Abstrakt
The present tensions in the Russian-Ukrainian relations highlight the political relevance of narrative identity. In this article I argue that by paying greater attention to this peculiar element of the motivational structure of political action, one can gain important insights that may be of major significance for the theory and practice of conflict resolution.
Keeping in mind the legitimate worries of the Postmodern and liberal individualist social theorists who are uneasy about granting importance to such 'communitarian' and partly non-rational layer of citizens' identity, I suggest that recognition of the powerful motivational force of group or national identity narratives can constitute the first and necessary step towards such transformation of identity narratives that will not only facilitate identity-based conflict resolution, but also provide tools for promotion and protection of individual autonomy, as well as individual and group freedom from Foucauldian 'epistemic violence' of 'grand narratives'. Since identity narratives are always particularist and embedded in the local cultures, recognition of their importance in the context of political action points to the need for construction of transcultural rather than universalist/acultural language of global ethics.