Why Ukrainians chose to fight
| dc.contributor.advisor | Malejacq, R.A.A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Setten van, Henk-Jan | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-06-24 | |
| dc.description.abstract | It is clear why people join rebel groups. These people want to overthrow the government by rebellion. But what motivates people to join a militia fighting side by side with the government? Scholarly literature provides several explanations. However, many of those explanations do not seem to fit in the case of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions. In this research, I argue that ideology is an important motivation to join volunteer battalions. Via a congruence analysis, I analyse the value of different explanations in the case of Ukraine. I conclude that ideology was present but not dominant as a motivation. I identify three crucial motivations that explain why Ukrainians joined volunteer battalions. First, safety concerns motivated many volunteers from eastern and southern Ukraine. Volunteers from western Ukraine did not fear that the war would come to their hometowns. Thus, they were not motivated by safety concerns. Second, friendships motivated Ukrainians to join volunteer battalions. The social ties built during the Maidan protests laid the foundation of the volunteer battalions. Many protesters joined volunteer battalions with their newly made friends. Third, and most important, emotions motivated volunteers. Emotions directly and indirectly motivated volunteers. The directly motivated volunteers joined, for example, out of anger or excitement. The indirectly motivated volunteers joined volunteer battalions, for example, because of identity. However, underlying this motivation was fear. Emotions thus indirectly motivated these people. With this research, I hope to contribute to the growing literature on militias. However, more research is needed to understand this fascinating topic fully. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/12891 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.thesis.faculty | Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen | en_US |
| dc.thesis.specialisation | Conflict, Power, and Politics | en_US |
| dc.thesis.studyprogramme | Master Political Science | en_US |
| dc.thesis.type | Master | en_US |
| dc.title | Why Ukrainians chose to fight | en_US |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1