Register here to attend this keynote in person, at the University of Alberta.

Keynote Address "Citizenship Politics, State and Nation-building in Ukraine", presented by Dr. Oxana Shevel.

7 December, 2023; 6:00 p.m. MST | TELUS 134 (111 St & 87 Ave NW, Edmonton)

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This talk will discuss the importance of citizenship policy making as a tool of state and nation-building in new states that emerge suddenly from collapse of multinational empires. In the context of new statehood where national and state border are often not congruent, citizenship policy making and specific citizenship rules can serve to strengthen (or weaken) national identity and sovereign statehood. The talk will address these dynamics on the example of Ukraine where since the late 1980s citizenship rule—especially dual citizenship—generated both domestic debates and tensions in relations with Russia. As Ukraine resisted Russia's persistent attempts to utilize citizenship as a tool to foster political integration, the politics of citizenship policy in Ukraine and in Ukraine-Russia bilateral relations offer insights into broader causes of Russia's current war against Ukraine.

Register here to attend this keynote via Zoom.

Keynote Address "Citizenship Politics, State and Nation-building in Ukraine", presented by Dr. Oxana Shevel.

7 December, 2023; 6:00 p.m. MST

____________________________________________________________________________________________

This talk will discuss the importance of citizenship policy making as a tool of state and nation-building in new states that emerge suddenly from collapse of multinational empires. In the context of new statehood where national and state border are often not congruent, citizenship policy making and specific citizenship rules can serve to strengthen (or weaken) national identity and sovereign statehood. The talk will address these dynamics on the example of Ukraine where since the late 1980s citizenship rule—especially dual citizenship—generated both domestic debates and tensions in relations with Russia. As Ukraine resisted Russia's persistent attempts to utilize citizenship as a tool to foster political integration, the politics of citizenship policy in Ukraine and in Ukraine-Russia bilateral relations offer insights into broader causes of Russia's current war against Ukraine.    

Register here to attend this keynote in person, at the University of Alberta.

8 December, 2023; 9:00 a.m. – 11:30am MST | Peter Lougheed Hall, 11011 Saskatchewan Dr NW

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Speakers:

Emily Channell-Justice Self-Organization and the Citizen-State Relationship in Ukraine since 2014

This presentation explores the changing nature of the citizen-state relationship in Ukraine since the 2013-2014 Euromaidan mobilizations. Ten years ago, these protests used self-organization to remove the representatives of the state who no longer had citizens’ best interests in mind. Civic participation continued in response to Russia’s first invasion in 2014; it has expanded to new scales since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In this talk, I will trace how citizen action has changed in the past decade, impacting how people relate to one another as citizens, and also addressing how the citizen-state relationship has changed over this time. While many observers were surprised by the strength and tenacity of the Ukrainian civic response to the full-scale invasion, this response is situated in a well-documented strengthening of civic political participation across Ukraine in the past decade.

Yulian Kondur Ethnic Minorities, their Rights and Opportunities: Civic Identity Awareness in the Fight for Ukraine

 This talk aims to present the experience of national ethnic minorities, in particular Roma in Ukraine, as one of the socio-economically marginalized communities. Despite the challenges faced by Roma in Ukraine, the talk presents public initiatives of the Roma community members aimed at social cohesion, anti-discrimination, and strengthening the capacities of local authorities in their pursuit of European standards of protection of the rights of ethnic minorities. In particular, the presentation suggests to consider the social paradox of Roma participation in fighting Russian aggression against Ukraine, despite stigmatization and criminalization of Roma in the society. Serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Roma community members also reaffirming their right to be considered full citizens of their country.

Ivan Shmatko Parallel Identities: Sexual Citizenship, Ukrainian LGBTQ+ Soldiers, and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Literature on sexual citizenship often presumes a central importance of heterosexism for the construction of citizenship, suggesting that nationalism has an exclusionary potential. It is argued that nationalist project either is directly involved in exclusion of LGBTQ+ people or, to the contrary, incorporates the community into the “respected” society only to later use it as a tool to preserve a hegemonic order of inequality by orientalising racial “backward” “others”. Based on the interviews with LGBTQ+ soldiers who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, I will interrogate those assumptions. I will show how LGBTQ+ identity can be remarkably absent from the thinking process of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers that led them to join the army. I will show how this “absence” of LGBTQ+ identity regarding the action of joining the military presents a challenge for scholarship on sexual citizenship. I will discuss how identities can parallel each other, without intersecting. I will also suggest some interpretations of what this parallelism can tell us about the phenomena of identity, nationalism, and citizenship.

Olga Onuch A Duty to Defend. Survey Analysis of Territorial Commitment and Civic Duty as a Driver of Civilian Wartime Engagement in Ukraine

What drives civilian engagement in the war effort: who becomes engaged and what actions do they take? MOBILISE project data show that 80% of the civilian population of Ukraine are engaged in the war effort in some way - either by donating funds, volunteering, or direct action of a variety of types. Political scientists would call this phenomenon a war-time rally around the flag effect. But social science also posits a) that there is divergence in who rallies first, and what sort of rally action people take, and b) that not only are some people more likely to rally first, but other people are also likely to cease rallying over time. Employing four waves of original nationally representative cross-sectional survey data from May 2022, July 2022, January 2023, and April 2023, this paper examines the drivers of civilian war time engagement. It traces first the correlates of rallying through different modes of action. Second it assesses who rallied first. And third it examines who, if anyone, ceased rallying one year into Russia’s brutal invasion of and war in Ukraine.

Register here to attend this panel on Zoom.

8 December, 2023; 9:00 a.m.-11:30am MST

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Speakers:

Emily Channell-Justice Self-Organization and the Citizen-State Relationship in Ukraine since 2014

This presentation explores the changing nature of the citizen-state relationship in Ukraine since the 2013-2014 Euromaidan mobilizations. Ten years ago, these protests used self-organization to remove the representatives of the state who no longer had citizens’ best interests in mind. Civic participation continued in response to Russia’s first invasion in 2014; it has expanded to new scales since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In this talk, I will trace how citizen action has changed in the past decade, impacting how people relate to one another as citizens, and also addressing how the citizen-state relationship has changed over this time. While many observers were surprised by the strength and tenacity of the Ukrainian civic response to the full-scale invasion, this response is situated in a well-documented strengthening of civic political participation across Ukraine in the past decade.

Yulian Kondur Ethnic Minorities, their Rights and Opportunities: Civic Identity Awareness in the Fight for Ukraine

 This talk aims to present the experience of national ethnic minorities, in particular Roma in Ukraine, as one of the socio-economically marginalized communities. Despite the challenges faced by Roma in Ukraine, the talk presents public initiatives of the Roma community members aimed at social cohesion, anti-discrimination, and strengthening the capacities of local authorities in their pursuit of European standards of protection of the rights of ethnic minorities. In particular, the presentation suggests to consider the social paradox of Roma participation in fighting Russian aggression against Ukraine, despite stigmatization and criminalization of Roma in the society. Serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Roma community members also reaffirming their right to be considered full citizens of their country.

Ivan Shmatko Parallel Identities: Sexual Citizenship, Ukrainian LGBTQ+ Soldiers, and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Literature on sexual citizenship often presumes a central importance of heterosexism for the construction of citizenship, suggesting that nationalism has an exclusionary potential. It is argued that nationalist project either is directly involved in exclusion of LGBTQ+ people or, to the contrary, incorporates the community into the “respected” society only to later use it as a tool to preserve a hegemonic order of inequality by orientalising racial “backward” “others”. Based on the interviews with LGBTQ+ soldiers who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, I will interrogate those assumptions. I will show how LGBTQ+ identity can be remarkably absent from the thinking process of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers that led them to join the army. I will show how this “absence” of LGBTQ+ identity regarding the action of joining the military presents a challenge for scholarship on sexual citizenship. I will discuss how identities can parallel each other, without intersecting. I will also suggest some interpretations of what this parallelism can tell us about the phenomena of identity, nationalism, and citizenship.

Olga Onuch A Duty to Defend. Survey Analysis of Territorial Commitment and Civic Duty as a Driver of Civilian Wartime Engagement in Ukraine

What drives civilian engagement in the war effort: who becomes engaged and what actions do they take? MOBILISE project data show that 80% of the civilian population of Ukraine are engaged in the war effort in some way - either by donating funds, volunteering, or direct action of a variety of types. Political scientists would call this phenomenon a war-time rally around the flag effect. But social science also posits a) that there is divergence in who rallies first, and what sort of rally action people take, and b) that not only are some people more likely to rally first, but other people are also likely to cease rallying over time. Employing four waves of original nationally representative cross-sectional survey data from May 2022, July 2022, January 2023, and April 2023, this paper examines the drivers of civilian war time engagement. It traces first the correlates of rallying through different modes of action. Second it assesses who rallied first. And third it examines who, if anyone, ceased rallying one year into Russia’s brutal invasion of and war in Ukraine.

Register here to attend this panel in person, at the University of Alberta.

8 December, 2023; 1:30 p.m. – 3:00pm MST | Peter Lougheed Hall, 11011 Saskatchewan Dr NW

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Speakers:

Gayana Yüksel Indigenous Crimean Tatars: Sovereignty and Citizenship Issues

This presentation delves into the multifaceted challenges faced by the Indigenous Crimean Tatars concerning sovereignty and citizenship. Addressing the historical context, it explores the intricate tapestry of Crimean Tatars’ ethno-history, highlighting their struggles for recognition and rights. The discussion spans from the Crimean Khanate’s era to the more recent issues, such as the annexation of Crimea and its subsequent occupation in 2014. The research examines the repression faced by Crimean Tatars, emphasizing the restrictions on their rights and freedoms in the occupied region. Additionally, it delves into the complexities of their migration patterns, shedding light on hidden deportations and self-exile. Contemporary and future predicaments of Crimean Tatars are explored, including a possibility of creating a Crimean Tatar National-Territorial Autonomy within Ukraine, ensuring cultural preservation and development.

Emine Ziyatdinova Reclaiming History of Crimea and Crimean Tatars through one Family Story

Since 1787, the indigenous Muslim, Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars have been a significant minority population in Crimea, under the rule of Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, Ukraine and now once again under de facto Russian control (given the 2014 annexation of the peninsula by Russia). As depicted in historical and media narratives, Crimean Tatars were an “exotic Other” and champions of ethnic diversity before being recast as traitors and deported by the Soviet regime to Central Asia in 1944. When they were allowed to return in the 1990s, they were largely an ignored minority by the Ukrainian government and society. Since March 2014 (the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation), Crimean Tatars began to be portrayed by the Russian state apparatus as both extremist enemies of the State, but also as “beneficiaries” of Russian largesse. Even though the Crimean Tatars are now perceived by Ukrainian people and the state as the allies in the war against Russia since 2014, a majority of the Ukrainian population still perceive Crimean Tatars as “others” and struggle to integrate the history and identity of Crimean Tatars into the larger Ukrainian historical narrative and identity. Ziyatdinova’s presentation focuses on stories told by three generations of Crimean Tatar women—her grandmother, mother and herself—about the evolving relationship to Crimea and its history from 1937 to 2023. Denied the right to know and remember the tragic events such her great grandfather's execution in 1937 and deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 her grandmother was only able to reclaim her history after the Soviet collapse and our return to Crimea from Uzbekistan in 1990. Last year, her brother decided to flee Crimea to Poland due the threat of being mobilized to the Russian army. The presentation is based on the author's personal experience living and working in Crimea as a journalist and several in-depth biographical interviews recorded between 2008 and 2023 with the family members.

Viktoria Sereda Empowering Disempowered: Civil Society Response To the state Governance of the Internally Displaced Population

Paper examines state failures and the role of internal displacement governance in shaping new lines of social inclusion or exclusion through production of multiple physical, symbolic and bureaucratic borders and their impact on the IDPs’ sense of belonging. It discusses the civil society’s response to IDP dislocation and their engagement through various formal and non-formal networks.

Register here to attend this panel on Zoom.

8 December, 2023; 1:30 p.m. – 3:00pm MST

_________________________________________________________________________________

Speakers:

Gayana Yüksel Indigenous Crimean Tatars: Sovereignty and Citizenship Issues

This presentation delves into the multifaceted challenges faced by the Indigenous Crimean Tatars concerning sovereignty and citizenship. Addressing the historical context, it explores the intricate tapestry of Crimean Tatars’ ethno-history, highlighting their struggles for recognition and rights. The discussion spans from the Crimean Khanate’s era to the more recent issues, such as the annexation of Crimea and its subsequent occupation in 2014. The research examines the repression faced by Crimean Tatars, emphasizing the restrictions on their rights and freedoms in the occupied region. Additionally, it delves into the complexities of their migration patterns, shedding light on hidden deportations and self-exile. Contemporary and future predicaments of Crimean Tatars are explored, including a possibility of creating a Crimean Tatar National-Territorial Autonomy within Ukraine, ensuring cultural preservation and development.

Emine Ziyatdinova Reclaiming History of Crimea and Crimean Tatars through one Family Story

Since 1787, the indigenous Muslim, Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars have been a significant minority population in Crimea, under the rule of Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, Ukraine and now once again under de facto Russian control (given the 2014 annexation of the peninsula by Russia). As depicted in historical and media narratives, Crimean Tatars were an “exotic Other” and champions of ethnic diversity before being recast as traitors and deported by the Soviet regime to Central Asia in 1944. When they were allowed to return in the 1990s, they were largely an ignored minority by the Ukrainian government and society. Since March 2014 (the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation), Crimean Tatars began to be portrayed by the Russian state apparatus as both extremist enemies of the State, but also as “beneficiaries” of Russian largesse. Even though the Crimean Tatars are now perceived by Ukrainian people and the state as the allies in the war against Russia since 2014, a majority of the Ukrainian population still perceive Crimean Tatars as “others” and struggle to integrate the history and identity of Crimean Tatars into the larger Ukrainian historical narrative and identity. Ziyatdinova’s presentation focuses on stories told by three generations of Crimean Tatar women—her grandmother, mother and herself—about the evolving relationship to Crimea and its history from 1937 to 2023. Denied the right to know and remember the tragic events such her great grandfather's execution in 1937 and deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 her grandmother was only able to reclaim her history after the Soviet collapse and our return to Crimea from Uzbekistan in 1990. Last year, her brother decided to flee Crimea to Poland due the threat of being mobilized to the Russian army. The presentation is based on the author's personal experience living and working in Crimea as a journalist and several in-depth biographical interviews recorded between 2008 and 2023 with the family members.

Viktoria Sereda Empowering Disempowered: Civil Society Response To the state Governance of the Internally Displaced Population

Paper examines state failures and the role of internal displacement governance in shaping new lines of social inclusion or exclusion through production of multiple physical, symbolic and bureaucratic borders and their impact on the IDPs’ sense of belonging. It discusses the civil society’s response to IDP dislocation and their engagement through various formal and non-formal networks.

Register here to attend this panel on zoom, at the University of Alberta.

8 December, 2023; 3:15 p.m. – 4:45pm MST | Peter Lougheed Hall, 11011 Saskatchewan Dr NW

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Speakers:

Svitlana Matviyenko Biological Citizenship: Pollution as a Weapon of War

The presentation will discuss the notion of "biological citizenship" (Petryna) reconceptualized for understanding the processes of fast and slow violence during the Russian war in Ukraine.

Oksana Koshulko Citizenship in Contemporary Ukraine: Non-citizens inside of Ukraine “who would like to be” its citizens, and Ukrainians elsewhere, who “do not want to be”

This talk presents the results of studies from the past decade focusing on the situation of Ukrainian citizens inside and outside of Ukraine, who have different attitudes toward their Ukrainian citizenship. The paradox of the situation explored is that many foreigners, who come to Ukraine, decide to stay in the country, study the Ukrainian language, and dream of receiving Ukrainian citizenship, while some Ukrainians, who were born in Ukraine but left the country, dream to receive citizenship of another country. This presentation is based on the author’s previous research project (2014–15) and the data she collected while at Maltepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. The author explores experiences of Ukrainian women, married to Turkish men, as well as their approach to citizenship. The author seeks to understand motivation and reasoning behind the decisions to obtain or give up Ukrainian citizenship. The considerations are made not only about Ukrainian labour migration or refugees, but also foreigners, who came to Ukraine to protect its sovereignty in the period of the biggest shock brought about by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and who would like to stay in Ukraine after its victory.

Oleksandra Tarkhanova Dispossession of Citizenship under Occupation in Eastern Ukraine

This paper focuses on new forms of sovereignty and citizenship configurations that appear under occupation and through (non)state violence in Eastern Ukraine following Russian aggression in 2014. I argue that displaced people and residents under occupation have not only been dispossessed of their land and home, but have also been dispossessed of their citizenship. These two groups often overlap, since many among those initially displaced eventually returned. Interviews with displaced people and residents of the occupied territories in Eastern Ukraine conducted between 2020 and 2021 show how viscerally people experience the absence of the Ukrainian state in the occupied territories and how it results in suspension of their citizenship rights. The occupation presents a particular kind of dispossession, which does not necessarily or immediately mean dispossession of property, land, or the right to own. The occupied territory becomes a container where people, now dispossessed of their rights as Ukrainian citizens, are under the sovereignty of a non-democratic military regime, which attempts to draw legitimacy from minimal social provisions to the population. Hence, dispossession of citizenship under occupation creates a space where citizenship is undone and redone against the will of citizens. This becomes a starting point for a discussion on the possibility of resistance under such conditions and what it might look like.

Register here to attend this panel in person, at the University of Alberta.

8 December, 2023; 3:15 p.m. – 4:45pm MST | Peter Lougheed Hall, 11011 Saskatchewan Dr NW

____________________________________________________________________

Speakers:

Svitlana Matviyenko Biological Citizenship: Pollution as a Weapon of War

The presentation will discuss the notion of "biological citizenship" (Petryna) reconceptualized for understanding the processes of fast and slow violence during the Russian war in Ukraine.

Oksana Koshulko Citizenship in Contemporary Ukraine: Non-citizens inside of Ukraine “who would like to be” its citizens, and Ukrainians elsewhere, who “do not want to be”

This talk presents the results of studies from the past decade focusing on the situation of Ukrainian citizens inside and outside of Ukraine, who have different attitudes toward their Ukrainian citizenship. The paradox of the situation explored is that many foreigners, who come to Ukraine, decide to stay in the country, study the Ukrainian language, and dream of receiving Ukrainian citizenship, while some Ukrainians, who were born in Ukraine but left the country, dream to receive citizenship of another country. This presentation is based on the author’s previous research project (2014–15) and the data she collected while at Maltepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. The author explores experiences of Ukrainian women, married to Turkish men, as well as their approach to citizenship. The author seeks to understand motivation and reasoning behind the decisions to obtain or give up Ukrainian citizenship. The considerations are made not only about Ukrainian labour migration or refugees, but also foreigners, who came to Ukraine to protect its sovereignty in the period of the biggest shock brought about by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and who would like to stay in Ukraine after its victory.

Oleksandra Tarkhanova Dispossession of Citizenship under Occupation in Eastern Ukraine

This paper focuses on new forms of sovereignty and citizenship configurations that appear under occupation and through (non)state violence in Eastern Ukraine following Russian aggression in 2014. I argue that displaced people and residents under occupation have not only been dispossessed of their land and home, but have also been dispossessed of their citizenship. These two groups often overlap, since many among those initially displaced eventually returned. Interviews with displaced people and residents of the occupied territories in Eastern Ukraine conducted between 2020 and 2021 show how viscerally people experience the absence of the Ukrainian state in the occupied territories and how it results in suspension of their citizenship rights. The occupation presents a particular kind of dispossession, which does not necessarily or immediately mean dispossession of property, land, or the right to own. The occupied territory becomes a container where people, now dispossessed of their rights as Ukrainian citizens, are under the sovereignty of a non-democratic military regime, which attempts to draw legitimacy from minimal social provisions to the population. Hence, dispossession of citizenship under occupation creates a space where citizenship is undone and redone against the will of citizens. This becomes a starting point for a discussion on the possibility of resistance under such conditions and what it might look like.

A rountable featuring the participants.