The Identity Politics of Heritage

Abstract

Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown not only how the Kremlin has weaponized history, but also how the victim can fight back by breaking historical ties with the aggressor. Since March 2022, Ukraine has been developing new identity politics of heritage. The article focuses on decisions made by the Kyiv City Council, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory regarding material objects associated with Russian or Soviet heritage. It also shows how Kyiv opinionmakers and experts have reacted to changes that will eventually result in the reshaping of the city’s memory landscape. The article divides the processes of deconstruction of urban space into three categories: decommunization, decolonization, and derussification. Each of them shapes not only the memory space of Kyiv, but also the identities of its residents. The article discusses how the identity politics of heritage work in the event of armed conflict and how different actors define the meaning of heritage during the ongoing war.

The Fight for the Past: Contested Heritage and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

“…The debate about Aleksander Pushkin -criticised as apologist of empire -is a good example of this. 63 There are currently no performances of Russian music or plays in Ukraine. 64 Some authors and artists born in Ukraine are claimed for Ukraine.…”

“…In the following years 'at least 51 thousand streets, 987 towns and villages were renamed; 2389 monuments were demolished, including 1320 Lenin monuments'. 70 The People's Friendship Arch in Kyiv, also known as the Monument to the Reunification of Ukraine with Russia, was not on the list. It was unveiled in November 1982, to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the foundation of the Soviet Union and the 1500 th anniversary of Kyiv.…”