Varvara Mukhina

Emotions, Belonging, and Imagined Communities

My research explores how legal, symbolic, and moral boundaries shape inclusion, exclusion, and membership within political communities. Drawing on migration studies, political sociology, and the sociology of emotions, I examine how people experience belonging, estrangement, and exit in times of political change. My current work focuses on Russian migrants who oppose the invasion of Ukraine and develops the concept of Moral Migration, a framework explaining how moral convictions and group-based emotions shape migration under authoritarianism.