Imagining Ukraine: Regional Differences and the Emergence of an Integrated State Identity, 1926–1994

Abstract

Abstract. When Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, it did not possess an integrated Ukrainian state identity. Serious differences between those regions which entered the Russian empire and the Soviet Union before 1939 and those annexed since 1939 hampered the creation of a post‐Soviet state identity. Just as the Ukrainian and Russian languages dominate in different regions in Ukraine, attitudes towards economic reform also vary by region. Russian‐speaking areas are more conservative in regard to economic reforms than Ukrainian‐speaking ones. But despite these regional differences, Ukraine is not on the verge of civil war. Two public opinion polls taken in 1991 and 1994 in Lviv (in Western Ukraine) and in Donetsk (in Eastern Ukraine) document that the citizens of Ukraine possess a common desire for peace and stability. This desire overshadows Ukraine's regional differences and will help create the new post‐Soviet Ukrainian state identity.

Euromaidan and conflict in Eastern Ukraine in social networking sites: Territorial differences of pro-Russian subscriptions in Ukraine

“…2015). Therefore, territorial differences of the use of SNS in Ukraine during 2013-2014 revolutionary events and later during the armed conflict in Donbas are not only caused by internal factors and known regional differences in political preferences and voting behaviour in Ukraine (Liber, G.O. 1998;Birch, S. 2000;O'Loughlin, J.…”

Secession and Intervention in the Former Soviet Space: The Crimean Incident and Russian Interference in Its ‘Near Abroad’

“…26 See, eg., White et al (2010). On ethnic and national identity more generally within post-Soviet Ukraine, see Liber (1998) and Nemyria (1999 with Russia or enhanced autonomy. 29 In that referendum, a reported 96 % backed union with Russia, 30 and 2 days later the Kremlin proclaimed Crimea part of Russia, President Putin placing much emphasis upon their historic links.…”

Borders, Constituency Politics, and “Our Man” Voting in Electoral Geography of Ukraine

“…Regional differences in political beliefs in Ukraine are also understood as differences in the territorial distribution of different types of identities. It includes territorial differences in the distribution of Soviet and post-Soviet identities (Liber, 1998), modern and premodern identities (Kuzio, 2001;Riabchuk, 2012) or different visions of national identity (Rodgers, 2006). Differences in identities are also manifested in different visions of the Other and enemies.…”