Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine became a co-organizer of the All-Ukrainian interdisciplinary scientific and practical online conference “Ukraine on the road of reconstruction: tasks of science and education in the Europeanization of the state”, which took place on May 17-18, 2023. A wide range of conference participants included scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and scientific branch academies; teachers of higher education institutions; representatives of departments and administrations of education, institutes of postgraduate education, etc.
The event took place within the framework of the International Exhibition “Modern Educational Institutions” and was designed to update the theoretical and practical problems of innovative development of Ukrainian society, in particular education and science; the post-war recovery of Ukraine based on the European values of democracy, human rights, freedom, equality, respect for human dignity and the rule of law; development of gifted children and youth in the conditions of the struggle for the independence of the Ukrainian state.
The scientific topics of the conference were outlined in four main areas:
- Innovation VS tradition: philosophical, historiosophical, historical discourse
- Alter ego of Ukraine after the war: social and psychological determinants of development
- Education in the transformations of Ukraine: priority tasks
- Gifted children and giftedness: present and future
Director of the Institute, Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleg Rafalskyi, together with the President of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine Vasyl Kremen and the President of the National Center “Small Academy of Sciences of Ukraine” Stanislav Dovgiy opened the conference with motivational speeches.
Oleg Rafalsky’s motivational speech
In his speech, Oleg Rafalskyi outlined the problems and tasks that Ukrainian science faced in wartime, emphasizing the extraordinary importance of scientific innovations not only in peaceful life, but also in the development of defense technologies. Under such circumstances, the state faced the urgent task of preserving and developing the scientific potential, which lies to the greatest extent in human capital. Summarizing his speech, the vice-president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine noted that the main goal of science and education in the Europeanization of the state is to ensure the breakthrough development of Ukraine in the field of fundamental and applied sciences based on the model of combining education, science and innovation, training highly qualified scientific personnel for scientific institutions, higher education institutions of Ukraine, innovative and knowledge-intensive enterprises and promotion of integration into the European and global educational and scientific space.
Vasyl Kremen’s welcome speech
Stanislav Dovgiy is speaking
The main research associate of the Institute Maria Karmazina took part in the plenary session of the conference, and gave a speech on the topic: “The hypostases of Europe (to which we aspire): analysis of the reflections of the President of Ukraine during the 445 days of Russian aggression against Ukraine (February 24, 2022 – 14 May 2023)”.
On May 17, 2023, the All-Ukrainian scientific and practical conference “Socio-cultural transformations in Ukraine in the 20th-21st centuries and overcoming the Soviet heritage in education, culture, mentality” was held on the basis of Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav. Head of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Nikolaiets took part in the work of the conference and gave a speech “Communication of coercion in the conditions of a full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine”. In his report, the scientist defined “coercive communication” as one of the forms of imposing certain ideas and forming value orientations of the population with the large-scale use of modern information and communication technologies. Among the methods of ensuring communicative control over the mind, the researcher identified the dissemination of the most interesting messages, the publication of messages by influential narrators; dissemination of messages using modern delivery channels.
Yuriy Nikolaiets during the report
Yuriy Nikolaiets noted that although modern Ukrainian society has demonstrated sufficient resilience against the influence of Russian propaganda, comprehensive measures are needed to counter the implementation of enemy special information operations related to the influence on historical memory. It is important not only to have in the legislator’s arsenal the ability to stop anti-Ukrainian activity in the information space, but also effective mechanisms to counter such activity with effective punishment of guilty persons. Valuing democratic freedoms (in particular, freedom of speech), it is worth inviting Ukrainian scientists and political figures who express certain views beneficial to Russian propaganda outside the country, to a public discussion in academic institutions of Ukraine. This will contribute to providing an opportunity for them to defend their position in the circle of professionals who are well versed in historical and historiographical analysis. Such an approach will allow countering the use of certain concepts by some Ukrainian researchers in the interests of the Russian Federation. In the same way, it is also worth organizing meetings with rating “experts” who often impose their opinion on the general public, but avoid participating in professional scientific discussions, as well as with influencers, whose influence on the formation of citizens’ opinion has significantly increased in the conditions of the information society. Ukraine, whose citizens stopped the “second army of the world”, should not emphasize the victimization of its own history in the future, but should focus its efforts on the formation of modern historical memory, focused on the perpetuation of achievements in the way of state building and protection of the unity and territorial integrity of the state.
On May 5, 2023, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War hosted the International Scientific and Practical Conference “War for Ukraine: 20th-21st Centuries.”
Head of the Department of Political Culture and Ideology, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Nikolaiets participated in the work of the conference and gave a speech “Concept of hybrid war: myths and reality”. In his report, the scientist singled out signs and ideas about the ways of waging hybrid war, and also analyzed the main approaches to its definition. Based on the fact that hybrid war can be considered a type of conflict escalation that combines the use of state and non-state, traditional and non-traditional strategies, resources, means, methods of subversive activity, mechanisms of cyber warfare with the aim of achieving certain political goals, the speaker questioned the statement that hybrid war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine began in 2014.
It was emphasized that confrontations in the information space, economic, trade and other wars are one of the means of waging a hybrid war, he expressed his belief that Russia has started a hybrid war against Ukraine since at least 2004. The speaker emphasized that the hybrid war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine can be completed only after the collapse of the Russian Federation, since even a peace agreement, which will provide for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, will not mean that Russia will abandon the continuation of the hybrid war using means of economic, diplomatic pressure and war in the information space. According to Y. Nikolaiets, Russia will not give up supporting separatist movements and terrorist activities on the territory of Ukraine.
Yuriy Nikolaiets is speaking
Determining the specifics of the confrontation in the information space, the speaker singled out the following features: asymmetric dissemination of information and flexible response to the results of public opinion polls; information confrontation does not serve physical confrontation; disinformation streams of the aggressor country are aimed not only at the enemy audience, but also at consumers inside the country; social media have gained the opportunity to shape and change the discourse related to the deployment of hostilities; centralized models of communication in conditions of accelerated development of the information society give way to social networks focused on the individualization of content; internet communication and streaming services have eliminated certain restrictions in the provision of information, inherent in classical mass media, which received a license from the state; increasing the influence of influencers.
Among the possible means of counteracting the implementation of hostile information and psychological operations (IPsO), Yu. O. Nikolaiets singled out the following: verification of information and expert assessments; coordination of efforts of civil society and the state in the matter of identifying enemy IPsO; intensification of efforts aimed at counteracting hostile agents of influence; formation of balanced historical policy; the use of software capable of detecting signs of hostile IPsO and providing analysis of information dissemination algorithms; involvement of specialists in information policy in the staff of state administration bodies and local self-governments.
On April 26–27, 2023, the annual International Scientific and Practical Conference “Globalization Challenges: Future Governance” was held at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University.
During the work of the section “Public administration and the public sector: interaction for the consolidation of Ukrainian society”, which was moderated by the Professor of the Department of Public Policy, the Educational and Scientific Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Doctor of Sciences in Public Administration, Professor Tetyana Vasylevska, the main researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of our institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Tetyana Bevz spoke on the topic “Assertion of national identity and consolidation of Ukrainian society in the conditions of war”.
Tetyana Bevz gives a speech
The speaker emphasized that during the war, the issue of the affirmation of civil and national identity was enshrined in the Law of Ukraine dated December 13, 2022 “On the Basic Principles of State Policy in the Field of Affirmation of Ukrainian National and Civil Identity.” For the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, the law defined the purpose, tasks, principles, directions, features of the formation and implementation of state policy in the sphere of establishing Ukrainian national and civil identity as a component of ensuring Ukraine’s national security. The scientist gave examples of the implementation of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine in the conditions of war.
During the work of the section “Public administration and the public sector: interaction for the consolidation of Ukrainian society”
Considerable attention in the speech was paid to such important markers of identity as language and history. It was emphasized that the history of Ukraine should become a national priority in the educational and humanitarian sphere in the conditions of war. State authorities must keep in mind the experience of national unity during a full-scale war. The task of civil society and the state remains unity in freedom and diversity, the basis of which is the national identity and value of one’s own state.
The chief researcher of the Department of Political Institutes and Processes, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Maria Karmazina took an active part in the discussion.
Program of the International Scientific and Practical Conference (pdf)
On April 19, Oleg Kozerod, a Doctor of Historical Sciences, chief researcher at the Department of Ethnopolitics of our Institute, gave an interview to the Belgian publication EU Morning Post. In it, he positively assessed the European Strategy for Combating Anti-Semitism and Development of Jewish Life for 2021-2030. The scientist emphasized that currently 27 EU countries are successfully adapting the Strategy to their national characteristics and its implementation will begin in the United Europe in the near future. According to the scientist, this will make it possible to radically improve the situation with anti-Semitism and revive the development of Jewish culture and religious life thanks to state support.
During the interview, Oleg Kozerod drew attention to the fact that the situation with anti-Semitism in the EU is directly related to the information about Jewish history and culture that society receives. Therefore, according to the researcher, the state of affairs with anti-Semitism in Europe is directly related to the development of Jewish Studies.
Oleg Kozerod
The scientist emphasized that Ukraine, in the formation of national policy, moves along the same path as EU countries, and Jewish studies in the country continue to develop dynamically, despite the war. O. Kozerod noted the significant contribution to this development of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The scientist noted that today certain steps are being taken to combat anti-Semitism within the framework of the Erasmus+ program, but they foresee an increase in the activity of youth organizations and schoolchildren in the field of preserving the memory of the Holocaust, while part of the funding of the Strategy could be directed to the development of Jewish Studies. The scientist noted the high level of work of European legislators who developed the Strategy for Combating Anti-Semitism and Development of Jewish Life, which is comparable to other countries, in particular, the USA, where the government is working on a similar document.
The text of the interview by O. Kozerod
April 18, 2023 at the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine held a round table “Crises of political development in Ukraine and the Russian-Ukrainian war” and a presentation of the results of the scientific study “Crises of political development in Ukraine: causes, content and methods of leveling”. The research was conducted during 2020-2022 under the guidance of a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Political Institutes and Processes of our Institute, Galyna Zelenko.
In his introductory speech, Oleg Rafalskiy, Director of the Institute, Vice-president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Oleg Rafalskiy, emphasized the relevance of the main results of the study, which is aimed at studying the causes and features of political development crises in Ukraine, as well as finding ways to overcome them.
Oleg Rafalskiy, Galyna Zelenko
The scientific research was based on the analysis of crises of political development, including systemic, deep, long-term ones that arise due to institutional incoherence, legal vacuum, socio-cultural features of social development and existing political practices. Crises of political development, unlike political crises, have a systemic and long-term nature, are interconnected and often reinforce each other. In Ukraine, this creates a situation where the country seems to “go around in circles”, or it develops in leaps and bounds, unevenly, when a situation of “scissors” is formed between formal and real constitutionalism, etc.
Leonid Kiyanitsa, Oleh Kondratenko
The theoretical and methodological justification of the research was outlined in his presentation by the researcher of the Institute, Candidate of Political Sciences, Leonid Kiyanitsa. Galyna Zelenko characterized the crisis of identity as a crisis of political culture and political consciousness and its course in Ukraine. The reasons and features of the crisis of political legitimacy, as well as the challenges caused by the war and the tasks of post-war reconstruction, were presented in her report by a leading researcher, Candidate of Political Sciences Nataliya Kononenko.
Tetyana Lyashenko, a leading researcher, Doctor of Political Sciences, devoted her speech to the crisis of distribution as the state’s inability to effectively perform the function of distributing material goods and to build an appropriate institutional structure that would eliminate it.
Tetyana Lyashenko
The reasons for the penetration crisis, which is manifested in the insufficiency of reforms and the reasons for the low effectiveness of reforms, were outlined in her speech by chief researcher, Candidate of Political Sciences Svitlana Brekharya. The crisis of participation as a systemic problem based on, on the one hand, the paternalistic society, and on the other hand, the low efficiency of the existing channels of political participation, was highlighted in his speech by the leading researcher, Candidate of Political Sciences, Rostyslav Balaban. In the end, leading researcher, Doctor of Political Sciences Oleg Kondratenko characterized how the crises of political development affected the foreign policy of Ukraine and what decisions were converted into and why this has the effect of the current Russian military aggression.
Rostyslav Balaban, Galyna Zelenko
In the course of the research, the project executors discovered the causes and features of crisis phenomena, and also developed recommendations for overcoming these problems. These results, the participants of the round table emphasized, are important for understanding the situation in Ukraine, particularly in view of the full-scale Russian military invasion. Project participants drew attention to the importance of analyzing political crises in the context of democratic transition, denationalization of the economy, primary accumulation of capital and the nature of the political regime, and what is especially important – in the course of post-war recovery of Ukraine. Emphasis is placed on the need to consider crises of political development taking into account their systemic, deep and long-term nature.
Nataliya Kononenko
The director of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yevhen Golovakha, President of the Razumkov Center, Candidate of Political Sciences Yuriy Yakymenko, Head of the department of the National Institute of Strategic Studies Iryna Pavlenko, Head of the Department of Political Science of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Doctor of Political Sciences Margarita Chabanna and others took part in the discussion of the research results.
In general, the results of the scientific project and, especially, the recommendations developed during its implementation, provide an understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships, advantages and disadvantages of the existing institutional system, institutional capacity (inability) of state authorities, which were especially evident during the full-scale Russian armed aggression, problems that Ukraine will face in the post-war period.
Download video files of the scientific event
On April 24, 2023, Anatoliy Podolskiy, a leading researcher of the Department of Ethnopolitics of our Institute, Candidate of Historical Sciences, gave an interview to the Hromadske Radio as part of the “Meetings” project.
The interview was devoted to the problem of the post-war life of those who suffered during the Second World War, from the anti-human, criminal ideology and practice of National Socialism, and how does it apply to modern Ukraine? What awaits us after the Victory in relations between people who received different experiences during the Russian aggression. It was in the context of comparisons with modernity. The fate of people in the occupation, the fate of refugees, events at the front.
Anatoliy Podolskiy in the studio of Hromadske Radio
During the interview, Anatoliy Podolskiy drew attention to the fact that “we are doomed to compare the current war against Ukraine by Russia with the Second World War. Ukrainian and Western intellectuals compare the regime, dictatorship, ideologies, practices of National Socialism, Communism, and modern Russia. And in that regard, the Holocaust is also a subject of discussion.”
We are talking, the scientist noted, about the fate of Jews during the Second World War and Ukrainians today. Larisa Yakubova, a well-known Ukrainian researcher, wrote last year in March that the Ukrainian political nation, citizens of Ukraine of various ethnic origins during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, are as ethnic Jews in World War II. It is about the fact that today such crimes against the civilian population, the enemy’s hatred of Ukrainian statehood and citizenship, are compared to the hatred based on the racial policy against the Jews in the times of National Socialism. It is important to responsibly compare the entire spectrum, talk about typology, and features.
Historians, political scientists, philosophers discuss comparing the crimes of Hitler’s Germany and Putin’s Russia. It is important that such a comparison is based on academic, professional, scientific approaches – stressed Anatolii Podolskyi.
Text and audio recording of the interview
On April 12-13, 2023, the International Scientific and Practical Conference “European Integration Processes in Ukraine: Historical, Cultural, Political-Legal and Psychological Aspects” was held at V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University (Kyiv).
The conference was co-organized by the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Pomorska Szkoła wyższa, Republic of Poland.
The reports of the participants of the conference were devoted to the analysis of the process of European integration of Ukraine, achievements and miscalculations in this area, and prospects for Ukraine’s acquisition of full membership in the European Union and NATO. The special attention of the conference participants was focused on the Russian-Ukrainian war, which poses the greatest threat to Ukraine and its European future.
Participants of the plenary session of the conference
Employees of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Leading Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, Doctor of Political Sciences Vyacheslav Yaremchuk (“Ukraine and European integration: the fourth attempt”), Leading Researcher of the Department of Ethno-Political Science, Candidate of Historical Sciences Anatoliy Podolskiy (“Jewish community of Ukraine during the war and Russian aggression: political and cultural challenges”), Senior Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, Candidate of Historical Sciences Mykola Gorbatiuk (“Cooperation of Ukrainian communities and regions with foreign partners during the war: current state, challenges and perspectives”).
Vyacheslav Yaremchuk, Anatoliy Podolskiy, Mykola Gorbatiuk
during speeches at a scientific and practical conference
During the conference, there were three sections (“Historical-cultural platform”, “Political-legal platform”, “Social-psychological platform”) where a number of important issues were raised. In particular: “Ukraine among the European frontiers: contacts, exchanges, integration, cooperation”; “Ukraine’s contribution to the European intellectual and artistic treasury”; “Ukraine and Europe: cooperation in education, culture, sports, business”; “The European historical experience of Ukraine”; “Transformation of the political system of Ukraine in the process of European integration”; “New security challenges for the EU in the context of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war”; “Peculiarities of the provision of social and psychological services in the conditions of European integration” and others.
Scientific and pedagogical workers of higher education institutions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Uzhhorod, Lviv, Odesa, Kamianets-Podilskyi) and the Republic of Poland (Gdansk), scientists of academic institutions, representatives of public organizations, graduate students and students took part in the conference.
Program of the international scientific and practical conference
Oksana Zorych, a Senior Researcher at the Department of Theory and History of Political Science at our Institute, Candidate of Political Sciences, became a laureate of the PAUSE program in the field of individual research “Propaganda of violence. The Russian invasion of Ukraine: strategies and tactics of information warfare”, which will be carried out on the basis of the Center for Theory and Analysis of Law at the École normale supérieure – one of the most authoritative educational and research centers in France.
The PAUSE program supports scientists and artists who have been forced to leave their countries and temporarily continue their activities on the basis of higher education institutions and research centers in France.
The program also provides for the implementation of advocacy activities for the protection of academic freedoms and the observance of human rights.
On March 30, 2023, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine held the first of a series of meetings planned to discuss and define criteria for information that can be classified as intolerant and discriminatory based on national or religious affiliation. This meeting was dedicated to countering anti-Semitism in Ukrainian society. Scientists, journalists, and representatives of the country’s Jewish community were invited to the meeting.
Among the participants of the meeting were the head of the National Council Olga Herasimyuk, the responsible secretary of the National Council Olena Nitsko, the member of the National Council Maksym Onoprienko, the representative of the Secretariat of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Elvina Kurtalieva, the expert of the Association of Jewish Public Organizations Vyacheslav Likhachev, experts of the media regulator and representatives of Jewish public organizations and institutions, experts on anti-Semitism, and others.
During the discussion
Anatoliy Podolskiy, a leading researcher of the Department of Ethnopolitics of our Institute, Candidate of Historical Sciences, took part in the discussion on the problem of confronting anti-Semitism in Ukraine during the Russian military aggression.
During his speech, the scientist drew attention to the fact that “there is anti-Semitism in the country, and it’s nothing to worry about. It is about the fact that it is marginal and is not mainstream in Ukrainian society.”
Anatoliy Podolskiy
He reminded that Jews stood alongside Ukrainians in the protest movement during the Revolution of Dignity, and they are among the victims-heroes of the Maidan. Nowadays, many Jews are defending Ukraine at the front: “During the full-scale invasion and as early as 2014, there was a letter from the Jewish community, it is known, it is in open sources, where it is said that we share the fate of our own country, we are Ukrainian Jews… and there is no need to protect us”. Anatoly Podolskiy noted: “We consider Ukrainian Jews as a part of Ukrainian culture. The Jewish culture of Ukraine is Ukrainian culture.” This is exactly what the media should emphasize, such messages unite us.
Based on the results of the discussion on issues of anti-Semitism in the Ukrainian media, recommendations will be developed to which all participants will be able to provide their clarifications or suggestions.
More details about the meeting
On March 31 – April 2, 2023, the next annual conference of the British Association of Slavic and East European Studies (BASEES) was held at the University of Glasgow (Scotland). More than 400 researchers from 30 countries took part in the congress. At the panel discussion “War as a creator of nations?” Nation-building in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine – discourses, identities, achievements” report on the topic: “Institutional changes of the political system of Ukraine under the influence of Russian military aggression” was delivered by the Head of the Department of Political Institutions and Processes of our Institute, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Galyna Zelenko.
The participants of the panel discussion noted that wars, of course, destroy nations, but they can also make them stronger, becoming a kind of trigger for very rapid and qualitative changes. In the case of Ukraine, Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014 is not the end, but the beginning of national construction. In Ukraine, the nation-building process is not based on ethnic, but on civic nationalism, the idea of building a modern democratic and multicultural society.
In essence, state formation in Ukraine is a process that began after the declaration of independence in 1991 and was reinforced by two Maidans in 2004 and 2013/14. But Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014 can certainly be considered the main factor and catalyst of national building in Ukraine. This is part of a powerful discourse, which can also be observed from the data of sociological surveys, which confirm the growth of national pride and civic Ukrainian identity.
On the other hand, the war also became a catalyst for qualitative changes in the political regime in Ukraine, the modernization of political actors and, most importantly, the reduction of the influence of financial and industrial groups (oligarchs), the destruction of the political and economic monopoly in the country.
In combination with the rapid development of civil society, the change of political identities, the stabilization role of the EU also caused rapid institutional changes in the entire political system of Ukraine. It is also emphasized that the process of Europeanization is an articulated choice of the orientation of nation-building, which put an end to the geopolitical ambivalence of Ukraine.
In the last week of March, a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Political Cultures and Ideology Mykola Riabchuk delivered a cycle of public lectures on the current developments in Ukraine at three Romanian and Moldovan universities – in Iași, Suceava and Chișinău, under the general title „Rallying Around the Flag: The War Challenges and Civic Mobilization in Ukraine”.
In his presentations, Dr. Riabchuk examined the factors that determined Ukrainian spectacular and, for many, unexpected resilience against Russian military assault, and argued that slow, convoluted and incoherent development of the country in the past decades has largely obscured its gradual maturing and consolidation.
The speaker employed a wide set of sociological data to prove an unusual level of civic consolidation, defined in scholarship as „rallying around flag” – i.e., neglecting and sacrificing particular interests for the sake of a common good in critical situations.
During the lecture
The main question, in his opinion, is how sustainable this civic consolidation may be after the war threat recedes, how much social capital Ukrainians are able to accumulate for the successful peaceful development in the future.
On March 24, Dr. Mykola Riabchuk, a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Political Cultures and Ideology, delivered a keynote lecture (online) at the 4th Annual Taras Shevchenko Conference at Indiana University, Bloomington. His paper, entitled “Mapping a ‘Nowhere Nation’: Imperial Knowledge and Challenges of Decolonization”, drew on the concept of Imperial Knowledge as invoked by Ewa Thompson and defined as a system of narratives aimed at control and manipulation of subordinate nations.
That “knowledge”, conceived in the 18th century, has been developed, institutionalized and disseminated globally as presumably ‘scientific truth’. It was normalized and became therefore unquestionable; still worse, it completely excluded the alternative voices, in particular voices of subjugated nations, from the public debate as allegedly ‘deviant’ and ‘nationalistic’.
All this made the Imperial Knowledge a root cause of many eventual problems, including a centuries-long international misperception of Russia, ignorance of Ukraine, and disastrously wrong Western policies vis-à-vis both countries and the entire Eastern Europe. The ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, framed as an attempt at a neo-imperial conquest, makes the detailed deconstruction of Imperial Knowledge and its various ideological-cum-political metastases highly urgent and topical – as an intellectual part of a much broader decolonization agenda.
On the website of the Institute, in the section “Our publications”, the materials of the round table “New generation of Ukrainian politicians in the conditions of war and post-war social transformations” are posted.
The round table was held on November 15, 2022. The scientific event was organized by the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine within the framework of the Program of Joint Activities of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine for 2020-2022.
The collection of materials of the round table contains abstracts of the speeches of the participants. The indicators of the turnover of political generations in Ukraine; political and psychological portraits of the new generation of Ukrainian politicians; synchronization of processes of turnover of political generations in Ukraine and the world are analyzed. The authors investigate the causal relationships between the rotation of political generations and changes in mass consciousness; necessary prerequisites for the formation of a new political elite within civil society. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the Russian-Ukrainian war in the context of the generational conflict of national political elites, the creation of institutional and other safeguards for the restoration of oligarchy in Ukrainian politics in the post-war period.
It is addressed to researchers in the field of social and behavioral sciences, experts, political and public figures, students and post-graduate students of higher educational institutions, and everyone who is interested in generational issues in politics.
The collection is published in electronic format.
On February 14, 2023, a discussion was held at the Jewish Museum in Berlin on the issue of the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on the politics of European historical memory and the instrumentalization of the past by Putin’s regime.
The participants of the panel discussion were: the German State Minister of Culture Claudia Roth, the Head of the EVZ Foundation (“Memory. Responsibility. Future” Dr. Andrea Despot, and the Director of the Arolsen archive Floriane Azolai. The Leading Researcher of the Department of ethnopolitics of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences Anatoliy Podolskiy took part in the discussion (online).
During the discussion, it was emphasized that since the end of February 2022, Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. In the shadow of the acute humanitarian disaster in Ukraine, another threat arises: the fundamental instrumentalization of history. The questions that were the focus of attention of the discussants: what does the war in Ukraine mean for the German, Jewish and Ukrainian cultures of memory? What reflections – such as the avoidance of guilt and the relativization of the Holocaust and Nazi injustice – can be seen in the German public debate, and how can they be countered?
During the discussion
During his speech, Anatoliy Podolskiy drew attention to the fact that the memory of the past today, during the war, is an important factor of the identity of modern Ukrainian society. Commemorating the victims of the Holocaust during the full-scale Russian invasion is also our weapon in the war against the enemy. We are capable of honest historical reflections. Ukraine will never return to the empire and will never be a Russian colony. A. Podolskiy also noted that European countries, in particular Germany, should help Ukraine finally defeat Russian totalitarianism. The democratic world is used to concessions to dictators, the time has come to break this cycle of impunity.
More than a hundred participants took part in the discussion – German politicians, scientists, journalists, as well as Ukrainians who are now forced refugees from Russian military aggression. The audience expressed absolute support for the struggle of Ukrainians against the Russian invaders.
The panel discussion was organized by the Berlin Jewish Museum in cooperation with the Memory, Responsibility and Future Foundation Fond (EVZ).
Video recording of the discussion
Fragment of the A. Podolsky’s speech
On February 23, 2023, the international conference “Imperialism under the sign of the double-headed eagle and the red star. Victims of Russian Communism and Imperialism in the 20th Century” was held in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. The event, timed to the anniversary of the beginning of Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine, was organized at the initiative of Marshal (Speaker) of the Sejm Elzhbieta Witek and Director of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland, Karol Nawrocki.
In the context of the anniversary of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the conference aimed to show, using the examples of the historical experience of several countries, the validity of Józef Pilsudski’s thesis: “Regardless of what its government will be, Russia is a fierce imperialist. This is the main feature of its political character.”
First of all, it was about Ukraine, which defended its sovereignty in 1917–1921, and also about the struggle against Bolshevism of the Baltic peoples in 1918–1921 and about the resistance of the peoples of Transcaucasia to the Russian Bolsheviks and White Guards in 1917–1921. Special attention was paid to the Polish-Ukrainian union concluded in April 1920. It was the first attempt to create a bloc of allied states between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea under the auspices of Poland, which made it possible to stop Russian expansionism. This topic was presented and discussed at the first section of the conference. The second section discussed the “Polish operation” of the NKVD in 1938, the Soviet repressions against Polish citizens in 1939–1944, as well as the repressive actions of the communist regime against the citizens of Eastern Europe in 1944–1989.
At the conference with a report on the topic “Ukraine: defense of sovereignty in 1917-1921“, the Chief Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of our Institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuriy Shapoval spoke. Scientists from Latvia, Georgia, Poland, deputies of the Seimas, diplomats, and public representatives took part in the conference.
Conference participants
In the photo from left to right: Professor Eriks Jekabsons (Latvia), Doctor of History Dariush Rogut (Poland), Doctor of History Myroslav Shumylo (Poland), Doctor of History Jan Shumskyi (Poland), Professor Yuriy Shapoval, Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Zvarych, Professor Mikael Bakhtadze (Georgia).
In order to honor the courage and heroism of the citizens of Ukraine living in the temporarily occupied territory – in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, in defense of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, on the occasion of the anniversary of the holding of a rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine on February 26, 2014 in the city of Simferopol with the participation of Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and representatives of other nationalities by Decree of the President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyi established the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol in Ukraine, which is celebrated every year on February 26.
On February 23, 2023, the National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine hosted the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Transformation of the System of International Relations in the Conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian War” (to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol). Among the co-organizers of the conference was the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Program of the International Scientific and Practical Conference
Congratulating the participants of the conference on behalf of the co-organizers, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Deputy Director for scientific work of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleksandr Mayboroda noted that today there is a struggle for the survival not only of Ukraine, but also of the existing international system, it is a struggle for the political climate of the planet, a struggle against totalitarian and authoritarian regimes that are not capable of solving the urgent problems of today. The scientist emphasized the fact that civilization develops no longer according to a religious principle, but according to the principle of democracy or non-democracy, belonging or not belonging to democracy. This is the essence of today’s global debate.
Oleksandr Mayboroda is speaking
At the sectional meeting, under the leadership of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Social Sciences of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Olena Lyubovets, a Senior Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Mykola Gorbatiuk delivered a report “The impact of the decentralization reform on the process of European integration of Ukraine”. In his speech, the scientist paid special attention to the topical issues of the impact of the decentralization reform on the process of European integration of Ukraine.
Mykola Gorbatiuk is speaking
More than 300 scientists from higher education institutions, academic research institutions, diplomats, state and public figures took part in the conference. Among the participants are representatives of 22 regions of Ukraine, 6 countries of the world (Poland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Moldova, Romania, India, Germany).
On February 22, 2023, a meeting of the scientific discussion club “Cultural-Historical Dialogues” on the topic “Confirmation of Ukrainian Identity” was held in the Kyiv House of Scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of our Institute, Tetiana Bevz, gave a scientific report “Confirmation of Ukrainian identity in conditions of full-scale war: challenges and threats“ at the meeting.
The speaker emphasized the urgency of the issue of establishing the Ukrainian identity, especially now – in the conditions of a full-scale war of the Russian Federation against our state, when there was a real threat of losing the subjectivity of Ukraine. According to the scientist, the war became a kind of a test for the stability of society, the capacity of state and political institutions, and national cohesion.
Tetiana Bevz reports
The report focused on the analysis of identity markers (language, culture, religion, values, historical memory, politics, civilizational choice). It was also about the fact that the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine created a new reality, strengthening the sense of political unity, confirming Ukraine’s subjectivity and national identity. Ukrainians have proven to themselves and others that they exist as a nation that has a civic and national identity and is capable of defending its independence, territorial integrity, and unity.
Russia’s war against Ukraine had a significant impact on the consciousness of Ukrainians. It transformed our system of values, changing the evaluations of the past, the attitude towards some iconic historical figures, as well as towards influential institutions that until recently had great trust and authority.
During the work of the scientific discussion club
More than 30 scientists – philosophers, psychologists, historians and political scientists – took part in the work of the discussion club. Scientific employees of our Institute – Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Yurii Shaihorodskyi and Doctor of Political Sciences, Associate Professor Vyacheslav Yaremchuk – participated in the work of the scientific event.
On February 21, 2023, a round table was held at the Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman on the topic: “Political technologies of propaganda and counter-propaganda in the Russian-Ukrainian war.” The scientific event took place on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine.
Scientists of our Institute took part in the round table – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science T. Bevz and Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Chief Researcher of the Department of Political Institutes and Processes M. Karmazina.
Reports were made at the round table meeting: “War for identity. The power of cultural resistance” (T. A. Bevz) and “”We”: an analysis of the national-patriotic discourse of President V. Zelenskiy during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022 – the beginning of 2023)” (M. S. Karmazina).
On February 2, 2023, the Razumkov Center hosted the presentation of the research “Political and ideological orientations of Ukrainian citizens in the conditions of Russian aggression”, the preparation of which was attended by the Head of the Department of Political Institutions and Processes of our institute, Galyna Zelenko, and leading researcher Nataliia Kononenko.
In her speech, Galyna Zelenko emphasized that the disappearance of some lines of socio-political divisions (foreign policy orientations, language issue, civic self-identification) will not mean the absence of other divisions. Moreover, their depth will depend on how long the war will last and how it will end. The new ones that will arise will rather relate to valuable things – the concept of justice, involvement in state-building processes. Also due to the extreme complexity of the socio-economic situation, colossal losses that Ukraine has never faced before, demographic and economic problems, post-traumatic syndrome, problems of war veterans, etc. will lead to increased demand for simple solutions. This will mean a surge of populism with all the consequences – political scandals, instability, unsystematic political decisions. And here the problem arises as to how far existing political institutions – parties – considering how they are created, will be able to adequately articulate these problems or will it be an imitation. Stability (instability) in the state will be determined depending on this.
During the scientific event
After the war, the level of political absenteeism, passivity, and anomie will significantly decrease, and the demand for political participation will increase. But this is a double-edged sword. Why? Because the mechanisms of political participation in Ukraine remain quite ineffective. And here we return to the problem of the content of political parties as political institutions that perform the relevant functions. Therefore, the task of adopting a new law on political parties with the subsequent re-registration of political parties is already facing us. Thus, the process of political rehabilitation will be launched. The second, archive-important step is the return of those functions that were allocated to local self-government bodies before the war. Since there will be a desire of the current powerful people, who have concentrated power in their hands, which is quite logical for war, not to share their competences in peacetime. The third step, which should be taken now, is to ensure the system (institute) of political responsibility of deputies of representative bodies through the adoption of appropriate procedural legislation, streamlining of intra-parliamentary procedures, etc. This does not require changes to the constitution, so it can be adopted even under martial law. That is, the condition of more or less normal development is precisely the provision of systemic access, the inclusion of society, the provision of channels of participation and, ultimately, the consociational model of democracy.
Scientific journal «POLITICAL STUDIES»
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