aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] COURSE ON CONTEMPORARY UKRAINE/UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

[Taras Kuzio <t.kuzio@utoronto.ca>]

Canada's only full-time course on Contemporary Ukraine!
From: Taras Kuzio <t.kuzio@utoronto.ca  <mailto:t.kuzio@utoronto.ca> >
 

Geared towards final-year undergraduates and graduate students
No political science course prerequisites for undergraduates
Auditors welcome (no essay requirements!)

POL 499 and POL 2309,
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
POST-COMMUNIST TRANSITIONS:
UKRAINE IN THEORETICAL and COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE.

Aims
To study the impact of the Soviet legacy on Ukraine's post-Soviet
transition; 
To study different aspects of Ukraine's post-Soviet transition;
To place this study within a theoretical and comparative context with other
post-communist states and thereby integrate contemporary Ukrainian studies
within social sciences.

Objectives

By the end of the research seminar, students should:
Understand why Ukraine has developed in the manner it has since becoming an
independent state. 
Appreciate why the transition is best understood in terms of both progress
and regression. 
Compare Ukraine's transition with other post-communist and formerly
authoritarian state that have undergone transitions.

Seminar Location and Contact Information

The seminar will be a reading and discussion seminar. All students will be
expected to have read the required readings for each week and come to class
prepared to discuss them. The full-time course is over 27 weeks, of which 21
are seminar-based.

The seminar will meet on Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. in UC (University College)
65.

The instructor is Dr. Taras Kuzio, Resident Fellow, Centre Russian & East
European Studies. Dr. Kuzio will hold office hours by appointment at CREES,
Munk Centre, in Room 204N.

He is also available for consultation on his office telephone: (416)
946-8940.
Monday-Thursday between 10-12 p.m.
His e-mail address is t.kuzio@utoronto.ca.

SEMESTER 1 (2002)
Week 1. INTRODUCTION TO COURSE (10 September).

Week 2. UKRAINE AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE USSR (17 September)

Key Questions
Why did Sovietology ignore or belittle the nationality question in the USSR?
How did events in Ukraine unfold in the Gorbachev era?
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Ukrainian national movement?
What role did Leonid Kravchuk and Ukrainian national communists play in the
disintegration of the USSR and Ukraine's drive to independence?

WEEK 3. SOVIET LEGACIES OF EMPIRE AND TOTALITARIANISM (24 September)

Key Questions:
What impact did the Tsarist empire and USSR have on the starting point of
Ukraine's transition?
How did the Soviet totalitarian system influence Ukraine's development and
starting point as an independent state?
The USSR was both nation building and nation destroying. Did both of these
processes take place in Ukraine?
How has Ukraine attempted to overcome these legacies?
Is there evidence of "path dependence" in Ukraine's post-Soviet transition?

WEEK 4. UKRAINE'S TRANSITION IN THEORETICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (1
October)

Key Questions
Is the "transitology" literature on democratic transitions developed for
other regions (Latin America, Southern Europe) applicable to post-communist
states, such as Ukraine?
Can different regions with varying legacies be covered by one theoretical
framework? 
Why have transitions in post-communist states been described as "triple"?
How does a "triple" differ from a "quadruple" transition?
What kind of transition is taking place in Ukraine?

WEEK 5. NATIONALISM IN UKRAINE (8 October)

Key Questions
Can nationalism be good and bad, or is nationalism always bad?
What is "banal nationalism"? Is it the same as civic nationalism and
patriotism? 
How is nationalism articulated in states, such as Ukraine?
Do you agree with the commonly used narrow definition of "nationalism" in
Ukraine? 
Why is Russian nationalism weak in Ukraine and throughout the former USSR?

WEEK 6. NATION BUILDING (15 October)

Key Questions
Why is the national question still ignored by "transitology"?
Civic or ethnic statehood? Is this the only choice open to post-communist
states? Do pure civic states exist in practice?
Does nationalism play a negative or positive role (or both) in Ukraine's
transition? 
Why did Kravchuk prioritize nation-building policies over political and
economic reform? 
Compare and contrast nation building and policies towards national
minorities in the Kravchuk and Kuchma eras.


WEEK 7. NATIONAL IDENTITY (22 October)

Key Questions
Is national identity fixed or always changing and adapting?
Is there a link between national identity, political consciousness, efficacy
and civil society in Ukraine?
Is it correct to focus on language as the only defining characteristic of
identity in Ukraine?
Did Ukraine adopt territorial or ethnic criteria for citizenship?


WEEK 8. REGIONALISM and CENTRE-PERIPHERY RELATIONS (29 October)

Key Questions
Is regionalism a hindrance to the establishment of a liberal democracy or
can this be overcome in multi-ethnic states through consociational
arrangements? 
Do regions matter in Ukraine or are they of secondary importance to other
factors, such as language?
How successful have states policies been in integrating Ukraine's regions?
Why is federalism unpopular, except in the case of the Crimea?
How have centre-periphery relations developed in the last decade?


WEEK 9. INTER-ETHNIC AND CULTURAL CLEAVAGES (5 November)

Key Questions
Can linguistic groups mobilize? Is there evidence of linguistic groups
mobilizing in Ukraine and the former USSR?
Why have Western and Russian predictions of inter-ethnic conflict in Ukraine
not occurred? 
What are the roots of the weakness of separatism in Ukraine?
Why did Crimean separatism prove to be relatively weak and separatism did
not break out in eastern Ukraine?


WEEK 10. POLITICS OF LANGUAGE and the "NATIONALIZING STATE" (12 November)

Key Questions
How would you describe Ukraine's policy on languages?
Is Ukraine a "nationalizing state"? What is a "nationalizing" state?
Is there evidence of unified linguistic groups with similar aims and
objectives? 
Have linguistic demands manifested themselves in elections?
Do Ukrainians vote for parties with linguistic-cultural demands?


WEEK 11. HISTORIOGRAPHY AND EDUCATION (19 November)

Key Questions
Are historical myths and legends common to all nation-states?
In what way have history writing and myths changed in Ukraine in relation to
what was promoted in the USSR?
How do Ukrainian and Russian interpretations of Ukrainian history differ?
Are they diverging or merging in the post-Soviet era?
How has history teaching changed in education? What is the purpose of
Ukraine's new history teaching?


WEEK 12. DISCUSSION FOLLOWING TWO FILMS (26 November)

US-Ukrainian documentary on the "Kuchmagate" Crisis (March 2002);

"Killing the Story". BBC Documentary on the Murder of Opposition Journalist
H. Gongadze, which led to "Kuchmagate" (April 2002);


WEEK 13. REVIEW OF FIRST SEMESTER's THEMES. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF SHORT
ESSAY (3 December)

SEMESTER 2 (WINTER/SPRING 2003)

WEEK 14. STATE BUILDING (7 January 2003)

Key Questions
Do all post-communist states require state building during their
transitions? 
Why is state building an important facet of Ukraine's transition?
Why was Ukraine one of the last CIS states to adopt a post-Soviet
constitution? 
Has Ukraine been successful in state building?


WEEK 15. CRAFTING NEW INSTITUTIONS (14 January 2003)

Key Questions
Why are institutions central to democracies and market economies?
What institutions did Ukraine inherit from the USSR?
Were Ukraine's new institutions influenced by Soviet legacies?
What evidence is there that institutions have been corrupted and manipulated
by the Ukrainian political regime?
What are the main divisions of power between the executive, legislature,
government and judiciary in Ukraine?


WEEK 16. CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS 21 January 2003)

Key Questions
Why did the constitutional process take so long in Ukraine?
What were the main divisions in the constitutional debate?
How did debate over the correct national symbols hold up the constitutional
process? 
Why did Parliament quickly adopt its own draft constitution in June 1996?
How did it differ from the presidential draft?


WEEK 17. POLITICS OF ECONOMIC REFORM (28 January 2003)

Key Questions
What economic reform prescriptions were given to Ukraine by international
financial organizations? Were they the same as for other post-communist
states? 
Why was economic reform slower and more difficult in Ukraine than in
post-communist Central Europe?
Why were market economic reform policies not consistent?
What relationship did the executive, government and parliament have towards
economic reform? 


WEEK 18. ECONOMIC CRISIS and SOCIETY (4 February)

Key Questions
What elements of a market economy have been created?
How did economic reform and the creation of a market economy develop after
1994 under Kuchma? 
Why has the shadow economy remained so large?
How did national communists become oligarchs?
Have Ukraine's oligarchs "captured" the Ukrainian state?


WEEK 19. PARLIAMENTARY POLITICS (11 February 2003)

Key Questions
Compare and contrast Ukraine's parliamentary-presidential system to
parliamentary and presidential systems in other post-communist states.
What role does Parliament play in Ukraine? Why is it stronger than
parliaments in other CIS states?
How have Ukrainian parliamentary politics evolved in the last decade?
What is the division of power between Parliament and other state
institutions? 


WEEK 20. READING WEEK (17-21 February 2003)

WEEK 21. ELECTIONS (25 February 2003)

Key Questions
Why are elections important for democracies?
Compare and contrast three presidential elections (1991, 1994, 1999) in
Ukraine. 
Compare and contrast four parliamentary elections (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
in Ukraine. 


WEEK 22. POLITICAL REGIME (4 March 2003)

Key Questions
Define Ukraine's regime within a political science framework.
Have Soviet legacies influenced the evolution of the political regime in
Ukraine? 
Ukraine has been defined as an "authoritarian", "corporatist", "blackmail
state", and "delegative democracy". What do these terms tell us about
Ukraine's democratization and the nature of its political regime?
Compare and contrast Ukraine's progress in democratization to other
post-communist states.


WEEK 23. GENDER AND POST-COMMUNIST TRANSITION (11 March 2003)

Key Questions
Why are gender issues ignored in theories of nationalism?
What is the relationship between gender and nation building?
Compare and contrast gender issues in Ukraine and other post-communist
states. 
Have gender issues progressed in post-Soviet Ukraine?


WEEK 24. CIVIL SOCIETY AND POLITICAL PARTIES (18 March 2003)

Key Questions
Why is civil society still weak in Ukraine and do the authorities hinder or
promote it? 
Polls show that Ukrainians have weak feelings of efficacy. Why does efficacy
matter in a liberal democracy?
Is there a link between national identity and civil society in Ukraine?
Outline the key policy issues around which the three main groups of parties
(left, centre and national democrats) have been formed.
Why are ideological parties to be found only on the left and right, but not
in the centre? 
Do opinion polls influence policies in the West and in post-communist
states, such as Ukraine?


WEEK 25. UKRAINIAN FOREIGN AND DEFENCE POLICY: KRAVCHUK ERA (25 March 2003)

Key Questions
What theory of international relations is best suited for post-communist
states, such as Ukraine?
Is constructivism better than realism in understanding the sources of the
problems in the Russian-Ukrainian relationship?
Why has Ukraine prioritized defence of its sovereignty and territorial
integrity? Has it been successful in this endeavour?
What were the key aspects of Ukraine's foreign and defence policy in the
Kravchuk era? 


WEEK 26. FOREIGN and DEFENCE POLICY: KUCHMA ERA (1 April 2003)

Key Questions
What changes have taken place in Ukrainian foreign policy in the Kuchma
eras? 
Define Ukraine's "multi-vector" foreign policy?
In whose interests has it been for Ukraine to balance between Europe and
Eurasia? What areas of the CIS has Ukraine increased its activity in?
Why has Ukraine ruled out joining the Russian-Belarusian union?


WEEK 27. REVIEW OF SECOND SEMESTER THEMES. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF LONG
ESSAY (8 April 2003)