The Practice & Policy of Public History in Ukraine

The Practice and Policy of Public History in Ukraine: Wartime Securitisation of Identity Meets Decolonialisation.  

The contestation of history between Ukraine and Russia was a feature of the years leading up to 2014 and was regarded by some as a key element of revanchist Russian government information strategy in Ukraine.  From the Yushchenko - Medvedev “history wars” of 2009 to the Ukrainian “Decommunisation” legislation of 2015, nuances of historical emphasis in politics and public discourse have been informative and occasionally subtle signals of identity and allegiance on different levels and in different contexts.

So what does the discourse, policy and practice of public history in Ukraine since 2014 tell us now, both about the balance and exercise of power there nationally and locally, and about history as a ‘language’ of allegiance and identity in a diverse modern state?  How much do the approaches of post-colonial studies and security studies help us interpret the situation? And how much does the practice of public history today free those involved to address and share their own perspectives on the past?

The other half of this evening will be PhD Candidate Kristina Batorshyna with Christian Perspectives on 'Paganism' in Kyivan Rus' and England