*One Ukrainian researcher and podcaster is a leading voice in efforts to rethink Ukrainian-Russian relations through the prism of colonialism.* by Constant Meheut, NYTimes, June 9, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/09/world/europe/ukrainian-activist-russia-colonization.html . . . “This war is just the continuation of centuries of Russian colonization,” said Ms. Naiem, 32, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “It’s the same playbook.” . . . But Ms. Naiem and many Ukrainians say that to understand Russia’s war in Ukraine — and its trail of razed cities <https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/europe/russia-war-avdiivka-ukraine.html>, displaced children <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/26/world/europe/ukraine-war-children-russia.html> and looted museums <https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/world/asia/ukraine-art-russia-steal.html> — it is crucial to examine how Russia has long exerted its influence over their country.
The daughter of a Ukrainian mother and an Afghan father, Ms. Naiem is emblematic of a new generation of Ukrainians who, since Moscow invaded in February 2022, have been trying to rebuild their identity free of Russian influence. Much of this effort has focused on examining Russia’s history in Ukraine and highlighting its colonial imprint. They have read famous theorists of decolonization like Edward Said and Frantz Fanon, talked of “decolonizing Ukraine” in Harvard lecture halls and gone on book tours around Europe to press their case. . . . But Ms. Naiem and others say Russia’s centuries-long efforts to impose its language on Ukraine, occupy its territory with settlers and rewrite its history from Moscow’s perspective are all hallmarks of colonialism. . . . After the Russian invasion, she wrote about her research <https://www.instagram.com/p/CkLkUNosLNe/?img_index=1> on her Instagram page <https://www.instagram.com/p/CkvheWHOrLJ/?img_index=1>, which is followed by 22,000 people, arguing that Russia’s efforts to erase Ukrainian culture and identity <https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/arts/design/ukraine-war-culture-art-history.html> are rooted in a long history of colonialism. . . . Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, said the topic had long been viewed with skepticism. Unlike Western colonies, which were often far-distant, overseas places, Russian colonies were adjacent territories, he said. Russian colonialism also never made racial exclusion a core policy, he added. Instead, it was based on the no-less violent “idea of sameness,” meaning that the colonized should surrender their identity and adopt the norms of the colonizer. . . . -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#30716): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/30716 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/106603308/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
