FULBRIGHT Association
NEW JERSEY CHAPTER
Ukraine’s Democratic Revolution
& Russian Invasion
with Dr. Sophia Wilson
New Jersey Chapter Speaker Series Friday, November 10, 2023 at 3:00 pm EST, via Zoom
The Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution was far more than mass protests – it was a complex system of social networks working together to preserve democracy. Dr. Wilson will present her forthcoming book, a years-long study of the Maidan revolution. After the police beat and detained peaceful protesters in November of 2013, hundreds of thousands traveled to Kyiv to protest. They cooked food, connected revolutionaries with those offering free rent, and pro bono legal and medical aid. Activists organized marches, vehicle caravans, printed illegal brochures and launched social media campaigns. They argued in courts against due-process violations, fought the pro-Russian police on the streets and debated the meaning of democracy with their countrymen. The Maidan Revolution fundamentally changed Ukraine: 1) It prevented the consolidation of an authoritarian pro- Putin regime. 2) It transformed the Soviet-era social beliefs into the newly discovered concepts of civic duty. 3) It built social networks to resist police violence. MAIDAN, the extensive grassroots social movement, bringing together Ukrainians of various backgrounds, defined the new post-Maidan Ukraine and laid the solid foundation of national resistance to the Russian invasion
Dr. Sophia Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and President of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies. Wilson received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington; was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute in 2015; taught at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute in 2017 and 2019. She was a Jerome Hall Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Law, Society and Culture at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2012-13. Wilson’s forthcoming book, Maidan: Ukraine’s Democratic Revolution, reveals interactions between the state and the grassroots revolutionary movement, as well as Russian state propaganda about the revolution. Her articles appeared in the Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change, the Journal of Law and Courts, Post-Soviet Affairs, and other academic venues. Wilson has provided analysis and commentary for broadcast and print media outlets regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
To register:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_U0Z68QSvRaCmpKz3wjJXNA