Staging Atmosphere on the Ukrainian Maidan

Abstract

This article uses atmosphere theory to describe the revolutionary events on Ukraine’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti as they unfolded from November 2013 to February 2014. Like other recent occupation movements (Tahrir Square, Gezi Park, Zuccotti Park), the Maidan protestors created a vast infrastructure that supported large-scale protest and daily life on the square. I argue that atmosphere, or the feeling of place, was important to the makeup of Maidan. Like other occupation movements, Maidan became a “world” unto itself because it generated unique feelings that held the place together. Drawing on atmosphere theorists Peter Sloterdijk and Gernot Böhme, I describe the atmospheres of Maidan, show how these atmospheres were generated, and then describe how these atmospheres influenced the course of the revolution.