Svetlana Ruseishvili is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and an MSc in Social Sciences from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de Paris (France). 

In Brazil, Svetlana directs the InterMob, an interdisciplinary research group on mobilities and migration, and holds the Sergio Vieira de Mello UNHCR Academic Chair for refugees. She is also an Associate Editor of Contemporânea Journal of Sociology, a highly-ranked Brazilian academic journal. 

Her research focuses on migration and asylum policies in Brazil, migrants’ incorporation in mid-sized cities, and strategic citizenship in Brazil and South America. 

With her undergraduate and MSc students, Svetlana works on three major research projects:

• Migrant’s incorporation in mid-sized Brazilian cities. This project aims to investigate the impacts of the Brazilian governmental project for the resettlement of Venezuelan migrants from the Amazonian border to the country’s Southern states, “interiorização” (interiorisation). A team of researchers headed by Svetlana is currently investigating 1) how new digital technologies used by the Brazilian authorities to resettle Venezuelan migrants produce specific logistical rationality in migration governance, and 2) increasing participation of faith-based organisations in newcomers’ reception in mid-sized cities in the Southeastern Brazilian states. 
• Global politics of asylum in the twilight of the international refugee law. From the historical perspective, this project aims to investigate global initiatives’ rationale for refugee resettlement from the late 1940s to the early 1960s in the context of newly created UN agencies for migrants and refugees. It is based on the case study of the transfer of a stateless Russian-speaking population from Europe and China to Brazil during the 1950s. 
• Strategic citizenship and birth mobilities. The main aim of this project is to understand how migrant women operate their reproductive capacities to increase their motility (mobility capital) in the countries of jus soli citizenship law. At LSE, Svetlana will work on this project in dialogue with Dr. Kristin Surak. She aims to expand the knowledge about strategies that mobile subjects, especially those from a middle-class background and gendered ones, undertake to access more valuable citizenships. 

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Svetlana, born to a Russian-speaking family in Soviet Georgia and raised in post-Soviet Ukraine, has been actively involved in the anti-war movement in Brazil. She organised public manifestations, academic debates, and several academic solidarity campaigns in Brazil. She also edited a volume, “War in Ukraine: non-hegemonical perspectives”, recently published by the Federal University of São Carlos Press. 

Selected Publications

Ruseishvili, Svetlana (ed.) (2023) War in Ukraine: non-hegemonical perspectives. São Carlos: Edufscar, 2023. URL: https://edufscar.com.br/guerra-na-ucrania-olhares-nao-hegemonicos-506700965

Ruseishvili, Svetlana; Teodoro, Giovana M. (2023) “Comunidades de fé e incorporação migrante: venezuelanos no interior do estado de São Paulo” [Faith-based communities and migrant incorporation: Venezuelans in the province of São Paulo State, Brazil], Religião & Sociedade, vol. 43, n. 2. URL: https://religiaoesociedade.org.br/revistas/v-43-no-2-2023

Ruseishvili, Svetlana; Fernandes, Caio S. (2022) “Brazilian migration regime and differential control of international mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic”, Révue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, v. 38, n. 1. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/remi/20099

Ruseishvili, S. (2021) “Parir para evitar fronteiras: turismo de parto de mulheres russas no contexto do regime de controle global de mobilidades” [Giving Birth to Avoid Borders: Birth Tourism of Russian Women in the context of the Global Regime of Mobility’s Control] In: Fazendo Gênero 12, Florianópolis. Anais eletrônicos do Seminário Internacional Fazendo Gênero 12, v. 1. p. 1-12. URL: https://www.fg2021.eventos.dype.com.br/resources/anais/8/fg2020/1624627269_ARQUIVO_7736635b027746ddbe49e481da4e9382.pdf

Ruseishvili, S. (2021) “Documentos dos apátridas: a materialidade de jornadas migratórias entre mobilidade regulada e subversões dos sujeitos móveis” [Documents of the stateless: the materiality of migration journeys between regulated mobility and subversions of mobile subjects]. Contemporânea, revista de Sociologia da UFSCar, v. 11, p. 11-42. URL: https://www.contemporanea.ufscar.br/index.php/contemporanea/article/view/1092