Uprooted : How post-WWII Population Transfers Remade Europe

This book explores how mass displacement affects social and economic development, showing that the resettlement of millions of Germans and Poles after WWII produced stronger states and more prosperous societies. It advances research on ethnicity, migration, and state-building and provides lessons for policymakers dealing with forced displacement.

Each year, millions of people are uprooted from their homes by wars, repression, natural disasters, and climate change. In Uprooted, Volha Charnysh presents a fresh perspective on the developmental consequences of mass displacement, arguing that accommodating the displaced population can strengthen receiving states and benefit local economies. Drawing on extensive research on post-WWII Poland and West Germany, Charnysh shows that the rupture of social ties and increased cultural diversity in affected communities not only decreased social cohesion, but also shored up the demand for state-provided resources, which facilitated the accumulation of state capacity. Over time, areas that received a larger and more diverse influx of migrants achieved higher levels of entrepreneurship, education, and income. With its rich insights and compelling evidence, Uprooted challenges common assumptions about the costs of forced displacement and cultural diversity and proposes a novel mechanism linking wars to state-building.