New Perspectives on Contemporary Ukraine

N.P. – The Third Biennial International Graduate Student Symposium was held at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, January 24-26, 2008. The first full working day, January 25, started early with a workshop on how to get research work published – for students only! Initiated and organized by University of Toronto graduate students, the symposium featured 15 graduate student presenters and 12 academics as chairs and discussants at six panels.

 By Walter Kish

We all know that the Ukrainian community in Toronto is large and varied, and that its many talented individuals and groups have contributed tremendously not only to the maintenance of Ukrainian identity and culture, but to the richness of the overall social and cultural fabric of this city and country.

Within this community is a small group of scholars and academics centered about the Petro Jacyk Program - Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES) at the University of Toronto that engage in the commendable pursuit of both a theoretical as well as pragmatic understanding of all things Ukrainian.  In the process, a new generation of Ukrainian intellectuals is produced that will hopefully leave a lasting legacy of contributions to our culture’s future on this planet.

It is regrettable that there is not more frequent interaction between this group and the wider Ukrainian community, so I try and take advantage of those occasions when I can acquaint myself more with their work and efforts.  Such an occasion presented itself last week when the Centre staged a symposium titled New Perspectives on Contemporary Ukraine – Politics, History and Culture.  Participating were scholars and professors from Canadian, Ukrainian, American and European universities.  I will try and give a brief overview of some of the content and ideas discussed during the three days of the symposium.

The event kicked-off on Thursday, January 24 with a keynote address by Professor Paul D’Anieri from the University of Kansas, an expert on contemporary Ukrainian politics, whose topic was “The Orange Restoration and Ukraine’s Uneasy Pluralism.”  His overview of recent events was punctuated with perhaps the provocative assertion that we are wrong to conclude that the Orange Revolution was a failure, since it was not really a revolution and also not a failure.  Further, he propounded the thesis that the two main reasons why Ukraine has not degenerated into an authoritarian, non-democratic state like Russia, is because of Ukraine’s well-known regional divisions and the fact that Ukraine has an oligarchic clan-based economy.  The various regional and oligarchic forces create an uneasy and unstable pluralistic political balance that prevents any one group from consolidating power.  It is perhaps ironic that two such negative tendencies have succeeded in creating somewhat of a positive outcome.

Over the next two days, there were numerous interesting presentations and discussions that encompassed a wide range of topics in the areas of history, politics, economics, literature and most aspects of life in Ukraine.

Michael Rassel (University of Birmingham, UK) and Anastasia Riabchuk (EHESS, France) examined the deficiencies of the current welfare system in Ukraine and the plight of the homeless.  It was disturbing to learn that Ukraine still does not have a social welfare safety net, but continues to fund heavily an inequitable system of subsidies and privileges (pilhy) inherited from Soviet times.

Anna Wylegala (Graduate School for Social Research, Poland) and Anastasia Bezverha (Oxford University, UK) looked at the issues facing two specific minorities in Ukraine, the first looking at the challenges facing young Russian speakers in Lviv, and the second, the media’s exclusionary treatment of Tatars in Crimea.

Olena Fimyar (Cambridge University, UK), Evgeny Finkel (University of Wisconsin) and Anastasia Timoshyna (Central European University, Hungary) delved into the impact of Europeanization on Ukraine’s evolving educational, economic and environmental policies.  Their research suggests that bureaucratic inertia, unstable governments, politicization, corruption, a destructive Soviet legacy, and lack of expertise have led to a lot of rhetoric about progress but little positive action.

Max Bader (Amsterdam University, The Netherlands) and Spyridon Kotsovilis (McGill University, Montreal) examined the fluid and ever-shifting world of party politics in Ukraine, both before and after the calamitous events of 2004.

The Saturday sessions focused on history, literature and culture. Zbignew Wojnowski (University College, UK) examined the nature and consequences of foreign contact during Soviet times of Ukrainians who had the opportunity to visit Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.  Despite all efforts by the state to control such visits, nonetheless, they often proved to be a catalyst for spurring the growth of dissenting ideas and dissatisfaction. Yulia Kysla (National University of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine) provided a fascinating examination of Soviet efforts during the Stalinist-era toward creating a Soviet Identity with the Russian State playing the “guiding” Big Brother role. Maria Melentyeva (University of Alberta), through a detailed comparative analysis of both Ukrainian and Russian newspapers in Kharkiv in 1917, examined the competing perspectives on the nascent Ukrainian independence movement in the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution.

In the final session of the symposium, Uilleam Blacker (University College, UK) took a detailed look at the post-modernist trends of two contemporary young Ukrainian writers, Yuri Andrukhovych and Taras Prokhaska. Kateryna Ruban (Central European University, Hungary) examined the current nostalgic mania in Lviv for all things relating to the Austrian Hapsburg era of the city’s history. Finally, Grzegorz Rossolinski (Germany) tackled the controversial and politically charged topic of the Hero and Antihero images and mythologies created by the various sides around the person of Stepan Bandera – Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B)

The discussions around these various presentations were facilitated and enhanced by the participation of many of the leading figures in the Canadian Ukrainian academy, including Professors Peter Solomon, Lucan Way, Taras Koznarsky, Paul Magocsi, Oleh Havrylyshyn and Maxim Tarnawsky from the University of Toronto, Marta Dyczok from the University of Western Ontario, and Olga Andriewsky from Trent University. Graduate students in Ukrainian programs at the University of Toronto organized this international symposium.

Although I must say there were a few times when I got somewhat lost in the academic theoretical jargon that prevails at these affairs, I was immeasurably stimulated by the many original ideas and opinions that emerged, both in the official presentations and the subsequent discussions. It is a shame that these events and their content do not get more exposure in the wider Ukrainian community.

Readers who are interested in obtaining further information or participating in such events should refer to the following Internet site: www.utoronto.ca/jacyk/.