Annotation
The course covers post-1991 developments in Ukraine framed as “quadruple transition” (Taras Kuzio). Arguably, the (re)establishment of Ukraine as a sovereign state faced multiple challenges: beside political transformation towards liberal-democratic institutions and a multi-party system, and marketization (the “usual suspects” of the “democratic transition” paradigm), state-building and nation-building were on the agenda. Both required stepping away from the Soviet (colonial?) legacy. As it is written in Kuchma’s book “Ukraine is not Russia” (1994): “We created Ukraine; now we have a harder task, that is to create Ukrainians.” A shaky balance and tensions between a weak state captured by rent-seekers, on one side, and civil society with growing national awareness, on the other, constitute the core issue here. Mass protests known as the “Maidans” will be considered in the context. The first part of the course is dedicated to a new canon of Ukrainian national history, its cornerstones crucial for unifying the nation today, and its most contentious episodes triggering history wars in the region. In this thematic bloc we will start with the contested legacy of the (Kievan) Rus’, then consider the first attempts of Ukraine’s statehood after WWI, and conclude with the Holodomor (Great Famine) topic. After tackling these historical topics re-actualized in the national imaginary of the contemporary Ukrainians, we will proceed with an overview of political and economic transformations in the country while trying to figure out how a shift to market economy and democracy resulted in oligarchization and crony capitalism. The final part of the course will be dedicated to the current issues in and around Ukraine, namely post-Maidanian reforms, regional divisions – with a special focus on the Crimea and the Donbass, and migration, both outward labour migration and internally displaced persons.
The course has an interdisciplinary character combining historical and political science approaches, as well as involving sociological data. It provides a deeper historical context to the current situation in Ukraine disclosing the roots of the warfare in Donbass, the origins and outcomes of the Maidan uprising, and discussing the viability of Ukraine’s national project.