Project Update:
In writing my introduction, I had to ask myself some important questions:
Why does my project matter? Why should we care about the impact of ICTs in Ukraine?
I came across an interesting article by Michael McFaul suggesting that the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine may have been the first movement of its kind to be largely organized online. The websites of advocacy groups like Maidan and Pora, as well as the online newspaper Ukrainian Pravda, exposed widespread corruption during the presidential election, relayed logistical information to protesters setting up tents throughout the country (sound like #Occupy?), while SMS helped mobilize hundreds of thousands more (not unlike TXTMob) (McFaul 2005, 12). Long story short, the popular pro-democracy candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, won the election, inspiring hope for both post-Soviet democratization and the political potential of ICTs.
The triumph of Yushchenko seemed to support the cyberutopian vision of the Internet as a democratizing force and a facilitator of civic engagement; however, many of Ukraine’s gains have been short-lived. In 2010, Viktor Yanukovych, the loser of the 2004 elections, was elected president, ushering in a new period of Soviet-style semi-authoritarianism with bloated executive power, stifling bureaucracy, and institutionalized corruption.
In recent years, the question of virtual social networks and their impact on democracy has been hotly debated, particularly in response to the Arab Spring. Whether the Internet is a simple tool or a veritable extension of civil society, it is clear that the issue will remain geopolitically relevant as our world further embraces technology. Ukraine provides an early example of the positive effects of ICTs in orchestrating political movements, as well as their limitations. In spite of the obstacles – a miniscule percentage of Internet users, lack of experience in self-organization due to the Soviet legacy, and a corrupt and unpredictable government– Ukrainians demonstrated their will to band together in the common interest of a democratic election. Yet, less than a decade later, we see a large-scale reversal of the Orange Revolution’s gains. While technology may have mobilized people in the short-term, it is not necessarily a fourth estate in and of itself.
So, examining the period of time between 2004 and the present day in Ukraine will improve our understanding of the actual impact, potential, and limitations of ICTs in countries with weakly developed (or non-existent) democracies. To be continued…
Sources:
McFaul, Michael. “Transitions from Postcommunism.” Journal of Democracy 16, no. 3 (2005): 5-19.