Voices of Resilience: Reclaiming Language, Redefining Identity, and Re-imaging the Political Post-Soviet Landscape

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel explores voices of resilience at various levels, focusing on the multifaceted efforts to reclaim and redefine the post-colonial image of contemporary Ukraine and of a future Russia in light of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. Speakers will delve into the diverse influences of institutional and economic factors, as well as armed aggression, on competing ideological projects in the region. In addition to exploring such cases in Ukraine, we will examine the situation within Russia and its diaspora, considering anti-war activism and movements for ethnic minority sovereignty that have taken shape since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. From the aftermath of conflict to the complexities of post-Soviet transitions, this panel aims to illuminate and critically analyze the dynamic processes of identity formation and cultural revival, offering insights into the diverse strategies unfolding in response to the pressures created by the war.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Hanna Baranchuk, Curry College

Papers

• The Decolonial Imaginary and Discursive Strategies of Nation-Building in Russia’s Regional Sovereignty Movements - Leila Wilmers, Cornell U

• Voices of Resilience: Redefining Linguistic Identity in Ukraine - Tetyana Lewińska, U of Warsaw (Poland)

• Revalorizing Ukrainian: Postcolonial Perspective on a Language Ideological Struggle - Bartłomiej Piotr Chromik, U of Warsaw (Poland)

Discussant

• Oksana Dovgopolova, Kyiv School of Economics (Ukraine)