War and the Formation of a Political Nation in Ukraine

Abstract

The article emphasizes that the war and nationwide resistance to full-scale Russian aggression have significantly accelerated the long historical process of forming a political nation in Ukraine. It is noted that it is the political nation that has begun to gradually emerge in Ukraine that is the main target of the Russian invaders. It is not the traditional ethno-cultural attributes, which even the Soviet government did not prohibit in exchange for the political silence of the masses and the obedience of local elites, but the birth of a political nation in Ukraine that causes the hatred of the Russian neo-imperialists. It is emphasized that the results of sociological research, in particular the monitoring of social changes by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, have shown that after the collapse of the USSR, Ukrainians lived for several decades mainly in a state of political ambivalence, uncertainty, and socio-political apathy. The full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war has led to a rapid change in these features of the mass political consciousness of Ukrainian citizens to the opposite, which contributes to the creation of a significantly renewed political nation. After February 24, 2022, the political consciousness of Ukrainians has changed more than in the 30 years before, as evidenced by sociological surveys conducted by domestic research centers directly during the war. Based on the analysis of their results, it is concluded that the attitude of citizens towards their state has fundamentally changed in Ukraine; Ukrainians have finally accepted the Ukrainian state as one that deserves respect and appreciation. The factors of possible changes in the development of the political nation in Ukraine after its victory over the Russian aggressors are identified. It is noted that the new idea of "Ukrainianness" will be formed on the basis of modern European political culture and deliberative democracy; pro-Russian forces will remain a marginal phenomenon. The conclusion is made that in the foreseeable future Ukraine will have to live in permanent military and political tension, but at the same time learn to maintain conditions for a full life and gradual development of a modern European political nation. The article identifies the main directions of sociological research in postwar Ukraine, in particular on the issues chosen by the author.