The Ukrainian new left and student protests

Insufficiently diverse: The problem of nonviolent leverage and radicalization of Ukraine’s Maidan uprising, 2013–2014

“…290, 292). At the same time, a large number of informal “apolitical” local self-organized initiatives existed that typically focused on different issues than the institutionalized civil society and often distrusted the latter (Ishchenko, 2017, pp. 216–218).…”

“…KVPU leader Mykhailo Volynets recognized the gap between the demands of opposition politicians focused on the constitutional reform and snap elections and the labor union demands for increased wages, raising the living minimum and canceling neoliberal pension reform. 9 It was unlikely that the political organizations within Maidan protest coalition—uniting the oligarchic moderate opposition parties, (neo)liberal NGOs, and radical nationalists but not any relevant political left organization (Ishchenko, 2016b; 2020)—could articulate a socially redistributive program appealing to the Eastern Ukrainian workers while simultaneously sidelining divisive geopolitical and nationalist issues.…”

Casting off Soviet chains? Conditions for the Ideological Renewal of Communist Successor Parties in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova since the 2010s

“…No left-wing party has emerged to replace the collapsed CPU after the Euromaidan Revolution. This is particularly puzzling given widespread left-leaning attitudes among the population and the strong tradition of establishing ‘new left’ movements in Ukraine that have existed since the late 1980s (Ishchenko, 2017, p. 211). In turn, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), which became the main opposition during the country’s authoritarian decline in 2015–2019 and won both presidential (2016) and parliamentary elections (2019), remains the only exception.…”

“…1.See e.g., Luke Marchʼs pivotal study on Russian and Moldovan communists (2006), or Fisun (2001) and Ishchenko’s (2017) studies on Ukraine’s Left. For a regional comparison, see e.g.…”