Sociology Seminar: Crimean Tatars and Nation-building process in Ukraine before the invasion

Discussant: Sofiya Yaryna Voytiv, Sociology Department, Stockholm University.

Abstract

During the last ten years Ukraine was in the center of various turbulent processes that were changing its perception of “self”, its past and its future. The Revolution of Dignity, occupation of Crimea in 2014 and the Russo-Ukrainian war in Donbas brought tremendous changes to life in Ukraine in many aspects. New memory politics, identification strategies and reconceptualized politics of belonging were part of the tendencies one may observe since 2014. Such processes were defining Ukraine up to the moment of Russia’s large-scale invasion. 

This presentation proposes insight into the post-2014 politics of belonging and the dynamics of identity formation in Ukraine, based on the example of the Crimean Tatar community. What does it mean to be the representative of ethnic minority? What does it mean to be the displaced person? How inclusive was the politics of belonging in Ukraine before February 2022 and what was the role of Crimean Tatars in it? 

About Alina Zubkovych

Alina Zubkovych holds PhD in social science (Slovenia, 2015). Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertorn University (2016-2019). She was the deputy director of Ukrainian Institute of Sweden and currently is the director of Nordic Ukraine Forum.

She is the author of the monograph "Dealing with the Yugoslav Past", ibidem press, 2017. 

Alina's recent research focus was on the transformation of the national identity in Ukraine and perception of Crimean Tatars in public discourses in Ukraine. She applied semi-structured in-depth interviews with Crimean Tatars who have moved to mainland Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv) after the occupation of Crimea. As the result of the project, she has published such articles: The Politics of Language Use (2020) at the Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, Regional diversity and transformation of national identity (2020) chapter at Palgrave Macmillan, Cinematic Representation of Crimean Tatars (2019) and other. 

Currently, she is in charge of launching the series of public discussions "Ukraine in Focus", the schedule for the events is available on Nordic Ukraine Forum website. 

Links: https://alinazubkovych.nu/

How to register

Contact Vanessa Barker, vanessa.barker@sociology.su.se