Ukrainian Studies: From Ideology to Identity Politics

The article is dedicated to the problem of disciplinary revival of Ukrainian studies in the context of modern scientific challenges. Modern ideals of scientific rationality become increasingly problematic. The trend of contemporary criticism of science is to disclose the ideological foundations of scientific production. Political processes often become the cause for the emergence of new scientific disciplines, decisively influencing the formation of the subject of the research. Ukrainian studies as a disciplinary complex bear the expressive imprint of a specific social and political situation of the 19th century, associated with transformation of the national identity into the basic one. Recognition of the ideological genesis of Ukrainian studies, its subject matter, and the nature of the research should not simultaneously lead to the adoption of ideology as an indisputable companion of the Ukrainian studies scientific production.The question arises of the need to criticize the conditions of Ukrainian studies’ capability. The importance of intellectual freedom and scientific ethos for the preservation of scientific immunity is emphasized. Identity as a subject of Ukrainian studies should be understood not as a state, but as a process. This will give the opportunity to shift the emphasis from the past to the present.