Beyond Oppression: The Evolution of Ukrainian Cohesion in a Post-Soviet Landscape

• Post by: Marcelo Pena
• June 2, 2024
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Ashley Meyer, Stanford University

Abstract

Victimhood unites. For those countries occupied by the Soviet Union, the search for independence as a form of actively embodying the victim identity united disparate Ukrainian and Eastern European diaspora communities into highly organized groups with close ties to their respective homelands. However, achieving independence meant removing this shared goal, changing relations between and within diaspora communities. By analyzing The Ukrainian Review, a journal chronicling diasporic affairs, this essay illuminates the Ukrainian diaspora’s evolution from a mobilized, cohesive community during the struggle for independence to a fragmented one post-achievement of nationhood.