Evacuation, transition and mutual aid. Trans*people telling their wartime stories
For more than a year, Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine has been ruining the lives of Ukrainian people. Everyone has been affected by the war in one way or another. Transgender people, however, who had been struggling with issues unusual and unapparent for most even before the invasion, had found themselves in an even […]
Against false solidarity. A call for true solidarity among people with experiences of displacement
Ideas discussed in this contribution were first presented at the Solidarity, Displacement & the University workshop that took place on October 13-14, 2022, in Berlin and focused on access programs for displaced learners, spaces of solidarity those programs create, and possibilities for opening up the university[1] (Cantat et al., eds. 2022) for people who have experienced displacement. I consider […]
Decentralization or Decapitation? Decentralization reform during the War in Donbas
Ukraine’s decentralization reform has been claimed as one of the country’s most successful since the 2013-2014 Maidan Revolution. Recently, an article in Foreign Affairs argued that Ukraine’s decentralization has ‘brought the country together’ in the face of Russia’s 2022 invasion, fostering political legitimacy, solidarity, and community pride. I offer a different perspective in my research […]
To get a ramp, you have to tear with your teeth. Reintegration of Ukrainian soldiers after injury
Текст статті відсутній / No text here
Solidarity, decency, socialism: in memory of Marko Bojcun
On March 11th 2023 our friend and comrade of Commons, known political economist, political scientist, labour movement historian and an activist of left-wing movements and solidarity with Ukraine, Marko Bojcun, passed away. He played an important role in keeping the flame of the Ukrainian left alive and in giving it, through emigrants and dissidents, to […]
March 8 in the second year of war: experiences and visions of Ukrainian feminists
In the middle of February, a draft law was uploaded on the Parliament website, calling to cancel the celebrations of March 8, introducing instead the Day of a Ukrainian woman. Referencing economic losses from March 8 being a national holiday and the need “to part with Soviet legacy”, politicians gracefully ignore the political significance of […]
Experiences that should have never happened again: how Ukrainians survive the war
Russia’s invasion has made murder, rape and torture a part of our everyday life. It never ceases to terrify, anger and remind us that we cannot stop fighting. Indeed, those defending us from the invader, those who have lost their loved ones or survived rape and torture, struggle the most. The existence of this suffering, […]
Weapons of war: sexual violence of Russian military during the full-scale invasion in Ukraine
War-time sexual violence exists for as long as wars themselves. Memory about mass sexual crimes during World War 2 still lives, for example, those committed by Wehrmacht and its allies on the occupied territories, by the Imperial Japanese Army (the phenomena of the so-called “comfort women”), by the Red Army in Hungary and Germany, etc. […]
The Far Right in Ukraine
Taras Bilous is a Ukrainian historian, an editor of Commons: Journal of Social Criticism, and an activist in Sotsialniy Rukh (Social Movement). He is currently serving in the Ukrainian army. He was interviewed by Stephen R. Shalom, a member of the New Politics editorial board. Denys Pilash helped with the translation. New Politics (NP): How would you assess […]
European integration for healthcare: between European recommendations and Ukrainian realities
European integration is closely intertwined in both the discourse of politicians and the expectations of citizens about Ukraine's future. Despite the war, or perhaps because of it, there has been progress in the European integration process – in June 2022 Ukraine was granted candidate status for EU membership. But the requirements remain the same as […]
