Understanding regionalism and the politics of identity in Ukraine's eastern borderlands

Nationalities Papers

Volumn 34, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 157-174

  Rodgers, Peter ^a  

^a Kharkiv Regional State Administration   (Ukraine)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BORDER REGION; POLITICAL BORDER; POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY; REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY;

EASTERN EUROPE; EURASIA; EUROPE; UKRAINE;

EID: 33745296731     PISSN: 00905992     EISSN: 14653923     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00905990600617730     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. These interviews were undertaken in five schools in each city by the author during 2003.
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.
3. D. Arel and A. Wilson, "The Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections," RFE/RL Research Report, Vol. 3, No. 26, 1994.
4. F. D. Zastavnyi, "Naselennia Ukrainy," L'viv: Prosvita, 1993, p. 192
5. 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
6. also S. Shulman, "The Cultural Foundations of Ukrainian National Identity," Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 22, No. 6, 1999, pp. 1011-1036.
7. 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.
8. See R. Seely, "Ukraine's Identity Crisis," Moscow Times, 12 June 1994.
9. Ibid.
10. 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.
11. T. Zhurzhenko, "The Myth of Two Ukraines," can be found at: .
12. T. Kuzio, "Election Reveals Ukraine's Geographic Political Divisions," RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 6, No. 73, Part II, 18 April 2002.
13. T. Kuzio, Ukraine: State and Nation Building (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 162.
14. Ibid., p. 144.
15. T. Kuzio, "National Identity in Independent Ukraine: An Identity in Transition," Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1996, pp. 582-608.
16. A. D. Smith, National Identity (London: Penguin, 1991), p. 14.
17. H. K. Bhabha, Nation and Narration (London: Routledge, 1990).
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. L. Jackson, "The Construction of National Identity in Ukraine: A Regional Perspective," Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1998, pp. 182-193.
21. See D. Arel and A. Wilson, "The Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections," RFE/RL Research Report, Vol. 3, No. 26, 1 July 1994, pp. 6-17
22. S. Holdar, "Torn between East and West: The Regional Factor in Ukrainian Politics," Post-Soviet Geography, Vol. 36, No. 2, 1995, pp. 112-132.
23. R. Szporluk, "Ukraine: From an Imperial Periphery to a Sovereign State," Daedalus, Vol. 126, No. 3, 1997, pp. 85-119.
24. 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.
25. 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," (accessed 8 October 2001).
26. 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.
27. T. Zhurzhenko, "The Myth of Two Ukraines," can be found at: (25 September 2004).
28. Natalya Zhevskina, assistant lecturer at Faculty of Social Work, Luhans'k Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University, 24 February 2003.
29. History teacher, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.
30. Tatyana Leonidovna Butilkina, teacher, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 23 March 2003.
31. Tatyana Serdonenko, history teacher, School No. 57, Luhans'k, 25 April 2003.
32. Grigorii Arkadevich Freiman, history teacher, Luhans'k Special School for the Deepened Study of Foreign Languages, 5 March 2003.
33. Mariya, schoolgirl, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.
34. Schoolgirl, School No. 45, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.
35. Schoolboy, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.
36. Artem, schoolboy, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.
37. Schoolgirl, ibid.
38. Schoolgirl, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 March 2003.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Schoolboy, Luhans'k Special School for the Deepened Study of Foreign Languages, 5 March 2003.
42. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 February 2003.
43. A. Hurrell, "Explaining the Resurgence of Regionalism in World Politics," Review of International Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1995, p. 333.
44. R. Laba, "The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict: State, Nation and Identity," European Security, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1995, p. 478.
45. Natalya Zhevakina, assistant of Faculty of Social Work, Luhans'k Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical University, 12 March 2003.
46. 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.
47. Schoolboy, Kharkiv Technical Lycee, School No. 173, 4 April 2003.
48. Schoolboy, School No. 27, Sumy, 19 March 2003.
49. Schoolboy, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.
50. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School for Foreign Languages, 26 February 2003.
51. Tatyana Leonidovna Butilkina, teacher, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 23 March 2003.
52. Anatoliy A fanasievich Gaikov, reader of methodological training, Ukrainian People's Academy, 22 March 2003.
53. Teacher, Sumy Pedagogical Institute, 10 April 2003.
54. Schoolgirl, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 3 April 2003.
55. Schoolboy, Luhans'k School of Foreign Languages, 14 February 2003.
56. Zhenya, schoolgirl, Ukrainian People's Academy, Kharkiv, 19 March 2003.
57. Schoolboy, ibid.
58. Schoolgirl, School No. 45, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.
59. Schoolgirl, School No. 27, Sumy, 19 March 2003.
60. Schoolgirl, School No. 78, Kharkiv, 4 April 2003.
61. See (accessed 15 February 2005).
62. T. Kuzio, Ukraine: State and Nation Building (London: Routledge, 1998), p. 162.
63. 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.
64. Ibid., p. 133.
65. G. Sasse, "The 'New' Ukraine: A State of Regions," Regional and Federal Studies, Vol. 11, Special Issue No. 3, 2001, pp. 69-100.