Block course “The Complex Transformation and Revolutionary Upheavals in Ukraine”
by Dr.Viktor Stepanenko
(duration: 2 days/14 hours)
The structure and timetable
1-st day
9.00
Introductory (Ukraine as the case study of socio-political transformation, the course’s aims and structure) (30 min.)
- The state and society in the context of Ukraine’s post-Soviet development in the period from 1991 to 2015: historical experience and the main socio-political trends (1 hour 45 min + 15 min. break)
-the country’s independence, and nation-state building agenda and the challenges of democratization
-controversial trajectories of the country’s political regimes: from democratization to the hybrid authoritarianism
-post-Soviet society under the transformation: dynamics of social structure, the public’s trust to the state institutions, dominant publics’ values and attitudes (social and institutional climate)
-questions and discussions (30 min.)
12.00 Lunch Break (1 hour)
13.00
- Ukraine’s regional, ethno-cultural and linguistic diversities: are they the obstacles for the country’s successful social and democratic modernization? (1 hour)
-the myth about “two Ukraines”: the country’s regional peculiarities
-ethno-cultural diversity
-the language issue and the language policy
-questions and discussions (15 min.)
Break (15 min.)
14.30
- Civil society and protest movements in Ukraine (2 hours 15 min. + 15 min. break)
- the civil society developments: the main trends, achievements and issues
- the Maidans, the 2004-2005 “Orange” and 2013-2014 “Euro”/“of dignity” revolutions: reasons, factors and the agendas
- the author’s photo-documentary project “Kyiv’s Maidan and revolution of 2013-2014”
- questions and discussions (30 min.)
17.00 – the end of 1-st day
2-nd day
9.00
- Ukraine’s political upheavals: from the “revolution of dignity” to accession of Crimea and the war on Donbas (2 hours 15 min. + 15 min. break)
-the challenges of geopolitical choice: between the Europe and Russia; the role of global actors
-the accession of Crimea to Russia: the new geopolitical conflict in Europe?
-the “hybrid” war on Donbas: the reasons, factors, and actors
- questions and discussions (30 min.)
12.00 Lunch Break (1 hour)
13.00
- Identity, media and culture under the transformation and the war (1 hour)
-the war as the factor for the consolidation of civic nation?
-the media or propaganda?: making meanings of the events
-questions and discussions (30 min.)
Break (15 min.)
14.45
- Hard challenges of the country’s modernization: strategies and scenarios (30 min.)
- Concluding discussion/the audience feedback on “What would you do if you would be the President or Prime-Minister of Ukraine?” (1 hour 30 min.)
16.45
Questions and summaries (15 min.)
17.00 – the end of the course