SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE FOR THE DAY OF UNITY OF UKRAINE
On the eve of the Day of Unity of Ukraine, on January 19, 2023, at the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Scientific Conference “The Unity of Ukraine: History and Modernity” was held. The conference was co-organized by V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University.
More than 50 scientists from different regions of Ukraine took part in the work of the All-Ukrainian scientific event. Students of V. I. Vernadsky Taurida National University took part in the work of the conference.
The Director of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleg Oleksiyovych Rafalskiy. He congratulated the participants of the conference on behalf of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and emphasized the urgency of the problem to which the conference is devoted, not only from a scientific point of view, but also from a political point of view.
The theme of the unity of Ukraine, noted O. O. Rafalskiy, resonates especially in the current times, when our people are again forced to defend themselves and their state, as it was more than a hundred years ago. The Unification Act, adopted at the meeting on Sofia Square on January 22, 1919, is a significant milestone in our history. This fateful event was forever etched in the memory of the people of Ukraine. Evaluating the events of that time, it is necessary to emphasize their historical determinism, based on the primordial dream of Ukrainians for an independent and united state. In the end, O. O. Rafalskiy emphasized, it was born of the revolutionary struggle of manifestations of the will of Ukrainians for ethnic and territorial consolidation, evidence of a powerful urge to form a political nation.
Oleg Rafalskiy
As it is known, the conciliar aspirations of the Ukrainians at that time were not realized due to a number of subjective and objective factors. However, the non-implementation of the Unification Act cannot override its historical and ideological-political significance. After all, it was an example of a conscious unification movement, a civilized gathering of ethnic territories in a single sovereign state. This example of unity left a deep mark in the fate and historical memory of the Ukrainian people, and in the following decades it remained a powerful integrational factor and a high ideological imperative of all political forces and camps without exception.
At the end of his speech, O. O. Rafalskiy noted that the organization of scientific and scientific-practical events dedicated to the problems of the Ukrainian revolution, Ukrainian statehood and Ukrainian unity is an established tradition. Each such event, as well as the current conference, marks a certain milestone in the research development of an extremely important topic, leaving behind new ideas, report materials, collections of articles, special issues of specialized publications. O. Rafalskiy wished a creative mood to the participants of the scientific conference and ended his speech by mentioning the famous saying of the ancient Latins: “Ubi сoncordia, ibi victoria!” (Where there is harmony, there is victory!).
In his greeting to the participants of the scientific event, the director of the Educational and Scientific Humanitarian Institute of the V. I. Vernadsky Taurida National University, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Ihor Kudrya emphasized the political relevance of the topic of the All-Ukrainian scientific conference. He noted that the Day of Unity, as a national holiday, is perceived in a special way now, when the unity of the people of Ukraine is a necessary prerequisite for victory in the resistance to Russia’s military aggression against our country.
Kudrya emphasized the role of historical memory in the formation of the worldview of modern student youth, noted the thoughtfulness of the conference program and the comprehensiveness of the topics of the speeches proposed in it. At the end of his address to the participants of the conference, I. Kudrya wished success in its work and expressed confidence in its effectiveness.
The Chief 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, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Tetyana Bevz spoke with the report “The Phenomenon of the Unity of Ukraine in Political Discourse“.
Tetyana Bevz
The speaker, in particular, noted that the idea of the unity of all Ukrainian territories has always been relevant, since Unity is one of the basic concepts of Ukrainian statehood. The topic of Unity remains among the top priorities on the agenda of national tasks. The integrity and unity of Ukraine are fundamental values of Ukrainian statehood. Outlining the political relevance of Sobornost, the President of Ukraine V. Zelenskiy emphasized that “Proclamation of Unification Act is an important page in the annals of state formation, and now, after more than a century, we understand that the unity of Ukraine is not only about history, it is about our present and future “.
During the work of the scientific conference
And indeed, the speaker pointed out, Unity is not only a memory of the past, but also the present – united joint work and interaction, unity in resisting Russian military aggression.
Bevz emphasized that in the current conditions of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the political essence of the phenomenon of unity, national and political unity, and cohesion in defense of the country’s territorial integrity needs a new understanding and interpretation. In the conditions of war, it is important to understand the value of the unified Ukrainian state, its unity. Preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine, strengthening the unity of its regions, the diversity and distinction of which have developed as a result of historical circumstances, will continue to be a relevant and urgent task. T. Bevz stressed that the study of the phenomenon of unity requires modern scientific theories that offer a different perspective not only on history, political science, but also on politics.
In the speeches of the participants of the conference, a number of scientific problems in historical and modern dimensions were highlighted. Doctor of Political Sciences, Associate Professor V. Yaremchuk – leading 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 devoted his speech to the development of the idea of the unity of Ukraine during the First World War. The problems of the Eastern Galician issue in the international workshop (1920s) – Сandidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Philosophy and History of the V. I. Vernadsky National University Z. Zahojay.
The interest of the participants of the conference was aroused by the speeches of the Professor of the Department of International Relations and Social Sciences of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, O. Lyubovets “The first attempt to annex Crimea in the 1990s as a manifestation of the imperial ambitions of the Russian Federation” and Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy and History of the V. I. Vernadsky Taurida National University E. Goryunova – “Crimea as an inseparable part of the united Ukraine“.
During the work of the scientific conference
Most of the speeches of the participants of the scientific conference were devoted to contemporary events and the role of ideas of union in the processes of social consolidation: “The union of Ukraine in the light of the civilizational analysis of history” – Doctor of Historical Sciences V. Kosmina, “The Jewish community and the unity of Ukraine: the challenges of today. Ukrainian Jews in the struggle against Russian aggression” – a 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 A. Podolskiy, “Decentralization in Ukraine: Tests by War” – Candidate of Historical Sciences, 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, M. Gorbatyuk, and others. O. Yaremchuk, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Leading Researcher of the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, devoted his speech to the political and psychological problems of the consolidation of Ukrainian society at the current stage of state formation.
In the online format, the Head of the Department of Political Science of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor A. Romanyuk (“Transformations of Ukraine’s political parties on the eve of the war: what’s next?“), Leading 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, Doctor of Political Sciences V. Grynevych (“The Unity of Ukrainian Lands in Stalin’s Style (1939-1945)“), 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, Candidate of Political Sciences O. Zorych (“The concept of unity as a factor of social transformations“) and others. The speeches of the Deputy Director for scientific work of the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine L. Naidyonova and Professor of the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, Doctor of Psychological Sciences M. Naidyonov devoted their speeches to issues of socio-psychological components of modern socio-political processes.
The scientific conference was moderated by the Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Yu. Shaihorodskyi.
The summaries of the participants’ speeches are planned to be published in the collection of materials of the All-Ukrainian scientific conference “The Unity of Ukraine: History and Modernity”.