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On 16-17 May 2019, the Prisma Ukraïna conference “Rethinking Ukrainian Studies: Locally, Regionally, Transnationally” took place at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice. Ten young researchers from Eastern and Western Europe received travel grants to be able to attend this symposium. One of them – Maxim Osadchuk (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv) – interviewed a speaker of the conference, Dr. Viktoria Sereda from the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, who is also affiliated with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 2017-2018. Dr. Sereda, I want to thank you and congratulate for the brilliant lecture on the new cult of heroes in Ukraine after EuroMaidan. Let me ask you a few questions that may help us to understand more deeply the transformation of historical memory and policy in Ukraine in recent years. To begin with: What are your impressions of the conference? Could all the questions posed by the conference find correct answers from the community of scholars that gathered at the Viadrina?The conference proposed a very productive framework for an exchange ofthoughts between scholars from different academic disciplines and backgrounds.What is more important, it stimulated scholars from Ukraine and their Westerncolleagues to think about possible methodological limitations and “sensitiveissues” that both sides experience. I think that such an outcome is much morevaluable than “correct answers” that might sometimes be a by-product of aprolonged immersion into a non-critical environment (which is, for example,often the case of with the traditional forms of academic life in Ukraine) thatpushes aside doubts and self-reflections.Viktoria Sereda during the conference "Rethinking Ukrainian Studies: Locally, Regionally, Transnationally". Photo by Roman Boichuk The thematic section to which you contributed was entitled “Researching society at war”. Tell us how it is to explore society living in war? What are some problems for sociologists working with political topics and historical memory in such circumstances?I think scholarsare confronted with a wide range of issues which require both an exchange ofexpert knowledge and a public debate. There is a tension between the protectivereaction of some social groups to the ongoing war, which results in a demand toclassify certain subjects as sensitive or potentially dangerous forpeople/state security, and the need for scholars to monitor the situation inall its complexity. In recent years, some Ukrainian sociologists suffered from labelingof certain questions or topics as “separatist”, while their research programsbecame subjected to security service enquiry. In a sense, the field of what’s possiblefor researchers has narrowed. On the other hand, one should notice that war-freesocieties also face similar challenges, but, perhaps, of a lower intensity. Inaddition, many western scholarly institutions have in-built mechanisms forresearch quality and sensitivity check (so-called ethics commissions), and donot entrust this function to external non-academic institutions. The other challenge for me as for a sociologist is how to reconcile the scholarlyneed to hear different voices and later represent them (remembering thatneither you yourself nor auditorium to which you are reporting your results areneutral) with your own sense of social responsibility. For me, very telling wasan open discussion between the leading Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Paniottoand his Russian colleagues after he refused to participate in a joint researchproject. Paniotto argued that what was intended to be a liberal attempt atdescribing the current situation might in a way provide some legitimization toPutin’s occupation of Crimea. Another research dilemma which strongly comes to play in such situationsis the problem of the insider/outsider position of the researcher. Researchconducted by a scholar, who is external to the conflict, is often automaticallymore valued as being allegedly more neutral and, therefore, more trustful.However, if you do not understand local sensitivities you might overlook the biasesyour research is producing. Just to give an example, some Western colleaguesthink that there is no methodological difference between research conducted ina society which experiences war or foreign occupation and a “normal” one. But couldit be the same if respondents and interviewers might bearrested/tortured/killed at any moment for asking/answering a particularquestion? And later, how could the media outcomes of such research be shared withoutreinforcing certain power relations or biases, and how could one make sure thatthe public takes into account all the nuances, sensitivities and circumstancesunder which the data was collected. According to the public statement of the director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Volodymyr Vyatrovich, the decommunization in Ukraine has been successfully completed. How, from your point of view, has historical memory changed during the last 5 years under the influence of this process? Within atraditional paradigm, social processes are often viewed as linear, initiatedfrom above, passing through some stages of development and then finallyaccomplished. A more critical approach suggests that we have to approach socialchange rather as a complex and ongoing process, which is embedded in powerrelations, is multi-layered and multi-directional. In this sense, the communistpast will have many more long-lasting effects on Ukrainian society and itsunderstanding of the past. It will be present in social identities andpractices in one or the other form for much longer, although senses attributedto it will gradually change.Decommunization completed? The Anti- Terrorist Operation Museum in Dnipro. Photo by Michal KorhelHow would you define the current model of historical policy in Ukraine? How do you think it should change in order to promote social harmony? Is there anything that needs to change here? What steps in this direction are expected from the new president?Today the process of (re)imaging of the past and memoryscapes in Ukraineis very intense, happening on all levels of society and involving very diversesocial actors. Under such circumstances, it is important to make use of allpossibilities for an open public discussion about the past and to involve localcivil society in moderating it. At the same time, one should be aware thatlocal elites might try to preserve the status quo or successfully resistchanges if they perceive them as unwanted and or interfering with theirpolitical orientations. Similarly, attempts to impose some visions of the pastfrom above might provoke negative reactions, and therefore, Zelensky’s policydoes not have much latitude and is likely to be constrained by the local elitesas well as civil society activists.What would you answer to some Western columnists who in recent years recognize a new cult of heroes in Ukraine as a radical nationalist political project? Is it generally true that the Maidan and the war have shifted the Ukrainian society sharply to the right?Ukraine isa very interesting case to study. I would like to refer to the results of thelast presidential elections. In spite of the ongoing war, the right-wingcandidates accumulated less than 1.5% of votes. The winning candidate’spolitical position might be described as populism without nationalism. Recentsociological studies also show that Ukrainians demonstrate a relatively lowlevel of anti-Semitism and a growing support for the political understanding ofthe nation. At the same time, we do observe increasing interference of theright-wing groups into Ukrainian political and economic life, which should beclosely monitored by media and civil society. The new cult of heroes in Ukraine can hardly be appropriated exclusively by the radical nationalists. First, the Anti-Terrorist Operation directly affected much wider circles of Ukrainian society and dead soldiers represented all possible social strata and regions of Ukraine. Second, their commemoration is not initiated by one particular group or single state institution, but is often characterized by local grassroots initiatives enacted by the local activists. Our research demonstrates that, in many localities, those new sites of memory might be intertwined with the cults of fallen soldiers of the Soviet Afghan or Great Patriotic Wars, and at the same time might also contain some right-wing symbolic elements.&#160; The Anti- Terrorist Operation Museum in Dnipro. Photo by Elżbieta Olzacka In the context of the War in Donbas, which has already been going on for six years, what is the attitude to the cult of heroes of the Maidan and the Anti-Terrorist Operation /Joint Forces Operation in the East and South of Ukraine? Is it possible to observe different perspectives on historical memory in this area?In thecourse of the Euromaidan and right after it, when public activism reached itspeak, spontaneous local grassroots initiatives emerged that aimed at thecreation of a new heroic cult. In general, over 65% of respondents think thatEuromaidan events should be commemorated, but the level of support and the meaningsascribed to this commemoration would still vary in different parts of Ukraine,since Euromaidan itself did not have equal degrees of support in all oblasts. Very soon, this heroicnarrative developed into a new, more powerful one associated with the armedconflict in the Donbas. Opinion polls demonstrate that, for the first time in Ukraine’srecent history, a new cult of heroes has emerged and is supported by 3\4 ofrespondents in practically all regions of Ukraine. However, shifting ourperspective from macro-level trends to local-level practices reveals that thiscult of heroes also provokes many debates over the nature of the conflict andforms of commemoration. An important indicator of emerging counter-memories, voicedby those who have alternative interpretations of events, are acts of vandalism allover the country. Finally, I suggest turning back to history, which is, so to speak, your first academic passion. Was there something similar to the Ukrainian "memory revolution" in Eastern and Western Europe? If so, which examples would you deem most useful to compare with the Ukrainian experience?Pierre Nora argued that in the second half of the 20thcentury the western world led the global trend of the ideological and internaldecolonization of memory. Fifteen years ago, Harvard historian, Charles Maier,examining debates about historical memory in Europe, described them as dividedbetween the “hot” discussions about the memory of the Nazi crimes, and the “cold”memory about the communist past. Since that time, Eastern Europe had merged the“hot” debate zone with decommunization debates (and here Ukraine is rather alatecomer), and Western Europe went into a second cycle of memory debates,which can be described as new anti-colonialist ones. Which European countrycould serve as a good case for comparison? I think that Ukrainian societyshares many common traits with both Western and Eastern European societies.However, as Ukrainian society faces its own unique challenges over the last fewyears, it is not easy to select a comparable case.&#160; No other European country is currently underthe direct military attack of a global superpower, and nowhere else in Europe areordinary citizens mobilized and deployed to the front line of the armedconflict. Therefore, a comparison with any of the immediate European neighborsof Ukraine might be misleading.Citation: “Rethinking Ukrainian Studies”: Interview with Viktoria Sereda, in:  TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 15.07.2019, https://trafo.hypotheses.org/19157