Discussing Ukraine: Academic exclusivity and willful ignorance of the empirical
The war in Ukraine has, understandably, seen an increase in narratives from a variety of voices. On one side we have seen western populist political talking heads demanding a sovereign nation simply surrender to the aggressor whilst fingering the blame squarely on NATO for Putin’s invasion. On the other side, we have seen ludicrous and ill-informed mega-threads on a host of subjects from food security to logistics written by those with little previous output or expertise on the subject. Since February many of these western voices have been actively courted by the press for self-promotion, further spreading mythologies of starvation, defeat and military loss. All of which feed the Russian propaganda machine by proxy.
The Ukraine war has become the talking point of the misinformed and misguided voice as much as it has the informed. Writers from a range of backgrounds have either been combating misinformation, me included, or adding to the hysteria. Yet throughout all of this the one voice that has been ignored deliberately or otherwise has been that of the Ukrainian people. In this instance, I refer to Ukrainian academics, politicians and military voices, men and women whose work has been to deal with the Russian invasion first-hand. People, whose voices and experiences have been ignored or drowned out by western observers.
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Earlier this year Amnesty International damned the men and women of Ukraine with their abysmal summer assessment that Ukrainian fighting tactics endangered civilians.
This shifted the blame from the invading Russians onto the very people whose country Putin had invaded. This abhorrent narrative, made after 12 weeks of working in Ukraine, gives an inkling of the arrogance many in the west have adopted as the war has progressed. Indeed rather than show contrition, Amnesty, along with other organisations, including the British Stop the War Coalition, have remained astonishingly tone deaf to the genocide that continues to occur in the Russian-occupied territories and the war as a whole.
This tone-deaf approach has also entered the academic field, where intellectual arrogance and self-belief have once again reared its ugly head in the announcement by the British Academy of a two-day conference on the Russo-Ukrainian War. What makes this announcement to be so extraordinary is the lack of voice from Ukrainian academics. This not only stifles the opportunity to learn from those on the ground but also opens up the possibility for the spreading of more mythologies regarding the war. It also flies in the face of the British Academy’s own ethos which is claimed to;
“… invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone”.
This conference, no matter how well-meaning it was designed to be, simply cannot be even-handed without the presence and input of Ukrainian political scientists, military thinkers and policymakers. It’s little more than an act of academic self–indulgence, and exceptionalism, led by intelligent people who should be recognizing the need to include voices from the warzones. There is no practical excuse for this exclusionary behaviour, as not all scholars are directly involved in the war. Some will have been sent away from Ukraine for their own protection and to ensure the intellectual and cultural voice of Ukraine is not snuffed out like that of their Iraqi counterparts during the rise of the Islamic State in 2014. It is these men and women, along with Ukrainian politicians, journalists, teachers and general citizens, who should be leading the discussion about their country, not an academic viewing through the proverbial telescope. In censoring their voices, as well as their personal, cultural and social experiences, it could be argued we are helping the aggressor, and are fearful of Russia’s ire by not putting the Ukrainian voice first and foremost in our discussions. It also stifles sensible academic discussion on a subject that affects us all, especially in Europe.
The conference no matter how well-meaning has failed at the first hurdle to meet its desired outcome and falls way short of what is expected from our establishments, political or academic, in terms of conversation. And that in itself is worthy of further discussion.
*As can be expected the response to the line-up has been less than enthusiastic.
We appreciate the concerns that have been raised around this conference. Ensuring contributions from Ukrainians is the priority of the convenors as they finalise the programme speaker list.
— The British Academy (@BritishAcademy_) 2:59 PM ∙ Sep 13, 2022
No Ko-fi link this time because we aren’t crass, just upset.
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