The Two-tiered Division of Ukraine: Historical Narratives in Nation-building and Region-building

Abstract:

Narratives are instrumental in constructing both national and regional identities. The division in Ukraine is exacerbated mostly by competition at the European level, with the West and Russia adopting divergent historical narratives for ideational support for their regional constellations. Both the West and Russia seek to encourage a particular historical narrative in Ukraine that is compatible with their interests in the region. The West emphasizes a binary division of values on the continent, endowing it with a civilizing mission to cement collective hegemony in an exclusive ‘Europe’. Russia, meanwhile, embraces a historical narrative centred on a shared ‘Russian world’ based implicitly on sovereign inequality, in which Moscow holds a privileged position.

First this paper will outline the two principal national identities in Ukraine and the historical narratives that underpin them. Second, it will address how identity and history is promoted by foreign powers at the regional level. The utility of historical narratives will then be explored throughout the period of post-independence development in Ukraine. We argue that there is evidence of domestic pragmatism in inter-group bargaining for cultural identity resulting in convergence, which is derailed by regional divergence.