Ethnicity and Identity in Donbas 3102-FEID

In 2014 the industrial region of Donbas in the East of Ukraine was occupied by pro-Russian militia. Between 2014 and 2022 the region of former “miners’ glory” was split in two parts, which both underwent significant changes. The part, controlled by the Ukrainian government, got involved in the process of re-modelling both regional and national identities. The new Donbas narrative started to emerge. On the other part Russian militia proclaimed twin pro-Russian quasi-republics with centers in two largest cities of Luhansk and Donetsk.
In the proposed course I suggest to look at modern Donbas in the wider context, through the prism of ethnicity and the multilayer process of identity formation. During our course, the applicability of the selected theoretical perspectives on identity building to the context of Donbas region will be discussed using ethnographic and media material. The course will combine the chronological and thematic logic to demonstrate various aspects of identity building processes and the idiosyncrasies of the region. Such approach aims to gradually uncover the complexity of ethnic identity in Donbas through group discussions. Importantly, the identity-building will be understood as an open-ended process, where the particular attention will be given to actors and their identity-related choices in everyday life.