• Home
• Speakers
  • Call for papers
  • Presentation skills
  • Paper submission
  • Publication
  • Audio/visual facilities
  • Funding
• Conference
  • Conference feedback
  • Keynote speakers
  • Programme
    • Session summary
    • Thursday summary
    • Thursday Session A
    • Thursday Session B
    • Thursday Session C
    • Friday summary
    • Friday Session D
    • Friday Session E
    • Friday Session F
    • Friday Session G
    • Saturday summary
    • Saturday Session H
    • Saturday Session J
    • Saturday Session K
  • Registration
  • Social events
  • History
• Information
  • Travel to UK
  • Travel to London
  • Travel in London
  • Accommodation
  • Food and Drink
  • London Information
  • FAQ
• Organisation
  • Photos
  • Committee
  • Academic panel
  • Sponsors links
  • Links
• Contact Us

UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 7th Annual International Postgraduate Conference

Inclusion Exclusion

---

Friday 17 February  10:00 – 11:30: Panel D3: Microregions and Subcultures

Vsevolod Samokhvalov (International Centre for Black Sea Studies, Athens): ‘New identities, inclusion and exclusion in Ukrainian Bessarabia: the Reni district case’

Bessarabia – historic region, which is situated between the rivers Dniester, Pruth and Danube. The region is currently included mainly into Republic of Moldova and south of Odessa region of Ukraine. Reni district (rayon) is situated in the southeast of the Odessa region (oblast), on the juncture of three states Moldova, Ukraine and Romania, just several kilometers from the confluence of Pruth and Danube. The district as well as its administrative center town of Reni represents small reflection of the region of Bessarabia. There are five major minority groups, which inhabit the town and the surrounding villages. Those are Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Bulgarians and Gagauz. The district being a part of the greater region of Bessarabia also used to be arena and object of clashes between major forces in the period of the last several centuries. Therefore, Reni district, which only in the XX century lived change of sovereigns five times, represents an interesting case study of the border town situated in a disputed crossroad.

The aim of the present paper is to analyse how the history of Bessarabia influenced the fortunes of the district of Reni. The analysis of the paper will be focused on the impact that long-standing historic processes, as well as recent developments and events touching upon Bessarabia had on the fortunes and wider range of economic, political and social features of the border district of Reni.

The case study of Reni district will exemplify how the changes in the border configuration, economic and social inclusion into and exclusion from different states-projects influenced production patterns, trade activities of entrepreneurs of Reni, as well as ethnic and civic self-identification of the local population. The author will also provide some historic overview of the process of inclusion of local minorities into industrial and administrative complex of consequently the Russian Empire, Romania and the Soviet Union and how this process continued after Reni found itself part of a new independent Ukraine.

The author argues that after the Orange Revolution the policies of the new Ukrainian leadership will negatively affect local minorities, excluding them from active political life and civic participation. The author also suggests that the enlargement of the European Union in 2007 will result in enforcing of local borders and eventual preventing local minorities from closer contacts with the their nationals in Romania and Bulgaria. Therefore, there is a real danger that local minorities will be actually marginalized and left out both by the EU and European-oriented Ukrainian leadership if necessary measures are considered and implemented.