Ukraine: History of Civil Society

This course presents social and political events and processes that occurred when the Ukrainian civil society was forming. On February 24, 2022, the global attention was focused on Ukraine. Then organized civil society started its aid to Ukrainian armed forces, which surprised not only foreigners but even Ukrainians themselves. How did Ukrainian society prove to be stable, self-organized, and capable of effective resistance to a much greater threat? Why have Ukrainians united, acted, and gone to street protests starting from the early 90s? What values did they protect? This course will help you understand the nature of Ukrainian revolutions and the phenomenon of mass resistance, and also values motivating Ukrainians to act in the context of their independence. In this course, you will learn: - a short historical insight into the manifestation of Ukrainian values from the 1990s until now; - Orange Revolution, its prerequisites, course of events, and main participants; - establishment and development of independent Ukrainian media; - the reasons and prerequisites of the Revolution of Dignity – a protest that transformed the entire state system of rules and the institutional environment; - the concept of multiculturalism and its implementation in Ukraine; - the political and public life of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine, as well as Russia's crimes on the territory of Crimea; - the history of Ukrainian civil movements and communities in the East of Ukraine; - the power and influence of the society's unity during crisis. PRESENTERS Kateryna Zarembo - PhD, Research Fellow at the Central European University and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Associated Fellow at the New Europe Center Tymofii Brik - PhD, Rector at the Kyiv School of Economics COURSE AUTHORS: Oleksandra Matviichuk - human rights lawyer and chair of the Center for Civil Liberties organization, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 Vakhtang Kebuladze - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor at the Department of Theoretical and Practical Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Olha Onuch - Professor of Comparative and Ukrainian Politics, Politics Department, Manchester University Sevgil Musayeva - journalist, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian Pravda internet publishing Yevhen Hlibovytskyi - Director of the Frontier Institute, a member of the Supervisory Board of Suspilne movlennia (Public Broadcasting) Emily Channell-Justice - PhD, Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Emma Mateo - PhD, Petro Jacyk Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ukrainian Studies at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University Ihor Kozlovskyi - PhD, senior researcher at the Department of Religious Studies of the Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a religious studies scholar, writer, and public figure Alim Aliyev - Crimean human rights activist, curator of cultural and educational projects, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute Kateryna Zarembo: - PhD,Research Fellow at the Central European University and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Associated Fellow at the New Europe Center Taras Lyuty - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, philosopher, writer Tetyana Teren - journalist, Executive Director of the PEN Ukraine The online course was prepared as part of the Phoenix Project, implemented by East Europe Foundation and funded by the European Union. The course was developed in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute. The opinions expressed in this course do not necessarily reflect the position of East Europe Foundation, the Ukrainian Institute, or the European Union.