Identity in Transformation: Russian-speakers in Post-Soviet Ukraine

Abstract

This essay examines the transformation of identity of Russian-speakers in independent Ukraine. Based on survey, focus groups and public discourse data, it explores the hierarchy of identities of those people who use predominantly Russian in their everyday lives and the meaning they attach to their perceived belonging to the Ukrainian nation. Although many scholars argued after the breakup of the USSR that Ukraine’s Russian-speakers would form into a community distinguished by its preferred language, the present analysis shows that they have instead been transformed from Soviet people into Ukrainians—and that without drastic changes in their language practice.     

Political Police Archives in Ukraine and Georgia: A Research Note

Abstract

After the deluge of archival declassification that took place following the collapse of the Soviet Union, historians of Soviet society, and of the political police in particular, are still denied access to the FSB archives in Russia. However, a combination of political turmoil and military conflict has led to the opening of the entire archives of other Soviet-era political police services. This article will discuss why research into the Soviet political police remains critically important, examine the opening of the archives in Georgia and Ukraine, and explain what these archives contain and how to use them. Finally, possibilities for new areas of research are explored.     

阶级民主和程序民主——考茨基和列宁政制之争再思考

1918年考茨基和列宁关于民主问题的争论,对后来社会主义的发展,无论在观念上,还是历史上,都产生了极其重要的影响。考茨基认为,列宁和布尔什维克背叛民主,而列宁则认为考茨基歪曲民主的实质。在考茨基和列宁争论的背后,隐含着一个极其重要的问题,即社会主义民主是阶级民主和程序民主的有机统一。认识这一点,对于社会主义民主思想史的研究和当代中国民主政治的发展具有重要的价值。     

当代国际体系的渐变和嬗变--基于两个三十年的比较与思考

当前国际体系正处于新旧交替和质变飞跃的过渡期,筹划和推动新的国际体系建设是事关国际政治经济发展的重大问题。冷战结束以来三十年的国际体系延续和发展了二战后国际体系的主体框架,处于突变后的渐变过程,世界在“后冷战体系”和“前多极体系”之间探索和徘徊。越来越多的非西方国家在批判过时的国际关系理论,国际社会作为一个整体也在扶正祛邪中不断促进国际体系朝着更加公正、合理的方向前进。未来三十年世界将开启东西方力量相对平衡和世界多极化基本稳定的新时期,这一进程大体上与中国的第二个百年奋斗目标同步推进,国际体系将从后冷战转型期朝着构建新型国际关系和人类命运共同体的方向演进,并最终成熟定型。中国在逐步走近世界舞台中央的历史进程中,应注重加强国际体系理论建设,准确把握国际社会的主要矛盾。解决各自的发展问题和国际社会的共同挑战,对公平正义的普遍需求和供给的相对不足将越来越成为国际社会发展的主要矛盾。中国要着力解答当前和未来的时代命题,勾勒国际体系改革基本架构,进而促进和平、发展、合作、共赢的时代潮流不断向前,推动实现公正、共同富裕的新时代目标。     

国家治理与政治稳定——以吉尔吉斯斯坦转轨为视角

苏联解体后,西方政治制度在吉尔吉斯斯坦不仅未能开花结果,相反,政治结构体系却发生了功能紊乱与协调失灵,并导致政治持续动荡,整个国家出现治理危机;对民主化与执政能力,政治参与同国家制度化的比例,国家治理的模式与稳定繁荣的目标三对范畴重新进行考察,有利于进一步分析吉尔吉斯斯坦在具体治理困境中的症结,为维护社会稳定提供一个理论依据。     

The Politics of Soviet and Nazi Genocides in Orange Ukraine

This article examines policies and public attitudes concerning the issue of Soviet and Nazi genocides in Ukraine after the ‘Orange Revolution’. The central question is whether such factors as regional political culture affect contemporary policies and public attitudes towards these important historical issues. The article uses a 2008 survey conducted for this study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology to analyse determinants of public attitudes concerning the question of whether Soviet and the Nazi policies were genocidal. It finds that regional political culture is the most significant factor affecting policies and attitudes towards the Soviet genocide in Ukraine.     

War of textbooks: History education in Russia and Ukraine

Many scholars stress that teaching about the shared past plays a major role in the formation of national, ethnic, religious, and regional identities, in addition to influencing intergroup perceptions and relations. Through the analysis of historic narratives in history textbooks this paper shows how the governments of the Russian Federation and Ukraine uses state-controlled history education to define their national identity and to present themselves in relations to each other. For example, history education in Ukraine portrays Russia as oppressive and aggressive enemy and emphasizes the idea of own victimhood as a core of national identity. History education in the Russian Federation condemns Ukrainian nationalism and proclaims commonality and unity of history and culture with Russian dominance over “younger brother, Ukraine”. An exploration of the mechanisms that state-controlled history education employs to define social identities in secondary school textbooks can provide an early warning of potential problems being created between the two states.     

乌克兰共产党的重建及其主张

乌克兰共产党重建初期曾是乌克兰两大政党之一和议会中的主导力量,在1991-1998年间的乌克兰政治生活中发挥了举足轻重的作用,虽然近年来影响力有所下降,但仍是乌克兰的主要政党之一.目前乌克兰政治斗争的焦点集中在组建议会多数联盟的问题上."我们的乌克兰"、地区党、季莫申科联盟已经形成铁三角态势,但其中任何一个政党都没有足够实力突破这一政治格局.作为第二梯队三角关系中的一个成员,共产党在议会中的政治选择会对乌克兰议会多数联盟的组建起到至关重要的作用.