asked twice to draw and discuss two pictures of times they were scientists. We present our findings in two main ways. First, we use case studies of three students (one each in the first, second, and third grade) to show how the various constructs in the theoretical framework come together in the empirical study, and to explore in depth the various ideas that the children revealed. Second, we share a summative descriptive analysis of the differences between the pre and the post interviews. One of the important findings included the increase in the number of pictures from the pre-interview to the post interview in which children represented themselves as scientists (31 to 61). The children also showed themselves and scientists out in the world as engaging in practices with a range of materials, for a variety of purposes, and with particular kinds of epistemological commitments.
Reimaginig Utopias explores the shifting social imaginaries of post-socialist transformations to ... more Reimaginig Utopias explores the shifting social imaginaries of post-socialist transformations to understand what happens when the new and old utopias of post-socialism confront the new and old utopias of social science. This peer-reviewed volume addresses the theoretical, methodological, and ethical dilemmas encountered by researchers in the social sciences as they plan and conduct education research in post-socialist settings, as well as disseminate their research findings. Through an interdisciplinary inquiry that spans the fields of education, political science, sociology, anthropology, and history, the book explores three broad questions: How can we (re)imagine research to articulate new theoretical insights about post-socialist education transformations in the context of globalization? How can we (re)imagine methods to pursue alternative ways of producing knowledge? And how can we navigate various ethical dilemmas in light of academic expectations and fieldwork realities? Drawing on case studies, conceptual and theoretical essays, autoethnographic accounts, as well as synthetic introductory and conclusion chapters by the editors, this book advances an important conversation about these complicated questions in geopolitical settings ranging from post-socialist Africa to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The contributors not only expose the limits of Western conceptual frameworks and research methods for understanding post-socialist transformations, but also engage creatively in addressing the persisting problems of knowledge hierarchies created by abstract universals, epistemic difference, and geographical distance inherent in comparative and international education research. This book challenges the readers to question the existing education narratives and rethink taken-for-granted beliefs, theoretical paradigms, and methodological frameworks in order to reimagine the world in more complex and pluriversal ways.
Formerly incarcerated women face multidimensional barriers post-release, ranging from individual,... more Formerly incarcerated women face multidimensional barriers post-release, ranging from individual, relational, institutional, to systemic. Drawing on the conceptual framework of interlocking barriers facing formerly incarcerated women, this qualitative case study set in one minimum-security prison in Ukraine with 21 interviewed women, four teachers, and eight staff demonstrates that interlocking systemic barriers cemented in Ukrainian society complicate formerly incarcerated women's integration in society and may set them up for failure and recidivism. The study illuminates how the absence of housing, employment and discrimination, stigma, inadequate support system, lack of economic and cultural capital to pursue further education, and health challenges confronting incarcerated women post-release disadvantage the already vulnerable population in Ukraine. The findings of this study contribute to the field of sociology by highlighting the interlocking barriers confronting women post-incarceration and elucidating a gendered approach to understanding women's reentry experiences in Ukraine.
Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 2021
The Constitution of Ukraine mandates that the complete secondary education be compulsory. While w... more The Constitution of Ukraine mandates that the complete secondary education be compulsory. While women have access to free secondary education in prisons, this constitutional requirement is not enforced across all prisons. Furthermore, higher education is not easily accessible in prison and is further fraught with challenges post incarceration. This qualitative research study draws on the conceptual framework of adult education motivations and barriers. Conducted in a minimum-security prison for women in Ukraine, it illuminates incarcerated women’s education experiences, post-secondary education aspirations, and barriers. The findings, derived from interviews with 21 women, four teachers, and eight staff, elucidate how incarcerated women downplayed the institutional, situational, and dispositional barriers. Instead, they focused on what I term ideological barriers. The study sheds light on the need to expand the framework of education barriers by including ideological barriers couched in the dominant neoliberal belief system of individual will and accountability.
Euromaidan Abroad: The Social Movement Motivations of Young Ukrainian Immigrants, 2020
This article examines the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan fro... more This article examines the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan from abroad. Existing research has documented social movements within their national boundaries and the participation of young people in them. However, it has rarely examined the expansion of social movements beyond their national boundaries and the engagement of young immigrants in such movements. Drawing on a larger qualitative study, this article presents the findings about what motivated 24 young Ukrainian immigrants residing in the USA to support the Euromaidan movement of 2013-2014 and compares their motivations to those of the protestors in Ukraine. We argue that motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to support the Euromaidan from abroad manifest themselves in symbolic or psychological causes. Our findings demonstrate that the individual motivations were driven by an ideological commitment to systemic change in Ukraine, manifested through young Ukrainian immigrants' (1) desire to end injustice, (2) solidarity with fellow Ukrainians, (3) moral obligation to raise awareness among the US public, and, most prominently, (4) sense of agency to contribute to the long-awaited change in the homeland. Our findings also show that overall, the motivations of young Ukrainian immigrants to join the movement aligned with those of the protestors in Ukraine.
In this research we put forth a theoretical framework that explores the nature and value of multi... more In this research we put forth a theoretical framework that explores the nature and value of multi-modal narratives as a tool for studying young children's conceptions of themselves as scientists as they exist in relation to scientists out in the world. This framework shapes and is shaped by an empirical study that took place within the context of a year-long program that engaged children in integrated science-literacy experiences around two units -- one on matter and one on a forest ecosystem. Thirty-six children were asked twice to draw and discuss two pictures of times they were scientists. We present our findings in two main ways. First, we use case studies of three students (one each in the first, second, and third grade) to show how the various constructs in the theoretical framework come together in the empirical study, and to explore in depth the various ideas that the children revealed. Second, we share a summative descriptive analysis of the differences between the pre and the post interviews. One of the important findings included the increase in the number of pictures from the pre-interview to the post interview in which children represented themselves as scientists (31 to 61). The children also showed themselves and scientists out in the world as engaging in practices with a range of materials, for a variety of purposes, and with particular kinds of epistemological commitments.
Reimaginig Utopias explores the shifting social imaginaries of post-socialist transformations to ... more Reimaginig Utopias explores the shifting social imaginaries of post-socialist transformations to understand what happens when the new and old utopias of post-socialism confront the new and old utopias of social science. This peer-reviewed volume addresses the theoretical, methodological, and ethical dilemmas encountered by researchers in the social sciences as they plan and conduct education research in post-socialist settings, as well as disseminate their research findings. Through an interdisciplinary inquiry that spans the fields of education, political science, sociology, anthropology, and history, the book explores three broad questions: How can we (re)imagine research to articulate new theoretical insights about post-socialist education transformations in the context of globalization? How can we (re)imagine methods to pursue alternative ways of producing knowledge? And how can we navigate various ethical dilemmas in light of academic expectations and fieldwork realities? Drawing on case studies, conceptual and theoretical essays, autoethnographic accounts, as well as synthetic introductory and conclusion chapters by the editors, this book advances an important conversation about these complicated questions in geopolitical settings ranging from post-socialist Africa to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The contributors not only expose the limits of Western conceptual frameworks and research methods for understanding post-socialist transformations, but also engage creatively in addressing the persisting problems of knowledge hierarchies created by abstract universals, epistemic difference, and geographical distance inherent in comparative and international education research. This book challenges the readers to question the existing education narratives and rethink taken-for-granted beliefs, theoretical paradigms, and methodological frameworks in order to reimagine the world in more complex and pluriversal ways.
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Publications by Alla Korzh
Books by Alla Korzh