Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T19:22:19.330Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding Regionalism and the Politics of Identity in Ukraine's Eastern Borderlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Peter Rodgers
Peter Rodgers*
Affiliation:
Kharkiv National State University of Ukraine aurora_ukr@yahoo.co.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The results of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections highlighted the continued existence of regional diversity across Ukraine and the huge task the Ukrainian state faces in reconciling divisions and creating an all-encompassing modern Ukrainian identity. This article seeks to examine perceptions and understandings of identity change in Ukraine from three cities, namely Luhans'k, Kharkiv and Sumy, all adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian state border, in an effort to deconstruct the mega-region of ‘eastern Ukraine’ and in doing so, argue for the need for further academic scrutiny of inherent nuances within ‘east’ and ‘west’ Ukraine, differences, which more large-scale quantitative research fails to uncover. Data generated from in-depth interviews in schools with school directors, history teachers and schoolchildren are analysed to demonstrate how individuals reflect on the importance of the ‘region’ in Ukraine and secondly the role of Russia in Ukraine's identity politics. The impact of these results on Ukrainian politics and society as well as our understandings of regional diversity across Ukraine is outlined in the conclusions.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , May 2006 , pp. 157 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1. These interviews were undertaken in five schools in each city by the author during 2003.Google Scholar

2. For an explanation of regional variations based on ethno-linguistic differences, see D. Arel and V. Khmelko, “The Russian Factor and Territorial Polarization in Ukraine,” Harriman Review, Vol. 9, No. 1–2, 1996, pp. 81–91.Google Scholar

3. D. Arel and A. Wilson, “The Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections,” RFE/RL Research Report, Vol. 3, No. 26, 1994.Google Scholar

4. F. D. Zastavnyi, “Naselennia Ukrainy,” L'viv: Prosvita, 1993, p. 192, cited in G. Liber, “Imagining Ukraine: Regional Differences and the Emergence of an Integrated State Identity, 1926–1994,” Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1998, pp. 187–206; also S. Shulman, “The Cultural Foundations of Ukrainian National Identity,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 22, No. 6, 1999, pp. 1011–1036.Google Scholar

5. K. Wolczuk, “Catching Up with ‘Europe‘? Constitutional Debates on the Territorial-Administrative Model in Independent Ukraine,” Working Paper 20/01, One Europe or Several? Project.Google Scholar

6. See R. Seely, “Ukraine's Identity Crisis,” Moscow Times , 12 June 1994.Google Scholar

7. Ibid.Google Scholar

8. Ibid. Of course, it may well be the case that some individuals may not want to “grab” onto any identity option, preferring to remain deeply ambivalent to political issues.Google Scholar

9. T. Zhurzhenko, “The Myth of Two Ukraines,” can be found at: <www.eurozine.com>..>Google Scholar

10. T. Kuzio, “Election Reveals Ukraine's Geographic Political Divisions,” RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 6, No. 73, Part II, 18 April 2002.Google Scholar

11. T. Kuzio, Ukraine: State and Nation Building (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 162.Google Scholar

12. Ibid., p. 144.Google Scholar

13. T. Kuzio, “National Identity in Independent Ukraine: An Identity in Transition,” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1996, pp. 582–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14. A. D. Smith, National Identity (London: Penguin, 1991), p. 14.Google Scholar

15. H. K. Bhabha, Nation and Narration (London: Routledge, 1990).Google Scholar

16. A. H. Miller, T. F. Klobucar, W. M. Reisinger and V. L. Hesli, “Social Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania,” Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 14, 1998, pp. 248–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

17. K. Wolczuk, “Conclusions: Identities, Regions and Europe,” in J. Batt and K. Wolczuk, eds, Region, State and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe (The Case Series in Regional and Federal Studies) (London: Frank Cass, 2002), p. 204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18. L. Jackson, “The Construction of National Identity in Ukraine: A Regional Perspective,” Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1998, pp. 182–193.Google Scholar

19. See D. Arel and A. Wilson, “The Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections,” RFE/RL Research Report, Vol. 3, No. 26, 1 July 1994, pp. 6–17; S. Holdar, “Torn between East and West: The Regional Factor in Ukrainian Politics,” Post-Soviet Geography, Vol. 36, No. 2, 1995, pp. 112–132.Google Scholar

20. R. Szporluk, “Ukraine: From an Imperial Periphery to a Sovereign State,” Daedalus, Vol. 126, No. 3, 1997, pp. 85–119.Google Scholar

21. P. Piirainen, “The Fall of an Empire, the Birth of a Nation: Perceptions of the New Russian National Identity,” in C. J. Chulos and T. Piirainen, The Fall of an Empire, the Birth of a Nation. National Identities in Russia (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000), pp. 161–196.Google Scholar

22. I. A. Snezhkova, “K probleme izuchenia etnicheskogo samosoznani u detei i iunoshestva, Sovetskaya etnografia,” 1982, quoted in O. Filippova, “Ukrainians and Russians in Eastern Ukraine: Ethnic Identity and Citizenship in the Light of Ukrainian Nation Building,” <http://www.unl.ac.uk/ukrainecentre/WP/12.html> (accessed 8 October 2001).+(accessed+8+October+2001).>Google Scholar

23. The author would like to make clear that whilst “negotiating” entry into five schools in each of the three cities with the relevant education authorities, the author made it clear that a mix of schools was desired according to variables such as language of instruction, Ukrainian or Russian, private or state funded and according to the general socio-economic background of the pupils. Whilst the author is “happy” that such guidelines were adhered to, nevertheless, it still needs to be made clear that these schools were “chosen” by the local authorities themselves.Google Scholar

24. T. Zhurzhenko, “The Myth of Two Ukraines,” can be found at: <www.eurozine.com> (25 September 2004).+(25+September+2004).>Google Scholar

25. Natalya Zhevskina, assistant lecturer at Faculty of Social Work, Luhans'k Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University, 24 February 2003.Google Scholar

26. History teacher, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.Google Scholar

27. Tatyana Leonidovna Butilkina, teacher, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 23 March 2003.Google Scholar

28. Tatyana Serdonenko, history teacher, School No. 57, Luhans'k, 25 April 2003.Google Scholar

29. Grigorii Arkadevich Freiman, history teacher, Luhans'k Special School for the Deepened Study of Foreign Languages, 5 March 2003.Google Scholar

30. Mariya, schoolgirl, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.Google Scholar

31. Schoolgirl, School No. 45, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

32. Schoolboy, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.Google Scholar

33. Artem, schoolboy, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.Google Scholar

34. Schoolgirl, ibid.Google Scholar

35. Schoolgirl, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.Google Scholar

36. Ibid.Google Scholar

37. Ibid.Google Scholar

38. Schoolboy, Luhans'k Special School for the Deepened Study of Foreign Languages, 5 March 2003.Google Scholar

39. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 February 2003.Google Scholar

40. A. Hurrell, “Explaining the Resurgence of Regionalism in World Politics,” Review of International Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1995, p. 333.Google Scholar

41. R. Laba, “The Russian–Ukrainian Conflict: State, Nation and Identity,” European Security, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1995, p. 478.Google Scholar

42. Natalya Zhevakina, assistant of Faculty of Social Work, Luhans'k Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University, 12 March 2003.Google Scholar

43. Olga Fyodorevna Turyanskaya, Senior Lecturer of Social Psychology, Luhans'k Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University, as well as retired methodologist of training of school history teachers, Institute of Continued Education, Luhans'k Oblast, 12 March 2003.Google Scholar

44. Schoolboy, Kharkiv Technical Lycee, School No. 173, 4 April 2003.Google Scholar

45. Schoolboy, School No. 27, Sumy, 19 March 2003.Google Scholar

46. Schoolboy, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.Google Scholar

47. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School for Foreign Languages, 26 February 2003.Google Scholar

48. Tatyana Leonidovna Butilkina, teacher, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 23 March 2003.Google Scholar

49. Anatoliy Afanasievich Gaikov, reader of methodological training, Ukrainian People's Academy, 22 March 2003.Google Scholar

50. Teacher, Sumy Pedagogical Institute, 10 April 2003.Google Scholar

51. Schoolgirl, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 3 April 2003.Google Scholar

52. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 February 2003.Google Scholar

53. Zhenya, schoolgirl, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.Google Scholar

54. Schoolboy, ibid.Google Scholar

55. Schoolgirl, School No. 45, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

56. Schoolgirl, School No. 27, Sumy, 19 March 2003.Google Scholar

57. Schoolgirl, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.Google Scholar

58. See <www.cvkukrpack.net> (accessed 15 February 2005).+(accessed+15+February+2005).>Google Scholar

59. T. Kuzio, Ukraine: State and Nation Building (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 162.Google Scholar

60. L. W. Barrington, “Region, Language, and Nationality: Rethinking Support in Ukraine for Maintaining Distance from Russia,” in T. Kuzio and P. Anieri, eds, Dilemmas of State-Led Nation Building in Ukraine (Westport, CT: Praeger), 2002, pp. 131–146.Google Scholar

61. Ibid., p. 133.Google Scholar

62. G. Sasse, “The ‘New’ Ukraine: A State of Regions,” Regional and Federal Studies, Vol. 11, Special Issue No. 3, 2001, pp. 69–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar