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Decommunization in Times of War: Ukraine's Militant Democracy Problem

Malksoo, Maria (2018) Decommunization in Times of War: Ukraine's Militant Democracy Problem. . Internet publication. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:65698)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
Official URL:
http://verfassungsblog.de/decommunization-in-times...

Abstract

Ukraine’s decommunization laws raise fundamental questions about the legitimate defense of democracy in times of political transformation and war. Is there a ‘right’ democratic response to confining antidemocratic legacies and their palpably present effects in the context of an active intrastate (if internationally instigated) conflict, such as in the case of Ukraine? Has Ukraine struck a good balance between protecting its ‘national memory’ and sustaining the claim of thus defending its nascent democracy through its legal regulation of the public memory of communism, Nazism and the Second World War? Or do the decommunization laws rather undermine the country’s democratization efforts due to the challenge that banning the communist party and criminalizing pertinent speech acts (‘propaganda’) present to such fundamental democratic values as freedom of speech and association, and political pluralism? Is the canonization of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) obstructing academic research and public debate on their controversial historical record? Is militant democracy a more acceptable solution in the context of ongoing nation-building, regime change and active conflict (including a continued ‘memory war’) as compared to consolidated democracies during more ‘normal’ times?

Item Type: Internet publication
Uncontrolled keywords: Ukraine, decommunization laws, memory laws, militant democracy, Second World War, Nazism, Communism, criminalization, propaganda
Subjects: J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
J Political Science > JZ International relations
K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Maria Malksoo
Date Deposited: 10 Jan 2018 08:43 UTC
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2021 10:55 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/65698 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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