This year, we would like to propose the Authors to prepare articles for three thematic sections:
We look forward to the texts in English, Polish or Russian, with a volume of 30-40 thousand characters with spaces, covering the entire scientific apparatus (footnotes, attachment bibliography, abstract and keywords in the original language and English). Please agree on the article's subject in advance with the editors of the section (e-mail addresses – below) by April 15, 2024. Please send the full texts by July 15, 2024, via the editorial panel.
Crimean Tatars in the 21st century in independent Ukraine and in the world
The section is intended to encourage researchers to present issues related to the situation of Crimean Tatars in independent Ukraine and beyond.
Representatives of the Crimean Tatars live mainly in the territory of modern Ukraine, especially the Crimean peninsula, and are also scattered in many other countries of the world. Stalin's criminal repressions and deportations against the Crimean Tatars in 1944 caused physical destruction of tens of thousands people of this nation, together with artificial changing of the ethnic map of Crimea. The return of the Crimean Tatars to their homeland became possible at the end of the Soviet period, and Ukraine's regained independence promoted gradual revival of the persecuted nation. Political and social changes in sovereign Ukraine, despite a number of transformation challenges, contributed to the positive dynamics of both political and cultural activities of the Crimean Tatars.
The life of Crimean Tatars is once again, in less than a hundred years, under a serious threat. Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and the occupation of Crimea, assimilation, forced deportations, persecution and forcing the inhabitants of Crimea, including Crimean Tatars, to become Russian citizens, threaten the existence of the entire nation. The world's reaction to the emerging threats still seems to be insufficient; the presented UN reports on human rights violations resulting from Russian aggression, do not reflect all the threats. As a result of the Russian 10-year occupation of Crimea, access to monitoring the real state of affairs in the field of human rights by international institutions and organizations has also been hampered.
The problems indicated have a direct impact on the state of international law in global dimension, because Russia's violation of the established principles caused serious challenges to the world order that emerged after World War II. The establishment of an international forum by Ukraine in 2021 – the Crimean Platform – is purposed to constantly draw the attention of world states, international organizations and societies to the challenges and threats caused by Russian aggression and occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.
It is worth emphasizing that in 2014, Crimean Tatars were legally recognized as the indigenous population of Ukraine, but this fact has not yet been sufficiently reflected in academic research and the development of Crimean-Tatar studies. Few existing centers of Crimean-Tatar studies in the world are not institutionally linked to Ukrainian or regional studies, but are an element of Turkological studies, most of which are located in Turkey. It should be mentioned that the inclusion of Crimean-Tatar studies in the framework of both Ukrainian and Eastern European studies would constitute a noticeable progress towards the improvement of knowledge about Crimea and the Crimean Tatars, therefore we suggest including this aspect as an important thematic area of planned publications.
In the proposed research, we also encourage the writers to highlight the political, cultural and social activities of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine and abroad. Scientific analysis of post-colonial processes of the Crimean Tatars’ self-assertion is a part of the interdisciplinary approach towards research on broadly understood international relations.
This section of the "Eastern Studies" ("Wschodnioznawstwo") yearbook is dedicated to commemorating the victims of the forced Soviet deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 from Crimea and the victims of contemporary Russian aggression against Ukraine. The research topic devoted to the Crimean Tatars is carried out jointly with the Ukrainian Institute.
Thematic editors of the section:
Larysa Leshchenko (Uniwersytet Wrocławski)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8469-6612
e-mail: larysa.leshchenko@uwr.edu.pl
Maria Protsiuk (Instytut Ukraiński)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7530-9542
Ethnicity in the context of sport in Central and Eastern Europe
In 1902, the first football match between national teams in continental Europe took place. The Austrian and Hungarian national teams took part in the match. The rivalry was therefore intra-state and aimed at integrating the multinational Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The above example illustrates the strong links between sport and ethnicity that have developed over the course of the 20th century in the multicultural states of Central and Eastern Europe. In the region, numerous sports organizations were formed to represent ethnic and national minorities. Institutions of this type have left their mark on ethnic relations, allowing the formation of particular identities. Sports clubs allowed representatives of minorities to manifest their distinctiveness. At the same time, they promoted athletes who could become representatives of the whole nation. Many of the ethnic sporting organisations did not survive the turbulent changes associated with nationalist politics (like the Jewish clubs that were swallowed up by the Holocaust). Some of the sporting clubs that initially worked for minorities became majority institutions as a result of boundary changes. In the 21st century, the east of the European continent still bears no resemblance to the nationalist utopia in which the area of nation-states coincides with the areas inhabited by a nation. Sport continues to be a space for (re)producing identity among ethnic and national minorities. Moreover, there are new attempts to use sports games as a tool to shape identity politics. An example of this instrumentalization of sports is Viktor Orbán's support for athletes from Hungarian minorities in Romania and Slovakia. In addition, the ethnic composition of Eastern Europe is changing as a result of global migrations. These changes are accompanied by the appearance of athletes of immigrant origin. How will sports affect their identity and position in their new homeland?
The aim of the section is a reflection on the role of sport in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national identities and the shaping of ethnic relations in Central and Eastern Europe
Thematic editor of the section:
Piotr Małczyński (University of Zielona Góra)
ORCID: 0000-0002-2488-5515
e-mail: p.malczynski@ip.uz.zgora.pl
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the light of various political narratives. Regional and international dimensions
The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 opened a new chapter in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. This is an unprecedented event that may have far-reaching effects both locally and internationally. In traditional media, the Internet and on social networking sites, you can come across various narratives about the offensive. On the one hand, there are voices condemning Hamas and expressing solidarity with Israel, and on the other, attention is drawn to the face of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the role of Hamas as a resistance movement. As various content appears, the risk of spreading disinformation about the current version of the conflict between Israel and Palestine also increases.
It would seem that Israel, due to its strong interregional position, can manage to manage the conflict with the Palestinians on its own, rejecting unwanted external interference. For most Middle Eastern countries, the Palestinian issue seems to have a more symbolic meaning. One may get the impression that the direction of activity of Arab countries is rather normalization or cooperation (sometimes behind the scenes) with Israel. This reduces the importance of the Palestinian issue for the countries of the region. The Jewish state, through the processes of securitization and desecuritization, has defined its own catalog of threats, thus building its policy based on security determinants. In this context, the national mythology of Israel stands out clearly, emphasizing, among others, the ability to eliminate enemies of the state. This mythology is accompanied by the use of a specific catalog of concepts aimed at presenting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict according to one's own vision. Today, the terms "ensuring security" or "war with terrorism" are a response to almost every radical step on the part of Israel, which is symptomatic of its policy towards the Palestinians. However, not everyone agrees with creating this perspective of conflict.
The intention of this section will be to show different perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the light of security culture and political culture. The subject of interest will be issues influencing the shaping of the dynamics of individual attitudes and political orientations of both the decision-making centers of given countries and their societies. This is not always a convergent approach. We invite you to submit articles analyzing various aspects of the perception of the conflict by various actors in international relations, as well as broadening the perspective with approaches from various civilization circles. Texts dealing with various narratives about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute will be welcome.
Thematic editors of the section:
Piotr Kosiorek (University of Wrocław)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1618-6607
e-mail: piotr.kosiorek@uwr.edu.pl
Paweł Rogiewicz (University of Wrocław)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1385-5943
e-mail: pawel.rogiewicz@uwr.edu.pl