Oleksandra Seliverstova | Vrije Universiteit Brussel (original) (raw)
Papers by Oleksandra Seliverstova
Europe-Asia Studies, Apr 21, 2015
and in bringing lucidity, for readers, to the complicated dimensions of the Taiwan crisis. A larg... more and in bringing lucidity, for readers, to the complicated dimensions of the Taiwan crisis. A large section of the book is dedicated to forecasting the future of the Taiwan crisis in relation to China, the USA and Japan, and in this the author successfully accomplishes his goals. The book acquaints the reader with a variety of historical, political and economic dimensions of the Taiwan crisis, thus enabling the reader to better perceive the trend of future changes. To sum up, the book is one of the best and most complete works written on the Taiwan crisis in recent years.
Nationalities papers, Nov 1, 2016
Why, and how, people choose to consume what they consume? In addition to expected material benefi... more Why, and how, people choose to consume what they consume? In addition to expected material benefits, selection of (luxury) items to buy depends on their symbolic meaning
In our case, choice to buy, or not, certain goods, eat at certain places, cook certain ingredients affects self perception and self identification...buying products, in other words, people may buy identity markers that are difficult to develop in other ways
The goal of this paper is to show the role of consumer culture in the formation of national ident... more The goal of this paper is to show the role of consumer culture in the formation of national identity within the post-Soviet context. It is distinguished by two interpretative frameworks: it is one of the attempts to study consumer culture as one of the factors that plays a significant role in the construction of national identity in the post-Soviet space; it studies how identity is expressed through consumer patterns and provides examples of unifying or dividing elements, which a consumer culture may produce in ethnically divided societies, using case study-based evidence of ethnically diverse city. Theoretically, this paper represents an attempt to link consumer culture, as part of everyday life with the evolution of a national identity. Empirically, this study, based on 35 interviews collected in Western Ukraine, will make a contribution to a growing body of works exploring the importance of economic factors in inter-ethnic relations. By first providing an overview of the development of consumer culture since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and then by exploring the narratives of consumption of Ukrainian citizens with different ethnic background, this paper will elaborate an alternative perspective on understanding the problematics of post-Soviet nation-building processes.
Nationalities papers, Aug 16, 2016
Abritant les plus grandes communautés de russophones et de Russes ethniques au sein de l’Union eu... more Abritant les plus grandes communautés de russophones et de Russes ethniques au sein de l’Union européenne, les républiques baltes ont attiré l’attention de nombreux universitaires et spécialistes du sujet de l’intégration des minorités nationales et leur capacité limitée d’intégrer les minorités russes. Pourtant, le point de départ de cet article est que les dimensions politiques et celles relevant des interactions économiques du quotidien peuvent être considérées séparément. Par conséquent, la limitation des droits politiques pour une partie de la population ne se reflète pas expressément dans la vie quotidienne, en tout cas pas dans celle de tous les russophones, qui sont peut-être mieux intégrés que l’on le présente habituellement. Particulièrement dans la jeune génération, il n’y a pas de sentiment de retourner « chez soi » quand ils visitent la Russie, mais plutôt celui d’appartenir à un entre-deux. De façon intéressante, cette attitude semble s’accompagner d’un rapport biaisé ...
Avec une population de 1.4 million d’habitants et un territoire de 45 000 kilomètres carrés, l’Es... more Avec une population de 1.4 million d’habitants et un territoire de 45 000 kilomètres carrés, l’Estonie dispose d’un répertoire d’action diplomatique limité dans le système européen et sur la scène globale. Néanmoins, le pays a développé une grande capacité à faire passer ses messages, même informellement, à travers ce qu’on appelle le marketing national (nation branding), en particulier dans un certain nombre de secteurs. Cet article examine la capacité de l’Estonie à construire un récit national et à le promouvoir au niveau international, avec des messages basés sur la cuisine nationale, la culture, l’environnement des affaires et l’accent porté sur sa capacité à développer un système de e-gouvernance unique au monde. Ces messages permettent de s’engager avec une diplomatie du branding pour emmener à une série de transformations qui, prises en charge seulement par l’État, se seraient produites plus lentement.With a population of 1.4 million residents and a territory of 45,000 squar...
Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2022
ABSTRACT Reflecting on the results of the shadow economy survey, as conceptualized by Putnis and ... more ABSTRACT Reflecting on the results of the shadow economy survey, as conceptualized by Putnis and Sauka and implemented in Ukraine in 2019 for the first time, the goal of the current article is two-fold. First, it offers an overview of the results for the years 2017 and 2018 and estimates the shadow economy in the country at 38.3% of GDP for 2017 and 38.5% for 2018. Second, it suggests possible advantages in the use of direct methods to estimate the level of the shadow economy in a country and explore the motives pushing entrepreneurs to remain in the shadow. The discussion is then framed to conceptualize the distinction between shadow economy and informality. We conclude by suggesting that a better understanding of the entangled relations lying behind the reasons to stay in the shadow can help us better address the issue and propose measures that could help bring business out of the shadow.
Studies of Transition States and Societies, Jun 10, 2016
Nationalities Papers, 2020
Political debates on the Baltics, and in particular Estonia, have often pointed to “nationalistin... more Political debates on the Baltics, and in particular Estonia, have often pointed to “nationalisting” and exclusive narratives constructed at the institutional level. Accordingly, emphasis has been put on the lack of opportunities for Russians to integrate into an Estonian context. While acknowledging the shortfalls of the Estonian political project, this article contrasts these views in two ways. By emphasizing people’s agency and their capacity to question, contrast, or even reject the identity markers proposed by Estonian official narratives, we maintain that the integration of Russians might be more advanced than insofar claimed by other studies. We then look at the way identities are lived in an everyday context by inhabitants of Estonia to counterpose national narratives proposed by the state and its political institutions, with the way people live and whether they accept these narratives. By doing this, we explore the role of the everyday in the reconstruction of national ident...
Hermès, 2017
Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour CNRS Éditions. © CNRS Éditions. Tous droits réservés po... more Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour CNRS Éditions. © CNRS Éditions. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.
Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2020
Studies of Transition States and Societies, 2016
This article presents a methodological approach to the study of nation-building in everyday life ... more This article presents a methodological approach to the study of nation-building in everyday life in the post-Soviet region. Although bottom-up and informal mechanisms of creating identity have been acknowledged in the literature and methodology of nationalism studies, they have seldom been applied to studies in the post-Soviet countries. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of such an approach, using the example of two studies – on consumption and national identity in Ukraine and on music and nation-building in Estonia
Europe-Asia Studies, Apr 21, 2015
and in bringing lucidity, for readers, to the complicated dimensions of the Taiwan crisis. A larg... more and in bringing lucidity, for readers, to the complicated dimensions of the Taiwan crisis. A large section of the book is dedicated to forecasting the future of the Taiwan crisis in relation to China, the USA and Japan, and in this the author successfully accomplishes his goals. The book acquaints the reader with a variety of historical, political and economic dimensions of the Taiwan crisis, thus enabling the reader to better perceive the trend of future changes. To sum up, the book is one of the best and most complete works written on the Taiwan crisis in recent years.
Nationalities papers, Nov 1, 2016
Why, and how, people choose to consume what they consume? In addition to expected material benefi... more Why, and how, people choose to consume what they consume? In addition to expected material benefits, selection of (luxury) items to buy depends on their symbolic meaning
In our case, choice to buy, or not, certain goods, eat at certain places, cook certain ingredients affects self perception and self identification...buying products, in other words, people may buy identity markers that are difficult to develop in other ways
The goal of this paper is to show the role of consumer culture in the formation of national ident... more The goal of this paper is to show the role of consumer culture in the formation of national identity within the post-Soviet context. It is distinguished by two interpretative frameworks: it is one of the attempts to study consumer culture as one of the factors that plays a significant role in the construction of national identity in the post-Soviet space; it studies how identity is expressed through consumer patterns and provides examples of unifying or dividing elements, which a consumer culture may produce in ethnically divided societies, using case study-based evidence of ethnically diverse city. Theoretically, this paper represents an attempt to link consumer culture, as part of everyday life with the evolution of a national identity. Empirically, this study, based on 35 interviews collected in Western Ukraine, will make a contribution to a growing body of works exploring the importance of economic factors in inter-ethnic relations. By first providing an overview of the development of consumer culture since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and then by exploring the narratives of consumption of Ukrainian citizens with different ethnic background, this paper will elaborate an alternative perspective on understanding the problematics of post-Soviet nation-building processes.
Nationalities papers, Aug 16, 2016
Abritant les plus grandes communautés de russophones et de Russes ethniques au sein de l’Union eu... more Abritant les plus grandes communautés de russophones et de Russes ethniques au sein de l’Union européenne, les républiques baltes ont attiré l’attention de nombreux universitaires et spécialistes du sujet de l’intégration des minorités nationales et leur capacité limitée d’intégrer les minorités russes. Pourtant, le point de départ de cet article est que les dimensions politiques et celles relevant des interactions économiques du quotidien peuvent être considérées séparément. Par conséquent, la limitation des droits politiques pour une partie de la population ne se reflète pas expressément dans la vie quotidienne, en tout cas pas dans celle de tous les russophones, qui sont peut-être mieux intégrés que l’on le présente habituellement. Particulièrement dans la jeune génération, il n’y a pas de sentiment de retourner « chez soi » quand ils visitent la Russie, mais plutôt celui d’appartenir à un entre-deux. De façon intéressante, cette attitude semble s’accompagner d’un rapport biaisé ...
Avec une population de 1.4 million d’habitants et un territoire de 45 000 kilomètres carrés, l’Es... more Avec une population de 1.4 million d’habitants et un territoire de 45 000 kilomètres carrés, l’Estonie dispose d’un répertoire d’action diplomatique limité dans le système européen et sur la scène globale. Néanmoins, le pays a développé une grande capacité à faire passer ses messages, même informellement, à travers ce qu’on appelle le marketing national (nation branding), en particulier dans un certain nombre de secteurs. Cet article examine la capacité de l’Estonie à construire un récit national et à le promouvoir au niveau international, avec des messages basés sur la cuisine nationale, la culture, l’environnement des affaires et l’accent porté sur sa capacité à développer un système de e-gouvernance unique au monde. Ces messages permettent de s’engager avec une diplomatie du branding pour emmener à une série de transformations qui, prises en charge seulement par l’État, se seraient produites plus lentement.With a population of 1.4 million residents and a territory of 45,000 squar...
Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2022
ABSTRACT Reflecting on the results of the shadow economy survey, as conceptualized by Putnis and ... more ABSTRACT Reflecting on the results of the shadow economy survey, as conceptualized by Putnis and Sauka and implemented in Ukraine in 2019 for the first time, the goal of the current article is two-fold. First, it offers an overview of the results for the years 2017 and 2018 and estimates the shadow economy in the country at 38.3% of GDP for 2017 and 38.5% for 2018. Second, it suggests possible advantages in the use of direct methods to estimate the level of the shadow economy in a country and explore the motives pushing entrepreneurs to remain in the shadow. The discussion is then framed to conceptualize the distinction between shadow economy and informality. We conclude by suggesting that a better understanding of the entangled relations lying behind the reasons to stay in the shadow can help us better address the issue and propose measures that could help bring business out of the shadow.
Studies of Transition States and Societies, Jun 10, 2016
Nationalities Papers, 2020
Political debates on the Baltics, and in particular Estonia, have often pointed to “nationalistin... more Political debates on the Baltics, and in particular Estonia, have often pointed to “nationalisting” and exclusive narratives constructed at the institutional level. Accordingly, emphasis has been put on the lack of opportunities for Russians to integrate into an Estonian context. While acknowledging the shortfalls of the Estonian political project, this article contrasts these views in two ways. By emphasizing people’s agency and their capacity to question, contrast, or even reject the identity markers proposed by Estonian official narratives, we maintain that the integration of Russians might be more advanced than insofar claimed by other studies. We then look at the way identities are lived in an everyday context by inhabitants of Estonia to counterpose national narratives proposed by the state and its political institutions, with the way people live and whether they accept these narratives. By doing this, we explore the role of the everyday in the reconstruction of national ident...
Hermès, 2017
Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour CNRS Éditions. © CNRS Éditions. Tous droits réservés po... more Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour CNRS Éditions. © CNRS Éditions. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.
Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2020
Studies of Transition States and Societies, 2016
This article presents a methodological approach to the study of nation-building in everyday life ... more This article presents a methodological approach to the study of nation-building in everyday life in the post-Soviet region. Although bottom-up and informal mechanisms of creating identity have been acknowledged in the literature and methodology of nationalism studies, they have seldom been applied to studies in the post-Soviet countries. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of such an approach, using the example of two studies – on consumption and national identity in Ukraine and on music and nation-building in Estonia
Recent events in Ukraine and Nagorno Karabakh once more, confirmed the difficulties of the manage... more Recent events in Ukraine and Nagorno Karabakh once more, confirmed the difficulties of the management of multi-ethnic societies, which in some way could be considered a legacy of the Soviet times. The problem of this research is connected to Estonia's division along ethnic lines. According to the official narrative of Estonian identity, being an Estonian is equated to being ethnically Estonian, thus excluding a large community of Russians and other ethnicities residing there. Approaching this problem through the lens of everyday life practices this paper contends that in a number of cases that remained undocumented – because not visible through traditional approaches in the study of national identity, Russian speakers have a more active role, than it is generally viewed, in the construction of Estonian nationhood. While focusing on the process of national identity formation in Estonia, this paper joins the body of literature that views nation-building not only as an exclusively state-driven process, but as one to which different non-state actors contribute. Building up theoretically on ideas of banal nationalism and consumer citizenship, defined by Foster as a " production of national identity by way of shared consumption practices " , this paper aims to look at the way the roles of a citizen and a consumer are intervened. First by exploring national symbolic meanings embedded into food products and consumption practices this work will demonstrate how the idea of a nation materializes. Secondly, though sometimes there is a big variation in practices of Russian speakers and ethnic Estonians, it will be suggested that both groups feel to act as Estonian citizens and therefore equally participate in formation of national identity in Estonia. Introduction Decolonization processes in Africa and Asia, the dissolution of the Socialist bloc and the breakup of the Soviet Union offered to a scholar community a wide range of case studies. Thanks to them the development of nation-building processes could be studied, in most of the cases, from allegedly similar starting point. Some of those processes appeared to be more challenging than others as many new countries were dealing with multi-ethnic societies, in which ethnic conflicts had been ignored, silenced or sedated in the past (Smith, 1991). The majority of previous works that provide insights on the nation building processes in the post-Soviet area so far has concentrated on macro factors, like state policies, the role of political elite and in some cases cultural aspects and history. This paper focuses on the context of post-Soviet countries, where a part from complex ethnic composition of newly established states, there was another condition, namely the introduction to market economy with further development of consumer culture. Such condition brought new elements into how national identity construction was and is being interpreted and reproduced by local population. While still acknowledging the leading role of country's political elite in informing top decisions and impacting people's identity in a number of areas of life, this paper explores the aspect of national identity formation that is still understudied and that is the construction of national identity originating at the bottom level, a level in which ordinary people play the main role.
This book explores the function of the “everyday” in the formation, consolidation and performance... more This book explores the function of the “everyday” in the formation, consolidation and performance of national, sub-national and local identities in the former socialist region. Based on extensive original research including fieldwork, the book demonstrates how the study of everyday and mundane practices is a meaningful and useful way of understanding the socio-political processes of identity formation both at the top and bottom level of a state. The book covers a wide range of countries including the Baltic States, Ukraine, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and considers “everyday” banal practices, including those related to consumption, kinship, embodiment, mobility, music, and the use of objects and artifacts. Overall, the book draws on, and contributes to, theory; and shows how the process of nation-building is not just undertaken by formal actors, such as the state, its institutions and political elites.