# TCUP 2024: Panel 4 May 24, 2024 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) In the fourth and final panel of the 2024 TCUP conference, speakers delved into Ukraine’s domestic policies. Parts of this discussion were more practical, such as the logistics of re-incorporating a future de-occupied Crimea back into Ukraine. However, the core of the conversation was a philosophical one. How can Ukraine create a vision of the future, which transcends the old regressive dynamics of the colonized vs the colonizer? The talk was opened by moderator Lena Surzhko-Harned of Penn State Behrend, who inquired about the key policy areas for decolonizing Ukraine from within. ![Oleksii Goncharenko speaks](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/huri/files/ae_2305.jpg) The first panelist to speak was Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko, who argued that Ukraine has been fighting on two fronts. The first is the fight for independence: essentially, the war. The second, is the fight for decolonization. Goncharenko said that on the second front, they’ve already emerged victorious. “The war is already won. We did it,” he asserted. “It happened in February- March 2022.” He claimed “that was the moment” when the “Ukrainian nation changed,” when “the world changed its view” on the Ukrainian nation, and, most importantly, when “Ukrainians changed their view of themselves.” By resisting takeover, Ukraine sent the message that Putin could not destroy the country’s national identity in the way he had intended. Goncharenko pondered out loud how Ukraine could not only achieve its independence, but positively influence the rest of the world through doing so. “"I believe that Ukraine should be the frontline unit of the free world," the MP said, suggesting that the country should stake its sovereign identity on a commitment to liberty. The discussion took a practical turn, when Volodymyr Kulyk of Stanford and Columbia Universities recommended removing pro-Russian forces from Ukraine’s political scene. He referenced Ukraine’s currently banned political parties, such as the Communist party and Party of Regions, both of which pulled the region towards Russia. Kulyk claimed that newer incarnations of these parties still exist- exemplified by the Opposition Bloc. Still, Kulyk said that “pro-Russian Soviet nostalgic sentiments” will no longer emerge as the cornerstone of major Ukrainian political parties. He went on to suggest a closer alignment towards Europe and the West. More specific ideas included renaming or removing monuments, promoting the centrality of the Ukrainian language, and otherwise changing established post-Soviet patterns in life. However, Kulyk also warned Ukraine to take care not to fall for extreme variants of nationalism. This could include discrimination against minorities, and disrespect towards people’s linguistic rights. He wrapped up his segment by claiming the most important area for change is policy making. After all, Kulyk believes the colonial tendencies of authoritarianism, paternalism, corruption, and nepotism still run through Ukraine’s political process. ![Mariam Naiem (independent researcher)](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/huri/files/ae_2283.jpg) Independent researcher Mariam Naiem switched the emphasis from politics to education. She said that decolonization is an act of creation: building a “new generation, new society, that will not need to have decolonization.” This means designing an educational system that acknowledges Ukraine’s subjugation by Russia, rather than indulging an imperialistic model, where Ukraine blames itself for its hardships. Unless Ukrainians fill in the blanks of their history, Naiem suggested, the Russian empire will do so instead. Near the end of her segment, she did address the problem of political parties that have cooperated with Russia and have encouraged corruption. She paralleled Kulyk’s observation, that Ukraine must hold such parties to account, to avoid making the same old mistakes in the future. Olga Skrypnyk of the Crimean Human Rights Group turned the conversation to reintegrating occupied territories, including Crimea. She said Ukraine needs to develop and adapt a “general vision” to deal with these areas, in the event that the country regains military control over them. How will these regions look, when Russia has departed? How will trauma, misinformation, and division inform the treatment of these lands? The speakers went on to make more specific suggestions, regarding decolonization as creation. Naiem pointed out that Ukrainains’ lifestyles and culture are deeply informed by Russia, and the Russian language. So, she questioned how to go about switching languages, or trying other modes of existing. Goncharenko suggested that Ukraine needs to develop real, practical opportunities for people, to motivate them to return to a nation where their old lives have been destroyed. Both Goncharenko and Kulyk endorsed the need for an active civil society: rather than relinquishing control to a central power, citizens need a sense of collective responsibility for what happens in their country. This is, in a sense, a mental decolonization, from the top-down authoritarian power structures of imperialist Russia, wherein the population is conditioned to accept a sort of learned helplessness. ![Olga Skrypnyk (Crimean Human Rights Group)](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/huri/files/ae_2265.jpg) Skrypnyk revisited the topic of Crimea, and its possible integration into Ukraine. She wondered how to maintain a fair justice system there, when the pre-existing Russian justice system is predicated on persecuting minorities and pro-Ukrainian citizens. She also pondered how to introduce a new education system, when Russian education centers on militarizing children to prepare them to fight for the Kremlin. She questioned how to deal with Russian civilians who have illegally moved to Crimea since the occupation. Or, how to deal with kidnapped Ukrainian hostages, who may be transferred from Crimea to Russia in the event of the Ukrainian army approaching. Kulyk also brought up the occupied peninsula, recommending that Ukrainian leadership should not repeat the mistake of persecuting the Crimean Tatars. To conclude the conference, speakers advocated the idea of an inclusive and multicultural Ukraine. Naiem warned against banning languages, instead promoting a safe environment for people to think and speak in Ukrainian. MP Goncharenko pointed out that due to war and migration, Ukraine is going to need a new influx of people. He acknowledged that those people may not solely be Ukrainians, and that the country needs to evolve to be accepting of diversity. Rather than simply replicating a pre-war Ukraine, it could become a land of many peoples, groups, and tongues. This was the final vision of a decolonized Ukraine, as the closure of the 2024 TCUP conference. [Watch the 2024 TCUP Conference Panel 4 on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LdDZfRYKyk) See also:- [ Conference ](/tags/conference) - [ Crimea ](/tags/crimea) - [ Special event ](/tags/special-event) - [ TCUP ](/tags/tcup) - [ Russia-Ukraine War ](/tags/ukraine-crisis) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)