Goals, obstacles and focus of heritage preservation activists in Ukrainian cities

Abstract

Preservation of historic heritage is a prevalent question in urban social movements in Ukraine. This article focuses on heritage preservation activists’ experiences, including both movements to preserve specific historic sites and monuments, and movements against destruction of the historic environment more generally. We begin by conceptualizing key concepts of heritage preservation movement and offering a background of heritage preservation in a post-soviet setting. This overview is followed by a summary of research findings based on eleven semi-structured interviews with heritage protection activists in major Ukrainian cities. Their activity can be classified firstly based on the strategy of impact (top-down or bottomup); secondly, on the type of historic monuments that they want to preserve (classical architecture, modern (Soviet) architecture and small architectural forms); thirdly, on the territorial scale of their activity (local, municipal or regional); and finally, on their activities (cultural and artistic, political, media and awarenessraising, community-building, etc.).Challenges, identified by activists in their work, were classified as external (related to structural and contextual difficulties), and internal (individual challenges and group dynamics, related to lack of time, resources and institutional knowledge). More generally, the heritage preservation movement in Ukraine is identified by activists as fragmented, reactive, and marked by high institutionalization of grassroots activities and their cooptation. Activists are reflexive of their role in historic preservation and present themselves as the voice of the general public. They identify their impact as creating public resonance, a wide network of passive allies, institutional (as well as internal management) experience for activist initiatives. At the same time, however, they have little faith in the possibility of achieving broader strategic goals. Thus, despite their impact and efficiency in defending specific historic sites, activists are unable to preserve historic heritage in Ukrainian cities on their own. Potential future research includes conducting interviews not only with activists of large cities, but also of smaller towns, as well as using a multi-method approach and supplementing interviews with content-analysis of activists’ public statements, as well as taking into consideration the voices of other interested agents in the heritage preservation movement.