International Conference: "Revolutions, maidans and protests in contemporary Ukraine. The current state of research and future directions"

The International Conference "Revolutions, maidans and protests in contemporary Ukraine. The current state of research and future directions" took place on 20 June 2016 at the Natolin campus of the College of Europe in Warsaw.

The conference was organized within the framework of the "Three Ukrainian Revolutions" research project carried out by the European Civilization Chair in cooperation with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, the Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, the Studium Europy Wschodniej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London), the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (University of Alberta), the Centre d'études des mondes russe, caucasien et centre-européen, Paris. The conference gathered scholars from 20 leading research centers in Europe and North America to debate the state of the research on mass protests and mass mobilization in the recent history of Ukraine (1990-2014).

For the detailed programme, please refer here.

Conference topics

• A summary of the current state of research on the revolutionary movements in contemporary Ukraine in the fields of history, political science, sociology, etc. with special emphasis on the interdisciplinary approach and on the international context;
• A summary of the current state of research in terms of historiography in different countries (Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Poland, etc.) and in different languages ​​(Anglo-Saxon literature, Russian-speaking literature);
• A summary of the current state of research in chronological order (the study of the Revolution on Granite, the Orange Revolution, etc.);
• Methodology of research on the transformation of modern Ukraine, the availability and usability of sources etc.;
• Assessment of the expertise of leading think-tanks in relation to Ukraine.

Whilst presented papers were very diverse, it was possible to distinguish several themes on which the participants focused. Some speakers explored a wide scope of theoretical and methodological questions related to studying and comparing revolutions. Others presented the state of research about the three revolutions in different states and helpfully assessed some of the most important sources of information. Yet another group of scholars focused on certain aspects of three revolutions, analyzing, for example, the role of specific groups participating in the revolutions, their tactics, impact and evolution of their behaviour throughout the revolutions. All in all, the conference provided an opportunity for a large multi-national group of scholars to critically examine each other’s work, highlighted a number of observations to be taken into account while developing the "Three Ukrainian Revolutions" project, and raised intellectual appetites for an even larger conference that will be organized in February 2017.

Organizers

Scientific and Organizing Committee: Professor Richard BUTTERWICK-PAWLIKOWSKI, Professor Georges MINK, Dr Paweł KOWAL, Mr Przemysław PAZIK, Mr Paweł PUJSZO. Principal investigator of the Conference: Dr Paweł KOWAL. Secretariat: Ms Kateryna PRYSHCHEPA, Mr Miłosz WIATROWSKI.

For more information, please contact 3r.natolin [at] coleurope.eu.