Ukraine's Maidan, Russia's War

In early 2014, sparked by an assault by their government on peaceful students, Ukrainians rose up against a deeply corrupt, Moscow-backed regime. Initially demonstrating under the banner of EU integration, the Maidan protesters proclaimed their right to a dignified existence; they learned to organize, to act collectively, to become a civil society. Most prominently, they established a new Ukrainian identity: territorial, inclusive, and present-focused with powerful mobilizing symbols. Driven by an urban “bourgeoisie” that rejected the hierarchies of industrial society in favor of a post-modern heterarchy, a previously passive post-Soviet country experienced a profound social revolution that generated new senses: “Dignity” and “fairness” became rallying cries for millions. Europe as the symbolic target of political aspiration gradually faded, but the impact (including on Europe) of Ukraine’s revolution remained. When Russia invaded—illegally annexing Crimea and then feeding continuous military conflict in the Donbas—, Ukrainians responded with a massive volunteer effort and touching patriotism. In the process, they transformed their country, the region, and indeed the world. This book provides a chronicle of Ukraine’s Maidan and Russia’s ongoing war, and puts forth an analysis of the Revolution of Dignity from the perspective of a participant observer.



Mychailo Wynnyckyj is Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (where he has also served as Director of the Doctoral School) and holds a cross-appointment to Lviv Business School of Ukrainian Catholic University, where he teaches MBA and Executive Development courses. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Economic Sociology in 2003 from the University of Cambridge, UK. During the 2013–2014 Maidan protests, and subsequently during the early years of Russian aggression in the Crimea and Donbas, Mychailo was a regular commentator for English-language media outlets and provided analysis on current events in his "Thoughts from Kyiv" blog. Since 2015, Mychailo has served as Advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science. Born in Canada, he has lived in Kyiv with his wife and four children since 2003. The author of the foreword: Dr. Serhii Plokhy is Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts.



"As a serious scholar, a member of Ukraine’s ‘creative class’, and as a participant in the Revolution of Dignity, Wynnyckyj provides a fascinating and measured account of these observable events and their significance. In dealing with the unseen values behind this tangible conflict, he asserts that the Revolution of Dignity represented a ‘civilizational shift from the “sensate” materialism characteristic of the modern period to some form of postmodern idealism as predicted by Pitirim Sorokin’, a significant step forward for European civilisation (p. 332). […] Wynnyckyj’s interpretation of the Revolution of Dignity, the best English-language account to appear, analyses the fire in people’s minds during an extensive political crisis when millions mobilised under a makeshift ideology."—George O. Liber, Europe-Asia Studies, 72:10



"Mychailo Wynnyckyj has produced a superb overview and analysis of the dynamics behind this conflict and the post-revolutionary reforms introduced during Petro Poroshenko's presidency [….]. As a serious scholar, a member of Ukraine's 'creative class', and as a participant in the Revolutioin of Dignity, Wynnyckyj provides a fascinating and measured account of these observable events and their significance."—George O. Liber, Professor of History, Europe-Aisa Studies, 72:10



"Beachtlich sind auch dessen (...) Rückschlüsse, die sich als Hinweise auf politische Versäumnisse bzw. Handlungsempfehlungen lesen lassen. So ist bereits für 2016 von einer „confrontation between Russia and the West“ die Rede, die immer mehr an den Kalten Krieg erinnere (S.207) – als kaum jemand in diesem „Westen“ auf die Idee kam, sich in einer „Konfrontation“ mit Russland zu befinden, auch wenn dieses eine solche längst eröffnet hatte. Und Wynnyckyj meinte fast schon beschwörend: „Western governments must realize that Ukraine matters to them“ (S.346) –doch das taten sie, wenn überhaupt, erst nach dem russischen Großangriff vom 24.Februar 2022. Ihm war aber schon 2019 klar: „Russia’s war in Ukraine can have no end except the destruction of Ukraine as an independent state […] The existential threat to Kyiv from Moscow was/is permanent.“ (S.346, 349). Und Wynnyckyj warnt bereits vor einer „long-term threat to Europe presented by Russia, for whom Ukraine is a battle-field in a broader civilizational war.“ (S.30). Doch dessen waren sich nur wenige Politiker im Westen bewusst; und folglich wurden dort auch keine Entscheidungen getroffen, die dem Rechnung getragen hätten. Insgesamt: Es handelt sich hier nicht um eine Einführung in die Materie; im Gegenteil kommt man kaum ohne erhebliche Vorkenntnisse in Politik, Geschichte und Kultur der Ukraine aus. Doch unter diesem Vorbehalt ist diesem erhellenden und in (fast) jeder Hinsicht ausgezeichneten Werk größtmögliche Verbreitung zu wünschen."



Martin Malek in: Das Historisch-Politische Buch, 71 (2023) 3–4: 1–4 https://doi.org/10.3790/hpb.2024.340471



This book provides a chronicle of Ukraine’s Maidan and Russia’s ongoing war, and puts forth an analysis of the Revolution of Dignity.