Ukraine drew significant media attention after the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity and the subsequent undeclared war waged by Russia. However, the nature of these events and their impact on the social, economic, and political development of this country remain under-studied and, hence, often misunderstood. The reader is invited to take an inside look at the recent developments in Ukraine and to search for an answer to the question of whether transition from externally to internally driven development is possible in this case. Anton Oleinik argues that Ukraine is currently going through a revolutionary period aimed at building a nation-state and its aftermath. Ukraine is a latecomer in this process, especially compared with most other European countries. Its outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. It is yet to be seen if a current surge in volunteerism and bottom-up civic initiatives will lead to the emergence of a viable and sustainable national democratic system in this country.

Autorentext

Anton Oleinik is professor of sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, MUN (St. John's, Canada) and senior research fellow at the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, CEMI (Moscow). He holds two doctorates, in sociology (from the EHESS in Paris, 2000) and economic sciences (Habilitation from the CEMI, 2012). As a visiting professor, he taught at Smolny College (St. Petersburg State University, Russia), the National University of Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Astana). He authored The Invisible Hand of Power: An Economic Theory of Gatekeeping (Routledge, 2015), Knowledge and Networking: On Communication in the Social Sciences (Transaction, 2014; paperback edition: 2016); Market as a Weapon: The Socio-Economic Machinery of Dominance in Russia (Transaction, 2011; published in Russian by ROSSPEN), and Organized Crime, Prison and Post-Soviet Societies (Ashgate, 2003; also published in French by l'Harmattan and in Russian by Infra-M). He also edited several collected volumes, namely Changing the State without Changing the Model of Power (Routledge, 2009; paperback edition: 2016; published in Russian by ROSSPEN) and The Institutional Economics of Russia's Transformation (Ashgate, 2005; published in Russian by Infra-M). His articles appeared in Quality & Quantity, Science & Engineering Ethics, Educational Research Review, Science in Context, Journal of Economic Issues, Europe-Asia Studies, Post-Communist Economies, Comparative Sociology, Crime, Law and Social Change, Public Policy and Administration, IATSS Research, and several other scholarly journals. Prof. Oleinik is also a regular contributor to Ukrainian Pravda, the most popular political internet-portal in Ukraine, Vedomosti and RBC Daily, two daily newspapers in Russia.