Conflict, Identity and Language in Post-Revolutionary Ukraine

• In Event: Identity and Attitudes in Times of Political Upheaval

Abstract

We analyze data from a multi-wave panel survey administered in Ukraine between December 2012 and 2019 to identify the patterns and the drivers of identity change triggered by the Euromaidan revolution and the subsequent armed conflict. At the aggregate level we find more evidence of change in civic identities (with more respondents considering Ukraine as a homeland) than for changes in ethnic identity (language and ethnicity). However, the overall stability in aggregate ethnic identity masks important changes in regional and individual identity patterns. Both at the locality level and at the regional level, we found evidence of contextual effects shaping individual choices, with individuals more likely to embrace the locally and regionally predominant ethnic/linguistic identity.

Authors

• Grigore Pop-Eleches, Princeton University

• Graeme Robertson