Identity and Nation-Building in Ukraine

Abstract

National identity is forged and defined through a dual process of stressing the similarities of the in-group (the ‘Self’) and its differences with those outside the political community (the ‘Others’). The need to define the in-group as different becomes more compelling when the ‘significant Other’ denies the authenticity of the in-group and seeks to subvert its separate existence, as in the Ukrainian–Russian case. This article places the Ukrainian–Russian relationship within discussions of national identity, culture and ‘Otherness’ by examining how Ukraine's ruling elites hold no consensus over how to relate to the ‘significant Other’ (Russia). The ruling elites hail from the centrist and centre-right camps and are attempting to create a new national identity outside Eurasia. But, they remain divided over whether Russia is part of Europe and how to return to Europe. The left, meanwhile, see Europe as the ‘Other’ and Russia as the successor state to the former USSR. Therefore, no dominant view of Russia as the ‘Other’ exists in Ukraine and the article discusses the attitudes of the four main political groups (nationalists, the centre-right, centrists and the left) towards Russia and Russians as ‘Others’ within domestic and foreign policy discourse. How Ukraine relates to the Russian ‘Other’ will both affect the domestic nation-building project in Ukraine by helping or hindering the integration of its Russian minority, as well as having repercussions upon how Russia redefines its identity in the post-Soviet era.