Turning Ukrainians into a separate nation (original) (raw)
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This article studies the historical background that determined the formation of the specific features of Ukrainian, Little Russian, and Russian identities starting from the late 17th century to the present day. It traces the evolution of Ukrainian identity from the notion of "a single Slavic-Russian people" to the current radicalization and consolidation of anti-Russian sentiment as its dominant element. At different stages of nation-building, intellectual elites molded different constructs of this identity. At times these constructs existed in parallel and independently of each other, and at other times they confronted one another. The notion of a single people (or different peoples) constantly changed. The article highlights the key
Ukraine belongs among those young countries where the beginnings of democratisation and nation-building approximately coincided. While the development of nation states in Central Europe was usually preceded by the development of nations, the biggest dilemma in Ukraine is whether a nation-state programmeparallel to the aim of state-buildingis able to bring unfinished nation-building to completion. Ukraine sways between the EU and Russia with enormous amplitude. The alternating orientation between the West and the East can be ascribed to superpower ambitions reaching beyond Ukraine. Eventually, internal and external determinants are intertwined and mutally interact with one another. The aim of the study is to explain the dilemmas arising from identity problems behind Ukraine's internal and external orientation.
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In 2016, Ukraine faces multiple problems in terms of its divided identity, corrupted elites, poor economy and hostile Russia on its eastern borders. Proper understanding of Ukrainian complex identity-building process requires some familiarity with history of the USSR and its management of nationalities, although, certainly Ukraine had possessed a huge historical legacy long before the USSR and that also had influenced its cultural memory. Ukraine can be compared with many other post-communist states that these days are divided between Soviet mentality and modern nation-building but it is also sort of unique because of its geographical position on the crossroads of Western and Russian civilizational influences. Geopolitics has always been important to Ukraine's national identification. However, it should not imply that Ukraine has been only an object of contestation between Russia and the EU and not an actor on its own as some neo-realists would say as, for example, John Mearsheimer who has suggested it was West who provoked Russia's aggression to maintain its sphere of influence in Ukraine. 1 Geopolitics is certainly important to Ukrainian future but it is still not as decisive as domestic politics and reforms that country has been undergoing since Euromaidan. Russia's involvement in modern Ukraine has been contradictory to say the least and it is hard not to give acknowledgement to Ukrainian nation for finally rejecting Russian paternalism and cultural influence that under Vladimir Putin has obtained neo-imperialist and authoritarian colors. After all, Russia had supported pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs from
The Formation of the European Identity of Ukraine : Key Factors and Principles
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This article analyses the main determinants of the formation of the European identity of Ukraine. Using the historical background of the Ukrainian statehood the author focuses on European cultural and political components inherent to the mentality of Ukrainians. It is proved that Ukrainian regionalism does not separate the population into groups with different mentalities but contributes to the realisation of their specific features. The long absence of statehood caused the detraction of importance of some Ukrainian mental traits, which is why it is only nowadays that the Ukrainian population can be considered to be a conscious nation. This article focuses on the main features that unite Ukrainian people with Europeans: individualism, constitutionalism, democratism, etc. It also analyses the geographical component of Ukraine’s identity, and the current trends in the formation of the latter. The author concludes that the formation of the European identity of Ukraine is possible only ...
Image of an “Enemy” as a Factor of Constructing the Ukrainian National Identity
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The Development of National Identities in Ukraine
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Ukrainian nationalism since the outbreak of Euromaidan
Ab Imperio, no. 3, 2014, pp. 94-122
The article traces the evolution of Ukrainian nationalism from the end of 2013 to the end of 2014 under the influence of mass protests against the antidemocratic regime of President Yanukovych (Euromaidan) and Russia’s intervention into Crimea and Donbas. The term “nationalism” is used in the article in a broad sense encompassing elite ideology and politics as well as mass feelings and identities. The analysis of elite “nationalism” is based on a close reading of Facebook posts and other texts of the protest activists, and mass discourse is reconstructed with the help of sociological surveys. The author argues that democratic protest against the Yanukovych regime included a nationalistic element articulated as Ukrainian liberation from Russian dictate. He also shows that the transition from peaceful to violent protest was accompanied by an appropriation of the tradition of armed nationalist resistance to the Soviet occupation of Ukraine after World War II. This appropriation, however, was not limited exclusively to ethnic Ukrainians – it reflected and reinforced a rejection of the Soviet mythology of collaborationism of Ukrainian nationalists of the past with the Nazis. At the same time it made evident the deeply inclusive nature of modern Ukrainian anti-imperial nationalism, the most obvious proof of which is the support it enjoys among Ukrainian Jews or even among Jews who have preserved their ties to the country since leaving Ukraine. Russian aggression further contributed to the rise of inclusivity of Ukrainian nationalism, which now embraces many Russian and Russian-speaking citizens. Being alienated from Russia as a state and even as a people by Russia’s aggressive politics, these citizens nevertheless do not exhibit a similar alienation from the Russian language. Hence the new border between Ukrainians and Russians is political rather than linguistic. In the author’s view, this fact confirms the inclusive nature of Ukrainian identity and the nationalism that contributes to its formation.
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.