Panel 2: Politics from Below
Dmitriy Ostapchuk (VoxUkraine), Pavlo Myronov (Centre UA/Chesno), Viktor Pashchenko (Pridneprovsk International Research and Cooperation Centre) and Yevgen Popov (International Renaissance Foundation)
“Democratisation from Below? Local Politics in Ukraine”
> ZOiS project
This paper presents the findings of a ZOiS pilot study on the current dynamics of local politics in Ukraine. In particular, in the south-eastern regions the political landscape has changed with the local elections of 2015 both in terms of individuals and political parties represented in local councils. The ongoing decentralisation reform increases the political salience of these developments. This paper is a first attempt to systematically map the extent and implications of these changes. It does so by tracing variation in local council composition, voting patterns in local councils, the issue areas of the bills adopted by local councils across seven western, central and south-eastern regions as well as local media discourse in four south-eastern regions. Local and national-level politics are always interconnected but they may follow their own dynamics. As this paper shows, they can be complementary but there can also be tensions between the two levels of politics.
Kerstin Jacobsson (University of Gothenburg)
“Urban Grassroots Movements in Central and Eastern Europe: Lessons for Theory and Research”
What can we learn about civic activism and collective action by focusing on activism within urban spaces in Central and Eastern Europe? It is argued that the field of urban activism is illustrative of a new phase in the development of post-socialist civil societies characterised by grassroots activism and mobilisation from below. Integrating findings from recent studies of urban grassroots mobilisations and activism across this region, this paper draws empirical and theoretical lessons for research on collective action in the post-socialist context as well as discussing the relevance that the experiences of urban activism in this region bring to the theorisation of civic activism more generally. Among other things it is suggested that studying urban activism in the CEE offers insights that are useful for theory building on issues such as agency-formation and processes of becoming active in the public sphere (here conceptualised as "political becoming"), the role of "uneventful politics" and "low-visibility politics" as well as relational and process-based conceptions of civil society.
Olga Onuch (University of Manchester)
“Post-Protest Polarisation in the Post-Communist Region: Poland, Russia, and Ukraine”
Although scholars identify mass mobilisation as a critical juncture with great potential for democratisation, several cases (Poland, Russia and Ukraine) have experienced electoral polarisation, significant democratic "back sliding", and even ethno-linguistic or sectarian conflict. We hypothesise that the "us" versus "them" discourse employed by activists and politico-economic elite (during periods of mass mobilisation) can activate, reproduce or even create ethno-linguistic, national or sectarian divisions. We argue that protest master frames (used to bridge social network ties and create a sense of collective identity among the protesters) employ an "us" versus "them" discourse. Our hypothesis is that this discourse does not dissipate once routine politics is restored and instead fuels the rise of greater polarisation in society. Employing quantitative textual analysis we trace the discourse used by politicians and activists before, during, and after protest events in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. We connect patterns in political discourse to electoral campaign rhetoric, electoral outcomes and public opinion in each case. We argue that mobilisational frames deployed during protest events correlate to shifts in political discourse, political preferences as well as electoral polarisation.