In a March 6 post I described research on what I called “The 4 Maidans.” In this post I consider elements of “Phase 1.” I look at the initial development of the Euromaidan movement and in particular its association with the Maidan Nezalezhnosti. I am interested in the ways that Euromaidan was framed during the first week of protests. More specifically, relying upon news articles collected through Brama.com, I describe the techniques used to connect the burgeoning Euromaidan movement with 2004’s Orange Revolution. The idea is that, at least in its earliest moments, the Euromaidan movement gained significance and legitimacy through connections that protesters, organizers, politicians and journalists made between the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan. Read more
Cosmopolitan Identity on the Maidan
This is the blog post archive for the Cosmopolitan Identity on the Maidan project, led by Dr. Jeffrey Stepnisky. For more information on this project, please see its About page.
The Four Maidans: Introductory comments
For sociologists, space is both a physical and a social construction. That is, space has both material and symbolic dimensions. For this reason, particular spaces can come to embody, express or carry within them shared meanings and identities. There is no better example of this phenomenon than the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) which has undergone massive transformation – both physical and symbolic – over the past 5 months. Read more