Grégoire Le Gall
Doctoral researcher, CNRS-Géographie Cités

Project(s)
What is your project and why did you choose it?
My project focuses the transnational and transgenerational experience of Ukrainian kinship groups, i.e. beyond the framework of the contemporary Ukrainian State in time and space. I question the practiced and lived dimension of the upheavals induced by the war in Ukraine (2014-) over the long term. It was brought to me by the discussions I had with the Ukrainians I met in Poland in 2022.
What brought your interest to the region?
Languages. Russian was my first love. It brought me to Saint-Petersburg as an exchange student five years ago. My second love was Georgian, and thus, I took the opportunity to spend one year in the Caucasus, firstly as an intern at the Embassy of France. At that point, I became more aware and passionate about post-soviet States societies and I became especially curious about Ukraine, which slowly raised my interest into conducting a PhD.
How has Russia's war against Ukraine affected your project?
When the war started, I just began a project about sports recruitment networks in Ukraine, knowing that they would enlighten the Ukrainian entre-deux geographical and secular situation. The war made it impossible, as the planned fieldwork should have taken place in Ukraine. I took time to think, try and fail to build something else which could match the gravity of the events. I managed by volunteering at the border and by asking genuine questions to displaced persons, who spontaneously discussed their family stories with me, again and again. Eurêka.
Grégoire Le Gall is trained as a geographer at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. He is currently conducting a PhD in cultural geography at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris.
Photo : Mathilde Roger