Narxoz Student Research-2021
Probably, the impact of so-called ‘Soviet racism’ is not so huge on
Ukraine and Belarus, as Russians call them brother nations. This is
because of a common Slavic history, common borders and similarities
in their appearance. What can actually bother this picture is the
recognition that Russia wants to keep such nations, subcultures and
other ethnic minorities under mono-nationalistic control.
On the other hand, ethnic relations in Ukraine are completely
diff erent. As Goble cited Akhmedov (2014), Ukraine is not trying to
create a single Ukrainian identity, but rather they accept the presence
of various ethnic groups among their own population, winning their
support by doing so.
4
One may say, this is the right beginning for the democratization of
society, to protect every citizen down inside the country and defend their
rights. However, this strategy also has its snags, as it may cause separations
of society, divisions into groups, or even cause problematic outcomes. For
example, it may cause skeptical views on normative regulators, uncertainty,
instability, lack of understanding of reality, less social benefi t and general
mistrust among society. It is especially shown in Western parts of Ukraine,
where most of the population lives in rural areas.
According to Shulman (1999), Ukraine, despite the strategy of
supporting ethnic minorities inside the state, has experienced some
nationalistic ideas after the independence period. Nationalists believed
Ukraine could be ruled under a dominant culture of Ukrainians.
Some patterns of Ukrainian strong nationalistic character can be
noticed even nowadays. It can be claimed that Ukrainian nationalism,
which had been developing throughout a long period of time, was even
more strengthened under the impact of the confrontation with Russia
in 2014.
They start to see Russia as a rival who violates their land and culture,
additionally referring to the Soviet past. In such an identifi cation of ‘us’
and ‘others’, Russia’s image drops in their eyes, lifting up the desire to
integrate with the West.
On the one hand, Ukrainian tendency to Euro-Atlantic Integration
appears to be related to the diff erences in Ukrainian and Russian national
identity. The former ones want to build their own strong identity to
which the latter ones may serve as an obstacle. On the other hand, the
blurred image of Ukrainian national identity may cause the volatility of
the political situation in the country.
559
Достарыңызбен бөлісу: |