International Law and Social Science Speakers Series - Mara Revkin

Abstract: Ukraine’s population was long deemed divided into ethnic Ukrainians and Russians. Yet, a new scholarly orthodoxy claims Ukraine now has a “civic” national identity which supersedes ethnic divisions and depends on chosen attachment to Ukraine. This raises the question of whether Ukrainians now primarily relate to each other based on fated traits like ethnic descent or their choices to resist/collaborate with Russia. We articulate alternative psychological and moral theories about whether a war of national survival should harden ethnic divisions or create pressure to accept individuals based on their choices. Relying on interviews and survey experiments, we find that Ukraine’s citizens prefer neighbors who resist Russia’s aggression in line with the moral theory. However, ethnic descent is a psychological barrier to integration as citizens prefer a passive Ukrainian over a Russian who resisted. Our findings reveal challenges to social cohesion in Ukraine and the limits of the new orthodoxy.

• Janina Dill (Oxford University)
• Marnie Howlett (Oxford University)
• Carl Müller-Crepon (London School of Economics and Political Science)
• Mara Revkin (Duke University), Fate or Choice? Attitudes Toward Collaboration and Redemption in Ukraine
• Discussant: Geoff Dancy (University of Toronto).

This event is co-sponsored by the ASIL's International Law and Social Science Interest Group.