Consequences of the Maidan: War of Symbols, Real War and Nation Building (original) (raw)
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Revolution, Glory and Sacrifice: Ukraine's Maidan and the Revival of a European Identity 1
Narrating Europe Anew: Political, Theological and Cultural Constructions of Europe [Europa (neu) erzählen: Inszenierungen Europas in politischer, theologischer und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive], 2022
The article deals with the Maidan revolution in Ukraine in 2013/14 and how it was connected to the European idea. It analyzes the performative, revolutionary and theopolitical character of the event and raises the question of what meaning the experience of the Maidan can have for the renewal of European identity. In linking the idea of Europe with the struggle for freedom and dignity, the Maidan event unfolds a communitarian and meaningful political force that connects the Ukrainian nation, the idea of Europe, and the desire for self-determi nation, for which people stake their lives. The essay takes a look at the forms and functions of political liturgy as well as the meaning of martyrdom and its ritualized remembrance. The revolutionary appropriation of political sovereignty by the people and the theopolitical dimensions of the event are reflected upon, both in their political power and significance for a European identity and in the associated dangers of mythologizing and idealizing Europe.
Maidan mythologies. Review on Andrew Wilson's Ukraine Crisis
New Left Review, 2015
The Maidan and civil war from the perspective of an EU think-tank. Readers should not expect to find in its pages a balanced assessment of contending arguments or a systematic analysis of the available sources, followed by well-grounded conclusions. For the most part, this is a one-sided, tendentious account of Ukraine’s Maidan protests of 2013–14, the Russian intervention and the civil war, heavily reliant on web-sourced information, anonymous interviews and hectic prose, pieced together to bolster a very specific political agenda. It is driven not by a desire to investigate what actually happened and why, but rather to rebut critics—from all sides—of a Western neoliberal line. The nature of Russian policy, the legitimacy of the Yanukovych government and the character of the Maidan protests are all grist to this mill.
Maidan and the Politics of Change: Meaning, Significance, and Other Questions
East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, 2016
Responding to a regime that failed to meet the needs of society, the Maidan materialized as a genuine expression of civic resistance and democratic renewal. Placing the individual at the centre of political life not only marks the revitalization of Ukrainian civil society but also serves as a legitimate basis for the transformation of the political order. The Maidan-its values, principles and ethosoffers a framework by which Kyiv might meet the twin challenges of reform and war.
The Ukrainian Euromaidan of 2013-2014 represents both political and aesthetic phenomena, a space of socio-cultural performance where new kinds of identities were constructed -national, social, political and gender. The perception and consideration of the Euromaidan through the prism of the performance theory does not suggest a reduction of the political and ideological substance of the Ukrainian revolution. But, through the means of pseudoaesthetical discourses, its opponents attempt to obscure the perfomative aspect of the Euromaidan by diminishing the political aspects of this phenomenon of civic protest and emphasizing the purely theatrical and entertaining nature of the Euromaidan that occurred in the center of Kyiv. 1 One Russian blogger emphatically claimed that the Maidan was a performance because "'maidowns,' 2 to be more precise, their inspirers were concerned a great deal with the appearance of the Maidan and the behavioral code of its participants to impress their European sponsors and the liberal [liberastvuiushchaiia] public." According to this blogger, for this purpose all necessary elements of performance were at play at the Maidan: the spectators who were in fact the overseers --"sponsors" and "liberasty," the stage ("time, place, and the aesthetics of these ugly tents, tires, and garbage . . . all the conditions were preserved"), the actors (Ukrainian politicians who behaved "like People's
Journal of International Eastern European Studies, 2020
This article presents a review of the literature on the causes and political implications of the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine. The academic literature on the Maidan Revolution is extensive and multidisciplinary. Even six years after the revolution, Ukraine remains in the world media and academic spotlight, due to its ongoing conflict with Russia and lingering internal instability. However, despite the availability of a rapidly growing body of literature, there is currently no systematic review that problematizes concepts and assesses the explanatory variables used by the students of the Ukrainian politics. By focusing on the existing literature that has strong empirical foundations, and applying iterative research design this study addresses the following research questions: 1. How does the literature conceptualize the Maidan Revolution? 2. To what extent does the literature consider the Maidan Revolution to be successful in terms of its implications for Ukraine's political transformation and resilience-building? 3. What factors are identified in the literature that explain the anatomy of post-Maidan state-building and identity construction? The review does not pretend to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the Ukrainian leadership in achieving the general goals of democracy, prosperity and security. Instead, it focuses on the main factors outlined by the existing literature that aim to explain the bigger picture of post-Maidan state-building trajectory, with its challenges, opportunities, setbacks and accomplishments.
National identity in Ukraine: Impact of Euromaidan and the war
Europe-Asia Studies, 2016
The essay examines the impact of the Euromaidan protests and the subsequent Russian aggression on Ukrainian national identity. It demonstrates that national identity has become more salient vis-à-vis other territorial and non-territorial identities. At the same time, the very meaning of belonging to the Ukrainian nation has changed, as manifested first and foremost in increased alienation from Russia and the greater embrace of Ukrainian nationalism. Although popular perceptions are by no means uniform across the country, the main dividing line has shifted eastwards and now lies between the Donbas and the adjacent east-southern regions.
Circling the Square documents the landscape of the Maidan uprising and the political climate that engendered it from many perspectives, ranging from an architectural analysis of Maidan, to documentation of an overtly criminal personal performance of solidarity in the Russian Federation, to an account of the occupation and attempted re-organization of the Ministry of Culture by a horizontal assembly of cultural workers. Despite the confusion in much of the world media and international left, these artists, writers and organizations are decidedly radical, negotiating a strange but critical position that recognizes the rising tide of jingoism that accompanies the threat of invasion as well as the opportunities opened up by Yanukovich’s collapse. The result has a decided lyricism that extends beyond a dry headline or inky propaganda. Authors: Pavel Arsenev, Assembly for Culture in Ukraine, Larissa Babij, Oleksandr Burlaka, David Chichkan, Chto Delat?, Nikita Kadan, Volodymyr Kuznetsov, Mariana Matveichuk, Dimitry Mrachnik of the Autonomous Workers Union, Anastasiya Osipova, Petr Pavlensky, Marina Simakova, TanzLaboratorium Performance Group, Larisa Venediktova, Alexandr Wolodarskij, Serhiy Zhadan, and Anna Zvyagintseva.
Thinking Europe on the edge: the Ukrainian Maidan as a ‘New Europe’
The "EU project of Europe" has been facing multiple crises nowadays, the crucial issues would be: 1) the limits of its expansion (the extent of acceptable diversity); 2) penetration by cultural others, not sharing its " social contract " (migrants' and refugees' issue); 3) internal resistance (Euroscepticism); 4) complicated relations with its own frontier of hybrid nature (the USA and Russia as strategic partners involved in the European cultural areal). All the mentioned concerns are mirrored in the Ukrainian case that stands not only as a challenge but also as a possible way out. Within the Ukrainian revolution the idea of Europe worked in a twofold manner: synchronically, by unifying a significant part of society thus reestablishing it on the basis of some new agreements (dignity as a core value, solidarity as the main policy); diachronically, by setting the trajectory of further development and hereby forcing required changes (towards the EU as the institutional embodiment of the imaginary " Europe "). However, it did not regard existing European institutions as a template but rather appealed to the origins of the project of " Europe " , thus opposing itself to the distorted versions of present " Europe " as well. The paper is aimed at revealing the set of senses attached to the concept of Europe within the recent Ukrainian events, as well as at placing it in the broader context of the current crisis of the " Western civilization. "
2020
The revolutionary events known as the Euromaidan fundamentally restructured Ukrainian political life and advanced the culture of politics. As with the Orange Revolution, the roots of the Euromaidan can be found in its idealism: the Ukrainian people's desire to create a state wherein the ideals associated with freedom, in their broadest sense, are respected. The dedication to ideals was more than political rhetoric; it was almost religious. This level of dedication helps explain the powerful motivation of those who took to the streets in mass protest. This paper examines the important differences between the Maidan of 2013-2014 (the Euromaidan) and the Maidan of 2004 (the Orange Revolution). A description and explanation of the stages of revolution in relation to the Euromaidan are provided, followed by a discussion of ideological consensus between political parties. The historical basis of the Maidan symbols are also examined, with further deliberation on how these symbols were...