Four Dimensions of Societal Transformation
An Introduction to the Problematique of Ukraine
in The International Journal of Social QualitySearch for other papers by Zuzana Novakova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
All currencies in US Dollar
Abstract
Four years after the Revolution of Dignity, the Ukrainian society is passing through multiple parallel transitions. More often than not, the problematique of Ukraine is framed as a discussion of the speed and extent of reforms’ adoption. This article highlights the need to look in a more organic, interrelated manner, with attention to the sociospatial context that embeds all of the potential institutional change targeted by reforms. Using interviews and group discussions with public servants and civil society actors actively involved in the ongoing reform processes, this article zooms out from the rather fragmented reforms discussion to embed it in a broader societal context. It highlights crucial developments in the four quadrants of the social quality debate: the socioeconomic, the sociopolitical, the sociocultural/welfare, and the socioenvironmental dimension of societal life in postrevolution Ukraine.
Contributor Notes
Zuzana Novakova is a PhD researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and Visiting Researcher at the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Her research areas include critical political economy, regime change, and democratization; crises and policy making; EU foreign policy; and development cooperation. In her dissertation, she examines the patterns of transformations in the political economy of Ukraine and the EU’s role as the biggest aid donor. She is FutureLab Europe Fellow at the European Policy Centre in Brussels and Associate Expert at the East European Security Research Initiative Foundation in Kiev. E-mail: novakova@iss.nl