Comparative Philosophy: Ukrainian and Slavic Philosophy

Ukrainian and Slavic Philosophy Overview

Ukrainian and Slavic philosophies are rich in diversity and depth which embodies a unique intellectual tradition that mixes indigenous cultural narratives with broader Slavic and European philosophical discourses. This tradition, spanning centuries, is characterized by an exploration of identity, language, and national consciousness which is a result of the backdrop of historical upheavals and cultural renaissances. Ukrainian philosophy has navigated the country's complex history of foreign domination and struggle for independence, fostering a distinct philosophical perspective that emphasizes freedom, dignity, and the moral responsibility of the individual. Slavic philosophy, more broadly, delves into questions of existence, spirituality, and the cosmos, drawing from Orthodox Christian thought, folk traditions, and the rich literary heritage of the Slavic peoples.

Selected Books

After the Holodomor by Andrea Graziosi (Editor)
In 2008 the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University hosted an international conference entitled "The Great Famine in Ukraine: The Holodomor and Its Consequences, 1933 to the Present." The papers, most of which are contained in this volume, concern a wide range of topics, such as the immediate aftermath of the Holodomor and its subsequent effect on Ukraine's people and communities; World War II, with its wartime and postwar famines; and the impact of the Holodomor on subsequent generations of Ukrainians and present-day Ukrainian culture.
Contextualizing the Holodomor : the impact of thirty years of Ukrainian famine studies by Andrij Makuch (Editor); Frank E. Sysyn (Editor)
This book contains the conference papers given by Norman Naimark, on genocide; Andrea Graziosi, on Soviet history; Françoise Thom, on Stalinism; Olga Andriewsky, on Ukrainian history; and Stanislav Kulchytsky, on communism. An introductory article by Frank Sysyn provides an overview of thirty years of research on the Holodomor.
The Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine by Stanislav Kulchytsky
In this distilled account, Stanislav Kulchytsky ably incorporates a vast array of sources and literature that have become available in the past three decades into a highly readable narrative, explaining the motives, circumstances, and course of this terrible crime against humanity. As the author shows, the Holodomor was triggered by the Bolshevik effort to build a communist socioeconomic order in the Soviet Union. Excessive requisitioning of grain and other foodstuffs in the collectivization drive led to famine and deaths in grain-producing regions of the USSR by early 1932. In Ukraine, punitive measures authorized by the Kremlin's top leadership greatly worsened the famine in late 1932 and turned it into the Holodomor, which claimed more than three million lives in the first half of 1933.
Gareth Jones - Eyewitness to the Holodomor by Ray Gamache
The young Welsh investigative journalist, is revered in Ukraine as a national hero and is now rightly recognized as the first reporter to reveal the horror of the Holodomor, the Soviet Government-induced famine of the early 1930s, which killed millions of Ukrainians. This is the story of his life, his bravery, and his suspicious death.
The Holodomor Reader : a sourcebook on the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine by Bohdan Klid (Editor); Alexander J. Motyl (Editor)
The Holodomor Reader is a wide-ranging collection of key texts and source materials, many of which have never before appeared in English, on the genocidal famine (Holodomor) of 1932-33 in Soviet Ukraine. The material is presented in six sections: scholarship; legal assessments, findings, and resolutions; eyewitness accounts and memoirs; survivor testimonies, memoirs, diaries, and letters; Soviet, Ukrainian, British, German, Italian, and Polish documents; and works of literature.
Stalin's Genocides by Norman M. Naimark
Stalin's Genocides puts forward the important argument that brutal mass killings under Stalin in the 1930s were indeed acts of genocide and that the Soviet dictator himself was behind them.
Starving Ukraine : the Holodomor and Canada's response by Serge Cipko
Starving Ukraine examines both Canada's reporting of the famine and the country's response to it, highlighting the importance of journalists and protestors.
Also available online
Women and the Holodomor-Genocide by Victoria A. Malko
The authors of the articles included in this collection, Women and the Holodomor-Genocide, argue that the actions of all strata, victims as well as perpetrators, in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s need to be examined in order to understand why and how the fabric of society was torn apart and unraveled into genocidal violence. Two thirds of eyewitness testimonies have been narrated by women, and their voices and perspectives are key to understanding violence in societies where genocide occurs.