Elusive Proteus: A study in the ideological morphology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists

Abstract

This article studies the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism applying a model of “ideological morphology” to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Using nationalist press and archival materials, the author analyzes core and peripheral concepts of OUN’s ideology. The findings reveal that in 1930s — early 1940s the morphological structure of OUN’s ideology was fascist. However, after 1943 some peripheral concepts came to substitute the fascist core, which led to a splinter within the OUN and subsequent democratization of the one on its factions. The study offers theoretical explanations of ideological metamorphosis applying a constructivist approach.