Commemoration and Remembrance in Contemporary Ukraine. Analysis of Legislation and Community Practices. Green Book on the Politics of Memory
In the context of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014, memorialisation and national politics of memory are taking on new significance in Ukraine. This fight for independence, which is a continuation of much earlier liberation efforts, requires a profound rethinking of the past and the formation of a shared vision for the future. Today, as the Ukrainian nation goes through its most difficult challenges, the creation of a unified narrative of memory becomes a platform for uniting society, healing collective traumas, and constructing a new social contract.
When the researchers began analysing the politics of memory with a focus exclusively on Russian armed aggression, they encountered significant fragmentation in the functioning of executive authorities and local self-government bodies. The actual inclusion of certain measures or instruments, depending on the sphere, region or the level of the community, was the responsibility of very different structural units, or was replaced by public organisations or groups of individuals. That is why an attempt was made to comprehensively study the history of the development of the politics of memory and the relevant infrastructure.
In this context, memorialisation is not only a way of honouring the dead, but also an important tool of transitional justice. Memorialisation performs a therapeutic function, allowing grief to be experienced, ensures the right to truth and “symbolic justice” in situations where the prosecution of war criminals is impeded, and provides guarantees of non-repetition through critical analysis of the causes of the war and the circumstances that led to its outbreak.
One of the instruments for preparing proposals and measures for state policy is to conduct an analysis of the relevant field and prepare a Green Book as a basis for a comprehensive review of existing approaches to the politics of memory. The research project “Commemoration and Remembrance in Contemporary Ukraine: Analysis of Legislation and Community Practices” aims to initiate a discussion on the content and forms of memorialisation in Ukraine as one of the components of transitional justice.
