Between Lenin and Bandera: Decommunization and Multivocality in (Post)Euromaidan Ukraine

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Between Lenin and Bandera: Decommunization and Multivocality in (Post)Euromaidan Ukraine Faculty of Social Sciences University of Helsinki Between Lenin and Bandera: Decommunization and Multivocality in (post)Euromaidan Ukraine Anna Kutkina ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Helsinki, in Porthania Suomen Laki-sale (Yliopistonkatu 3), on April 4, 2020, at 12 pm. Helsinki 2020 Publications of the Faculty of Social Sciences 141 (2020) Political Science Between Lenin and Bandera: Decommunization and Multivocality in (post)Euromaidan Ukraine © Anna Kutkina Cover illustration: Aleksei Kislov and Julien Milan. “The Revival.” The image is public in the form of graffiti, Kyiv, Ukraine. Distribution and Sales: Unigrafia Bookstore http://kirjakauppa.unigrafia.fi/ [email protected] PO Box 4 (Vuorikatu 3 A) 00014 University of Helsinki Finland ISBN 978-951-51-3436-3 (pdf) ISBN 978-951-51-3435-6 (nid) ISSN 2343-2748 (pdf) ISSN 2343-273X (hard copy) The Faculty of Social Sciences uses the Urkund system (plagiarism recognition) to examine all doctoral dissertations. Unigrafia Helsinki 2020 ii Abstract This dissertation is a study of (post)Euromaidan Ukraine as a socio-political and cultural space which undergoes a multilayered process of struggle over meanings. As a physical and political domain that emerged in a see-saw between Europe and Russia, the Euromaidan revolution was a unified protest that exposed multiple, at times contradictory beliefs: dreams of a just Europe, ultra-nationalist, Far-Right values, demands for prompt democratic transformation, hatred of authoritarian, corrupt government and naming of the ‘enemies’ or the ‘other.’ This research is a critical analysis of the articulation of such socio-political multivocality of the Ukrainian population, which found its physical and discursive expression within the process of post-2013 decommunization. This dissertation examines the evolution of post-Euromaidan de-Sovietization beyond the framework of passing and implementation of the 2015 decommunization laws. I address the process of decommunization as a political and cultural phenomenon at both the regional and national level, where the ordinary citizens and the government are involved in diverse forms of the meaning-making (e.g. political poster exhibitions, preservation or demolition of communist symbols, or renaming of the streets). I examine the process of de-Sovietization of (post)Euromaidan Ukraine as both fragmented and unified in its multivocality, where old symbols and/or judicial structures such as the statues, posters or laws are being replaced by new physical (e.g. architectural) and narrative formations. This dissertation consists of nine chapters, and is an outcome of 4.5 years of fieldwork conducted in western, central, southern, northern and eastern regions of Ukraine. It is an ethnographic study of data that includes 64 interviews, images and videos with the protestors, civic activists, members of non-governmental organizations, politicians, soldiers, artists, and ordinary citizens. To provide comprehensive understanding of different types of material, the method of ‘layered textual analysis’ (Covert 2014) is used. It involves structural analysis of the narratives present in the interview text, visual analysis of the photos, and guiding questions related to the content and relationship of the photos, objects and narratives. In this work, I use the concept of narrative to create a broader framework for categorization of the collected data- - to analyze, for instance, interviews, images, or videos of the protest or toppling of the communist statues as means of construction of the discursive narratives at both the grassroots and state level. As means of examining the empirical data, this work draws theoretical parallels between theory of hegemony (Laclau and Mouffe 1985; Cox 2019; Modelski 1991; Thompson 2015), Mikhail Bakhtin’s (1981) theory of heteroglossia and monologism, and Benedict Anderson’s (1983) idea of the imagined communities. The primary objective of bridging these theories is to examine multivocality in decommunization as both the process and outcome of articulation of iii polyglossic or multi-voiced practices of civic dialogical interaction. A broader purpose of ‘hegemonic’ reading of the collected data is to explore (post)Euromaidan decommunization as a social phenomenon which is mediated through discourse, where political meanings are articulated, contested, and, as a whole, never permanently fixed. As that of discourse analysis theory, the aim of this work is not to discover which groups exist within the society, or to unravel particular formations that object or support the process of decommunization. The primary objective of this research is to examine multiple mechanisms of selection of the discursive and physical elements that were included (or erased) from the physical space of (post)Euromaidan Ukraine (2013-2018), as well as to identify political and cultural means of the citizens’ and ruling elites’ consolidation of a politically and culturally diverse state. iv Acknowledgements This research is a journey that started with a dream—a dream of becoming a ‘Doctor.’ As simple as that. It grew in the head of an immigrant girl who moved to Canada from Ukraine at the age of 16 and who felt blessed. Grateful to experience both ‘worlds’—that of the Gymnasium 191 in Kyiv where a uniform was an absolute must, and that of New Westminster Secondary School, BC—the space of jeans, skateboards, and mohawks. And yes, it was both a revelation and a revolution—to realize that knowledge can be ‘dressed’ in a uniform and diversity, and remain equally powerful. This dissertation is an outcome of years of my personal quest for the possibility of mingling the two—as deep in my heart I still carry a print of wearing green school uniform while striving to get my head shaved or dyed blue, purple, yellow, or all colors at once. This research has given me an opportunity to live my dream of getting to know people better, and eventually, to know and understand myself. At least to try to. As any PhD, this one is both unique and cliché, and came with the following: enormous joy, moments of deadlock and despair, tears, laughter, tears and laughter combined, sleepless nights and late mornings, ecstasy of breaking through and finally getting that chapter done, loving your research, hating your research, walking home feeling as if ‘this is it’ and willing to quit it all once and for good, and then, a second, or day later, pulling yourself together and moving forward. All this is both very personal and PhD-mundane. What was distinct about this research is the process of data collection. It involved hearing gunshots of the revolution, conducting interviews in the tents, walking in the fields of the borderline-war zone and taking a cab where a rifle was somehow just hanging right next to your head. In the midst of it all--in Ukraine, Canada, Finland, and many other places of the world there were people who were with me day and night, in their thoughts, their warm wishes, their prayers. It is with deepest, sincerest gratitude that I would like to thank you all. It is difficult for me to proceed from this point onwards with any kind of ‘chronological order.’ I feel tremendous value and contribution of every single person who was walking this path of my PhD journey in her or his own way. I would like to start with thanking Finland for becoming the academic home of my PhD research, for giving international students like myself a rare opportunity of obtaining top quality education and being so welcomed, so supported in countless ways. I would like to thank the CIMO Foundation, the University of Helsinki Research Foundation and the KONE v Foundation for funding this research. The generous support of these foundations made both my studies in Finland and fieldwork in Ukraine possible. I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Juri Mykkänen, Professor Markku Kangaspuro, Professor Pertti Ahonen and Dr Emilia Palonen for their guidance and support throughout different stages of this research. I am thankful to Emilia for involvement into the very first correspondence on my acceptance to the University of Helsinki, and for expressing care during first, particularly challenging months of my stay in Finland. I am also grateful to her family for offering help during times when it was truly needed, and for all the scientific advice she provided on this work. I am sincerely grateful to Pertti for being a supervisor of exceptionally efficient work-ethics, for his assistance with all official university matters, for his feedback on my dissertation and for being Custos for my PhD defence. I would like to express all my gratitude to Markku for being a supervisor of both academic advice and care for a student as a human being. I am endlessly grateful for the time that he found to discuss my work, and provide feedback and support that, at times, was larger than life—to share a joke and laughter during most happiest and darkest moments. I am so thankful for his geniality, for all of his kindness and talent of being a supervisor a student can always rely on and call a friend. Finally, I would like to render sincerest gratitude to my first supervisor Juri whose genuine care, professionalism, patience, understanding and ongoing willingness to help made successful completion of this PhD project possible. There are truly not enough words to express all the gratitude for the time he took to provide most thorough feedback, to guide this dissertation during both his work and official vacation time, and to lend a hand of support that encouraged to keep on going no matter what, and till the very end. I bow to the grace of his personality and will remain forever thankful for everything he has done. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart to Professor Elena Trubina and Professor Don Kalb for finding time to be the pre-examiners of this dissertation and providing in-depth feedback and positive evaluation of this work.
Recommended publications
  • LAW of UKRAINE on the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
    http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/776/97-%D0%B2%D1%80 LAW OF UKRAINE "On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights" With relevant amendments and supplements (as of 13 August 2014) CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. Parliamentary control over the observance of constitutional human and citizens' rights and freedoms Parliamentary control over the observance of constitutional human and citizens' rights and freedoms and the protection of every individual's rights on the territory of Ukraine and within its jurisdiction is permanently exercised by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as «the Commissioner»). The Commissioner shall be guided by the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine and effective international treaties approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Article 2. The scope of application of the Law The scope of application of the Law shall extend to relations emerging from the fulfillment of human and citizens' rights and freedoms between a citizen of Ukraine, irrespective of his or her dwelling place, a foreigner or a stateless person, who are on the territory of Ukraine and bodies of state power and local self-government, their officials. The operation of this Law also applies to relations that arise between juridical persons of public and private law, as well as individuals who are on the territory of Ukraine in cases provided for by a specific law. Article 3. The purpose of the parliamentary control over the observance of constitutional human and citizens' rights
    [Show full text]
  • Germany, International Justice and the 20Th Century
    Paul Betts Dept .of History University of Sussex NOT TO BE QUOTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR: DRAFT VERSION: THE FINAL DRAFT OF THIS ESSAY WILL APPEAR IN A SPECIAL ISSUE OF HISTORY AND MEMORY IN APRIL, 2005, ED. ALON CONFINO Germany, International Justice and the 20th Century The turning of the millennium has predictably spurred fresh interest in reinterpreting the 20th century as a whole. Recent years have witnessed a bountiful crop of academic surveys, mass market picture books and television programs devoted to recalling the deeds and misdeeds of the last one hundred years. It then comes as no surprise that Germany often figures prominently in these new accounts. If nothing else, its responsibility for World War I, World War II and the Holocaust assures its villainous presence in most every retrospective on offer. That Germany alone experienced all of the modern forms of government in one compressed century – from constitutional monarchy, democratic socialism, fascism, Western liberalism to Soviet-style communism -- has also made it a favorite object lesson about the so-called Age of Extremes. Moreover, the enduring international influence of Weimar culture, feminism and the women’s movement, social democracy, post-1945 economic recovery, West German liberalism, environmental politics and most recently pacifism have also occasioned serious reconsideration of the contemporary relevance of the 20th century German past. Little wonder that several commentators have gone so far as to christen the “short twentieth century” between 1914 and 1989 as really the “German century,” to the extent that German history is commonly held as emblematic of Europe’s 20th century more generally.1 Acknowledging Germany’s central role in 20th century life has hardly made things easy for historians, however.
    [Show full text]
  • Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine by Timothy Snyder | the New York Review of Books Page 1 of 8
    Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine by Timothy Snyder | The New York Review of Books Page 1 of 8 Font Size: A A A March 20, 2014 Issue Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine Timothy Snyder This article will appear in the coming March 20, 2014 issue of The New York Review. Valery Sharifulin/ITAR-TASS/Corbis The opposition leader Vitali Klitschko attending a protest rally in Maidan square, Kiev, December 16, 2013 The students were the first to protest against the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych on the Maidan, the central square in Kiev, last November. These were the Ukrainians with the most to lose, the young people who unreflectively thought of themselves as Europeans and who wished for themselves a life, and a Ukrainian homeland, that were European. Many of them were politically on the left, some of them radically so. After years of negotiation and months of promises, their government, under President Yanukovych, had at the last moment failed to sign a major trade agreement with the European Union. When the riot police came and beat the students in late November, a new group, the Afghan veterans, came to the Maidan. These men of middle age, former soldiers and officers of the Red Army, many of them bearing the scars of battlefield wounds, came to protect “their children,” as they put it. They didn’t mean their own sons and http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/mar/20/fascism-russia-and-ukraine/?... 20/02/2014 Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine by Timothy Snyder | The New York Review of Books Page 2 of 8 daughters: they meant the best of the youth, the pride and future of the country.
    [Show full text]
  • What Do Students Know and Understand About the Holocaust? Evidence from English Secondary Schools
    CENTRE FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Stuart Foster, Alice Pettigrew, Andy Pearce, Rebecca Hale Centre for Holocaust Education Centre Adrian Burgess, Paul Salmons, Ruth-Anne Lenga Centre for Holocaust Education What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Cover image: Photo by Olivia Hemingway, 2014 What do students know and understand about the Holocaust? Evidence from English secondary schools Stuart Foster Alice Pettigrew Andy Pearce Rebecca Hale Adrian Burgess Paul Salmons Ruth-Anne Lenga ISBN: 978-0-9933711-0-3 [email protected] British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record is available from the British Library All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permissions of the publisher. iii Contents About the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education iv Acknowledgements and authorship iv Glossary v Foreword by Sir Peter Bazalgette vi Foreword by Professor Yehuda Bauer viii Executive summary 1 Part I Introductions 5 1. Introduction 7 2. Methodology 23 Part II Conceptions and encounters 35 3. Collective conceptions of the Holocaust 37 4. Encountering representations of the Holocaust in classrooms and beyond 71 Part III Historical knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust 99 Preface 101 5. Who were the victims? 105 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukrainian Civil Society from the Orange Revolution to Euromaidan: Striving for a New Social Contract
    In: IFSH (ed.), OSCE Yearbook 2014, Baden-Baden 2015, pp. 219-235. Iryna Solonenko Ukrainian Civil Society from the Orange Revolution to Euromaidan: Striving for a New Social Contract This is the Maidan generation: too young to be burdened by the experi- ence of the Soviet Union, old enough to remember the failure of the Orange Revolution, they don’t want their children to be standing again on the Maidan 15 years from now. Sylvie Kauffmann, The New York Times, April 20141 Introduction Ukrainian civil society became a topic of major interest with the start of the Euromaidan protests in November 2013. It has acquired an additional dimen- sion since then, as civil society has pushed for reforms following the ap- pointment of the new government in February 2014, while also providing as- sistance to the army and voluntary battalions fighting in the east of the coun- try and to civilian victims of the war. In the face of the weakness of the Ukrainian state, which is still suffering from a lack of political will, poor governance, corruption, military weakness, and dysfunctional law enforce- ment – many of those being in part Viktor Yanukovych’s legacies – civil so- ciety and voluntary activism have become a driver of reform and an import- ant mobilization factor in the face of external aggression. This contribution examines the transformation of Ukrainian civil society during the period between the 2004 Orange Revolution and the present day. Why this period? The Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan protests are landmarks in Ukraine’s post-independence state-building and democratiza- tion process, and analysis of the transformation of Ukrainian civil society during this period offers interesting findings.2 Following a brief portrait of Ukrainian civil society and its evolution, the contribution examines the rela- tionships between civil society and three other actors: the state, the broader society, and external actors involved in supporting and developing civil soci- ety in Ukraine.
    [Show full text]
  • Constitution of Ukraine
    Constitution of Ukraine Preamble The Verkhovna Rada (the Parliament) of Ukraine on behalf of the Ukrainian people - Ukrainian citizens of all nationalities, expressing the sovereign will of the people, relying on the centuries-old history of Ukrainian state-building and upon the right to self- determination realised by the Ukrainian nation, all the Ukrainian people, aspiring to ensure human rights and freedoms, and life conditions worthy of human dignity, supporting the strengthening of civil harmony on the Ukrainian soil, striving to develop and strengthen a democratic, social, law-based state, realizing the responsibility in the eyes of God, before our own conscience, past, present and future generations, guided by the Act of Declaration of the Independence of Ukraine of 24 August 1991, approved by the national vote on 1 December 1991, adopts this Constitution as the Fundamental Law of Ukraine. Title I General Principles Article 1. Ukraine shall be a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, law-based state. Article 2. The sovereignty of Ukraine shall extend throughout its entire territory. Ukraine shall be a unitary state. The territory of Ukraine within its present borders shall be indivisible and inviolable. Article 3. An individual, his life and health, honour and dignity, inviolability and security shall be recognised in Ukraine as the highest social value. Human rights and freedoms, and guarantees thereof shall determine the essence and course of activities of the State. The State shall be responsible to the individual for its activities. Affirming and ensuring human rights and freedoms shall be the main duty of the State. Article 4. There shall be a single form of citizenship in Ukraine.
    [Show full text]
  • Resuscitate Healthcare
    #8 (114) August 2017 First conclusions in the Supreme Old and new promising sectors Student activism in Ukraine Court selection process of Ukraine’s agriculture and post-Soviet states RESUSCITATE HEALTHCARE WWW.UKRAINIANWEEK.COM Featuring selected content from The Economist FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION CONTENTS | 3 BRIEFING 32 Merchants of peace: How the “civil 4 Crime and (illusory) punishment: war” rhetoric is used to gain political What counterarguments Berkut capital lawyers use in Maidan trials 34 Student force: The strengths and POLITICS weaknesses of Ukrainian youth movements 7 Delay in court: First results in the selection of candidates for the 38 Between Komsomol and protests: Supreme Court The trajectory of student movements in former USSR countries over the past ECONOMICS 25 years 10 Cultivating change: Production and NEIGHBOURS export transformations in Ukraine's 40 Michael Binyon on divides agricultural industry in the UK’s political establishment 14 Payback time! Is Ukraine ready to pay as Brexit talks start back the bulk of its external debts? 42 Karl Schlögel: 18 An uneven recovery: How the “We have to fight for Ukraine to once economy of regions has changed over again get in the center of attention in the past three years European affairs” German historian on Ukraine FOCUS on the European mental map 22 Seeing the obvious: Why Ukraine’s and the challenges of the new current healthcare system must be historical situation changed HISTORY 24 A major deficit: Staff and funding as the key driver of transformation 46 A view from 2017:
    [Show full text]
  • “Attempts at Decommunization in Russia Upset De-Stalinization”
    “Attempts at Decommunization in Russia Upset de-Stalinization” May 5, 2018 marked the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth. Whatever the attitude towards this philosopher, nobody denies that his heritage largely shaped the 20th century and that today’s demand for Marxist-related ideas is much above supply. What has happened to left- wing and Communist ideas following the collapse of the Soviet Union and how does decommunization influence societies? Russia in Global Affairs editor Alexander Solovyov discusses these and other related topics with Sergei Solovyov, editor-in-chief of Skepsis magazine. – What made Eastern Europe and some post-Soviet republics launch decommunization? – firstly, it is the ideological embodiment of what in eastern europe is commonly called “regime change.” a key element of a newly- invented myth of the fundamental break with the so-called Communist past, which is a clue to the legitimation of the new elite. This policy, as far as I can judge, is enforced more radically the stronger the real ties are between the elite’s nomenklatura and the previous political regime. a clear example of this is hungary, where the technocratic mid-level career functionaries began to insist (as soon as they laid hands on the previous regime’s property) on the most resolute ideological break with the country’s past. on this soil hungarian nationalism soared and Jobbik—the movement for a Better hungary party—emerged in the limelight … I should say that in hungary today we have what I would Sergei M. Solovyov is an Associate Professor in the Social Psychology Department at the Mos- cow State Institute of Psychology and Pedagogy.
    [Show full text]
  • A President's Portrait in Domestic Protest
    A President’s Portrait in Domestic Protest: 133 The Anatomy of Hate A President’s Portrait in Domestic Protest: The Anatomy of Hate Natalia Lysiuk Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev Kiev, Ukraine Abstract The extreme level of tension during the Euromaidan in Ukraine has caused a real explosion of urban post-folklore creativity. These folklore forms have many distinctive features of traditional folklore, but they are also characterized by their means of transmission. For instance, anonymous inscriptions could appear anywhere. Such texts have their own dramaturgy, and they recreate the development of the Euromaidan events (from simple appeals to give people an opportunity to determine their own destiny to openly hostile discourse that portrayed the former President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich, as the main enemy of the Euromaidan). Among those attested: distortions of Yanukovich’s name; demonstration of contempt for his image; insults; mention of his criminal past and ongoing corruption; and prophecies of his fate. One of the defining features of such texts is the violation of prohibitions on the use of dysphemisms and vulgarity as a verbal weapon against an enemy. We will also discuss the basic functions of protest folklore and hate speech. Crowds on the Maidan (author’s photo) The Euromaidan was the second Ukrainian revolution of this century. It was a public protest that took place in the main Kiev’s square Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Maidan) from November 2013 until February 2014. It was characterized by an unprecedented rise of patriotism and strengthening of national identity (as reflected in the wide usage of national colors, symbols, and images).
    [Show full text]
  • Between Church and State
    Between Church and State Conflict, contention, and coping through the politicisation of religion in rural Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) communities. Rivne Oblast, Spring 2019. Elsa Court 6495001 Utrecht University 02/08/2019 A Thesis submitted to the Board of Examiners in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Conflict Studies & Human Rights Supervisor: Dr Chris van der Borgh 02/08/2019 MA Conflict Studies & Human Rights Programme Trajectory: Internship & Thesis Writing (15 ECTS) Word Count: 16442 Cover image is author’s own. Picture of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Chudel, Rivne Oblast. 2 British Foreign Office Travel Advice Map of Ukraine © Crown Copyright Map of Ukraine with Oblast boundaries, Rivne Oblast in green. Wikimedia Commons (CC). 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, thanks must go to my thesis supervisor, Chris van der Borgh, for your inspiration, guidance, and critique throughout my long process of writing. Thanks also to the Europe team at PAX, particularly Andriy, Cinta, and Medina, for making the office a welcoming place for an internship, and of course for your help, knowledge, and encouragement of both my research and (unexpectedly multiple) trips to Ukraine. I also owe a great debt to my parents and grandmother, as without their considerable moral and financial support, my studies in the Netherlands would not have been possible. I should also mention that I greatly appreciate your restraint in not calling the British Embassy when I forget to contact you from the Ukrainian countryside. To Christian, you know your translation, editing, and proofreading skills did not go unused.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine in Its Modern History, Has Experienced Two Historical Moments of Global Compromise
    The 1996 Constitution of Ukraine: A reflection of the values of the political elite. Ukraine in its modern history, has experienced two historical moments of global compromise. The first was the Declaration of Independence, when most Communists voted for the national ideals that we promoted, and the second was the adoption of the Constitution Ukrainian Parliamentary deputy (Interview #8) To Tato & Moko without whom my time in Cambridge would not have been The Illusion is not shattered Like a child it has grown. In a maturing reality, It became unrecognizable But it remains good. Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 3 Values 4 Political Culture 6 Plan of the Dissertation 8 Methods ............................................................................................................... 9 The Interview Sample 10 Overall Approach 13 Coding 14 A Note on Presentation 15 Historical Overview of the Constitutional Drafting Process ........................... 17 Early Drafts 17 The 1994 Elections 18 The June 1995 Constitutional Agreement 21 The Syrota Committee 21 Final Stages 24 Nationality ........................................................................................................ 28 Clash of Symbols and Myths 28 Language 35 Citizenship and Nationality 38 An Imperfectly Unified Elite 42 Political Culture and Institutional
    [Show full text]
  • Memory of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Post-Soviet Ukraine
    ACTA UNIVERSITATIS STOCKHOLMIENSIS Stockholm Studies in History 103 Reordering of Meaningful Worlds Memory of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Post-Soviet Ukraine Yuliya Yurchuk ©Yuliya Yurchuk, Stockholm University 2014 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 101 ISSN: 1652-7399 ISBN: 978-91-87843-12-9 Stockholm Studies in History 103 ISSN: 0491-0842 ISBN 978-91-7649-021-1 Cover photo: Barricades of Euromaidan. July 2014. Yuliya Yurchuk. Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2014 Distributor: Department of History In memory of my mother Acknowledgements Each PhD dissertation is the result of a long journey. Mine was not an exception. It has been a long and exciting trip which I am happy to have completed. This journey would not be possible without the help and support of many people and several institutions to which I owe my most sincere gratitude. First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisors, David Gaunt and Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, for their guidance, encouragement, and readiness to share their knowledge with me. It was a privilege to be their student. Thank you, David, for broadening the perspectives of my research and for encouraging me not to be afraid to tackle the most difficult questions and to come up with the most unexpected answers. Thank you, Barbara, for introducing me to the whole field of memory studies, for challenging me to go further in my interpretations, for stimulating me to follow untrodden paths, and for being a source of inspiration for all these years. Your encouragement helped me to complete this book.
    [Show full text]