Online, 29-30 November 2021
2021 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Soviet Communism, a milestone for the region comprising former Soviet republics and satellite states. Each of these new sovereign entities has its own day of independence to celebrate, with the majority of them breaking away from the Kremlin’s grip in 1989–91. The thirtieth anniversary presents us with the opportunity to examine the post-Communist transition in Ukraine in the comparative context of other countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The CEE is a very diverse region. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the pace and complexity of events that shaped political realities on the ground were dizzying. Some states accomplished a decisive break with the Communist past and became members of European and transatlantic structures within almost a decade. Other states opted for pseudo-transition and fostered hybrid political regimes, jeopardizing their genuine integration with the West. Finally, there was a group of states which decided to preserve their Communist legacy largely untouched, merely putting a more “human face” on its centralized practices.
This transition is a fascinating subject, with numerous examples of successes, failures, compromises, and U-turns by the states undergoing it. The symposium aims to analyze the transitional events, focusing particularly on identity-building processes and reforms in Ukraine and CEE countries. It will describe and scrutinize the formation of geopolitical affiliations and the evolution of discourses of belonging. It will also trace the fluctuating dynamics of national decision making and institution building, as many of the post-Communist states today reconsider their initial “idea of Europe.” The symposium will address the dynamics of the post-Communist transition and identity building, viewing them “from outside” and “from within” the region.
The symposium is organized by the Contemporary Ukraine Studies Program at the Canadian Institute of Ukraine Studies, University of Alberta, in cooperation with the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, University of Alberta, as well as the Institute of Central Europe and the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair, College of Europe.
The panel papers presented during the symposium are published in Meandering in Transition: Thirty Years of Reforms and Identity in Post-Communist Europe (2021), co-edited by Ostap Kushnir and Oleksandr Pankieiev.
Program on Symposium website
For more information about the symposium contact: [email protected]
