Lviv Regional Institute of Public Administration National Academy of Public Administration Under the President of Ukraine

Management of cultural diversity in Ukraine: needs, real achievements and debates

Antonina Kolodii [email protected]

http://political-studies.com

Warsaw, KSAP, January 19, 2010

Importance of a national unity for a society in transition

  “The [transitional] model starts with a single background condition: national unity… It simply means that the vast majority of citizens in a democracy-to-be must have no doubt or mental reservations as to which political community they belong to”.

Dunkwart Rustow

Quadruple transition

4 Building and preserving of the state Privatization, market reforms Political liberalization and democratization National consolidation 2 3 Renewing of a nation state Privatization, return to market relations Privatization, market reforms Political liberalization and democratization Political liberalization and democratization 1 Political liberalization and democratization

Nonlinear TRAJECTORY OF UKRAINIAN TRANSITION

TRADITIONAL (PRE MODERN) SOCIETIES -3 1 -4 WESTERN (MODER NIZED) SOCIETIES -2 UKRAINE‘S TRANSITION (‘MUDDLING TROUGH”) -5 -1- COMMUNIST TOTALITARIAN AND AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES -2- TRANSITIONAL SOCIETIES WITH TEMPORARY (RESIDUAL) FEATURES OF AUTHORITARIAN RULE -3- INSTITUTIONALIZED POSTCOMMUNIST AUTHORITARIANISMS -4- NON-LINEAR TRANSITION AND HYBRID (MIXED) REGIME WITH FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY, OCHLOCRACY AND OF BISANTINE TYPE BEHAVIORAL AUTHORITARIANISM -5- CONSOLIDATED POSTCOMMUNIST DEMOCRACY

What is national integration



Integration means achievement of such a level of socio-cultural unity of the population, which is regarded sufficient for the effective functioning of social and political institutions of a national state (in certain existing conditions)

Importance of national integration

 

In general

– this is a traditional liberal value. Liberal theory states that integration is essential for generating solidarity and patriotism within every national democratic state

In a young state

with a non-consolidated nation – this is the only means to avoid the doom of a “failed state” – through building up secondary, umbrella-like political (civic) identity, common for all groups

Modes of national integration

Assimilation (Liberal policies throughout XIX century and to of some countries – until now) Amalgamation (“Melting pot” strategy, successful in Latin America and to some extent – in the USA) Multiculturalism (Post-modernist proposition that includes many trends and interpretations – from leftist radical to conservative; all of them recognize not only individual but group rights , though to a different degree)

Means of national integration

   Fostering national feelings (with the help of myths, symbols, rituals, including holidays, historical education) Resolving problems of minorities Developing societal culture and officially protected languages as a pivot of general civic national identity

The scope of problems

Ethnic-cultural diversity in Ukraine

    In ethnic aspect Ukraine is a moderately diverse society: two biggest ethnic groups in the country – Ukrainians and Russians – embrace over 95% of the whole population.

Almost all tensions in cultural sphere are connected with these two groups and their two languages.

Ethnic Ukrainians are divided in the proportion of 2/3 to 1/3 into Ukrainian and Russian speakers.

Most important cleavages in Ukraine are:      regional, ethnic, linguistic, political/ideological, religious

Ethnic diversity in Ukraine, census 2001

Ethnic structure of Ukraine

(10 major groups with the population over 100,000; national census 2001) Ethnic group Ukrainian Russian Belarusian Moldavian Crimean Tatar Bulgarian Hungarian Romanian Polish Jewish Number of people 37,541,700 2 8,334,100 275,800 258,600 248,200 204,600 156,600 151,000 144,100 103,600 Percent in 2001 77.8

17.3

0.6

0.5

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.2

Percent in 1989 72.7

22.1

0.9

0.6

0.0

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.4

0.9

Dynamics of the ethnic composition of Ukrainian population

30 20 10 0 80 70 60 50 40 1989 2001

Repatriation if Crimean Tatars, 1991 2005

(134 967 persons in 2005) 40000 35019 30000 28313 19864 20000 10000 0 9237 10815 7842 5360 2953 2932 2124 1637 1649 1652 2187 3383 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Grouping (clustering) of regions by ethnic composition

Linguistic diversity of Ukraine (Ukrainian speakers by regions)

% of people who speak at home Ukrainian, 2000 80-100 60-80 40-60 20-40 0-20 ‘SOCIS’ all-national survey, July 2000

Ukrainian language from West to East and South,

2000 “Socis” survey

Ukraine’s regional division

(11 regions)

Oblasts, included in 11 Ukraine’s regions

Religious diversity of Ukraine

A.Yurash distinguishes 7 regions with different trends in the sphere of religion and in structure of denominations : 1.Transcarpathion region, where 40% of the population belong to different protestant denominations; among traditional churches dominates Russian Orthodox Church; big but 1,5 less than the former, is community of Greek Catholics, not subordinated to UGC Church; 2. Halychyna – 55 % of religious communities and 60% of the population are Greek Catholics; 3. Bukovyna – Russian Orthodox church has 70% of church communities; protestant denominations are also important;

Religious diversity of Ukraine

4. Volyn’ is a region with rising influence of Kyiv Orthodox Church (35% of communities) and important role of protestant and modern denominations; 5. Central and Eastern Ukraine, including Kyiv: domination of Orthodox Church with clear confrontation of Russian-centric and Kyiv centric denominations;

Religious diversity of Ukraine

6.South and East of Ukraine is featured by clear domination of Russian Orthodox Church (among traditional churches) and big and rising influence of protestant and modern denominations; 7. Crimea. Here again dominates Russian Orthodox Church, but 10 times smaller Muslim community managed to organized almost the same number of parishes (48% of the whole number) Romanian Catholics have 1070 organizations, numbering near 1% of believers

Political-ideological division of Ukraine: support of national-democratic and leftist political forces, according to the results of the proportional part of the parliamentary election 2002

  

Peculiarities of ethno-cultural diversity in Ukraine

The titular ethnic nation (Ukrainian) is not sufficiently consolidated in linguistic, religious, ideological aspects and did not get rid if its former minoritarian features The biggest ethnic minority (Russians) represents formerly dominating group, which is not ready as yet to compromise concerning the issues of cultural core and official language in the country The major cultural / linguistic cleavage (again Ukrainian / Russian) coincides with regional and political cleavages

Peculiarities of ethno-cultural diversity in Ukraine

   This entails the threat of institutional fixation of that cleavage, which may turn Ukraine into a “divided” society, incapable to reach consensus by democratic means Political culture of regions with heavy soviet legacy is rather different from that of the rest of the country and changes very slowly due to foreign influence Political elite lacks any consistency in the ethnic and cultural policy and further divides society. At present this coincides with low level of government ‘s legitimacy.

Domestic laws for management of cultural diversity in Ukraine:

There are about 30 legal documents that regulate national minorities rights in Ukraine,   Law “On Citizenship of Ukraine” and Declaration of Rights of Nationalities of Ukraine, 1991 Law “On Education”, 1991    Law “On National Minorities in Ukraine”,1992 Several articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, 1996 Law “On ratification of the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages (2000)

International charts and agreements, signed by Ukraine (about 15)

     International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, International Pact on Economical, Social and Cultural Rights, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (September 11, 1997), Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities (May 1, 1998) European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages…

The Ukrainian Constitution

Exactly, the Constitution of Ukraine sets forth the principle of equality of all citizens before the law and non-discrimination.

The principle is reaffirmed in Article 1 in the Law on the National Minorities of Ukraine, which states, “All citizens of Ukraine enjoy state protection on an equal basis .”

The Law on the National Minorities sets forth:

      the right to participate in political life through consultative bodies established on a national and local level (Art. 5); the right to celebrate national holidays and use national symbols (Art. 6); the right to freedom of religion (Art. 6); the right to use the language of minority in official communication (Art. 8); the right to choose freely the nationality (Art. 11); the right to a name in accordance with the national tradition (Art. 12).

The Law on the National Minorities also provides…

…

a number of cultural rights (Art. 6):

 the right to education in the national language,     the right to study their national language; the right to develop their national and cultural tradition; the right to create national cultural and educational institutions ; the right to preserve their living environment in the areas of their historical and contemporary setting (Art. 10).

Positive obligations of Ukrainian state

 The Ukrainian state has a positive obligation to facilitate the enjoyment of these rights by means of providing training and support (Art. 7).

What are the problems?

     Declarative character of the laws Lack of finance directed on cultural and societal ends Lack of political will to seriously accept diversity issues Use of diversity problems as an instruments in political contestation Instrumental approach to establishing and reforming institutions responsible for diversity management

Institutional aspect

  Constant reorganization and, at last, dismissing of the only direct governmental institution for management of cultural diversity – State Committee on nationalities and religion (formerly – and migration) with transferring its functions to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It was dissolved by the President’s order of Dec.9 on the Optimization of Administrative apparatus of Ukraine.

Major unresolved problems in the relationships of culturally diverse groups

      Ukrainian-Russian tensions with regard to ‘hegemony’ in state-building and national consolidation process, historical memory and education Status of languages (especially, of Russian as a second language which the supporters of this thesis actually try to convert into the first and may be – the only (the singular) one.

Educational rights of minorities and political speculations on them Crimean autonomy and status of Crimean Tatars New migrants: their official status and attitude to them Absence of generally accepted Conceptual basis for Ethno national Policy

Theoretical and political discussions

     What should be the legal definition of an ethnic/national minority Should it embrace the new immigrants What is a ‘native people’ and what groups in Ukraine could pretend to this status What does it mean and how should we allow for the minoritarian features in the position of numerically dominant group of ethnic Ukrainians Should ethno-national policy be based on the principle of individual or group rights

Factors that could support national integration in Ukraine

In my view, elaboration of consistent and understandable policy concepts: in the sphere of inter-ethnic and inter-regional relations, should be based on 2 (1) mild, liberal integrative multiculturalism that provide for equal treatment and support of majority and minority ethnic / cultural groups grievances; confrontation.

, resolving their problems and meeting historically caused (2) Steps in the direction of civic national consolidation, including radical decrease of regional

Two Types of Multiculturalism ( Integration VS accommodation)

   

Integrative ‘Weak’, ‘mild’, ‘liberal’, ‘reconciling’ preserving ethnic cultures in parallel with expanding umbrella-like political national identity

   

Mosaic ‘strong’, ‘hard’, 'radical', 'particularistic', defending ethnic cultures, ignoring interests of a larger community and denying integration as such

Liberal multiculturalism and integration

  Instead of cultural homogenization by means of assimilation, contemporary state may effectively use integrative multiculturalism as a means of achieving unity without homogenization . The aim – national unity and stability – remains; the way of its attainment changes.

A new features of integrative multiculturalism in Ukraine

 Taking into account Ukraine’s specific conditions (see peculiar features of its diversity), as well as new trends in the multiculturalism interpretation by scholars, the stress on minority protection in the concept of multiculturalism should be changed for equal government protection for all cultural groups and civic national consolidation

Major challenges that confront Ukrainian society today

      Raising level of government’s legitimacy in all regions and consolidating Ukraine’s political community Excluding immoral practice of politicians’ speculation on ethnic-regional-cultural problems Elaboration of policy acceptable for different groups in the sphere of minority rights protection Achieving consensus in the language sphere Formulation and spreading social and political values, which may be recognized important and common for the whole nation (the so called ‘Ukrainian civic national idea’) “Constructing” umbrella-like Ukrainian national identity , common for all citizens,