It's all about freedom, equality and democracy. The patterns in the (re)construction of a triangle of "imaginative geographies" by Ukrainian diaspora activistst in the Netherlands
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2017-12-11
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en
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European Union (EU) member state countries, including the Netherlands, (re)construct the meaning of Europe. Ukrainian diaspora activists in the Netherlands find themselves in a triangle of imaginative geographies of ‘the Netherlands,’ ‘Ukraine,’ and ‘Europe,’ because of the referendum about the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Diaspora uses civic participation (events, demonstration, and representations) to express their mental images. To fathom the (re)construction of their imaginative geographies from below the research focuses on civic participation.
The research uses participant observation and semi-structured interviews with their visuals, to understand and explain the patterns in how they contest/negotiate/transform these imaginative geographies.
Ukrainian diaspora activists experience friction in their sense of belonging to the Netherlands despite opposite theoretical argumentation. Furthermore, the categorization of ‘Russia’ in the imaginative geography of ‘Ukraine’ is hidden from the public domain. And they detach the legal membership to the EU from the way they imagine Europe. In doing so, they imagine Ukraine to be part of Europe since Ukraine has the same foundational norms and values of among other freedom, equality, and democracy.
The activists framed the triangle in a heterotemporal framework whereby they see the trajectories moving closer to each other, whereby they went beyond the dichotomies of the imaginative geographies.
European Union (EU) member state countries, including the Netherlands, (re)construct the meaning of Europe. Ukrainian diaspora activists in the Netherlands find themselves in a triangle of imaginative geographies of ‘the Netherlands,’ ‘Ukraine,’ and ‘Europe,’ because of the referendum about the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Diaspora uses civic participation (events, demonstration, and representations) to express their mental images. To fathom the (re)construction of their imaginative geographies from below the research focuses on civic participation.
The research uses participant observation and semi-structured interviews with their visuals, to understand and explain the patterns in how they contest/negotiate/transform these imaginative geographies.
Ukrainian diaspora activists experience friction in their sense of belonging to the Netherlands despite opposite theoretical argumentation. Furthermore, the categorization of ‘Russia’ in the imaginative geography of ‘Ukraine’ is hidden from the public domain. And they detach the legal membership to the EU from the way they imagine Europe. In doing so, they imagine Ukraine to be part of Europe since Ukraine has the same foundational norms and values of among other freedom, equality, and democracy.
The activists framed the triangle in a heterotemporal framework whereby they see the trajectories moving closer to each other, whereby they went beyond the dichotomies of the imaginative geographies.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen