Category: Culture and Language Policies

Post-Soviet states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Kazakhstan and Moldova all house large populations of ‘Russian-speakers’. However, the identities and experiences of Russophone groups vary markedly, despite Russia’s efforts to consolidate the identities and actions of its ‘compatriots abroad’. This paper offers a critical framework for understanding the complex identity dynamics among Russian-speakers in…

How have the statuses of the state language (Ukrainian/Kazakh), Russian, and English evolved since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991? What do these developments tell us about the relative authority of the Ukrainian and Kazakh governments over language policy and practice? To answer these questions, this presentation uses a comparative discourse analysis of the…

This presentation explores the notion of Diaspora within the context of the DuBoisian Double Consciousness (the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts). It also examines the ways in which the Arab diasporic condition resonates with issues of belonging, foreignness and conditioned hospitality. The immigrant is discussed as both…

Approximately 40 people attended the University of Alberta symposium on Crisis and Identity—Cultural and Linguistic Perspectives on Ukraine and its Diaspora held on March 21, 2017. Organized by Alla Nedashkivska, lead researcher of the Nationalities, Culture and Language Policies Cluster of the Research Initiative on Democratic Reforms in Ukraine (RIDRU), the day offered three sessions…