Образ человека будущего, Том 7
Шрифт:
Ukrainian higher education also feels the influence of the mentiones phenomenon: Ukrainian socio-cultural space can be considered through the optic of mixing the features of postcolonial (imperial - Russian, Austro-Hungarian), post-totalitarian (Soviet), national (Ukrainian), modern (European / Western) and global (world high standards) paradigms of higher education
[Gomilko at el, 2016: 178]. The tragic facts of Revolution of Dignity, military activity at the East of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea demonstrates that Ukraine can be reviewed through the postcolonial methodological optics. Ukrainian situation is very similar to the following ideas of Fazal Rivzi and other authors: "Independence from colonialism does not mean liberation, and that "national consciousness" often fails to achieve freedom because its aspirations are primarily those of the colonized bourgeoisie, who simply replace the colonial rule with their own form of dominance, surveillance and coercion over the vast majority of the people, often using the same vocabulary of power... Even after independence, the colonial subjects remain colonized internally, psychologically" [Rivzi at el, 2006: 251].
Social and cultural prerequisites of universities division processes in Ukraine
The processes of political modernization after the fall of Soviet Union have an extremely active phase since 2013. This year is an edge point at the chronology of Ukrainian modernization activity. Viktor Yanukovych, former president of Ukraine, tried to change the modernization direction radically form European one and initiate Russia-oriented political activity. The Yanukovych regime is also known as an organized system with highest level of corruption.
The series of political steps of this politician initiated the protest activity called Revolution of Dignity. Yuriy Shveda describes the logic of revolution activity and one"s preconditions in
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a following way: "The most salient reason for the revolution is the failure of the new (post-Soviet) political elites in reforming Ukraine and building up a new statehood. Despite its newly earned independence, Ukraine has remained as an inefficient hybrid of the old (Soviet) and new (oligarchic) in its management and leadership. That is, the current political crisis in
Ukraine is simply the external manifestation of a systemic crisis: the political elite"s lack of will to reform and their inefficiency in policymaking since the 1990s" [Shveda, 2016:86].
We share the opinion of Yuriy Shveda who stresses that the Revolution of Dignity was not a direct reaction against the Yanukovych regime"s rejection of Ukrainian national values. Three fundamental causes were:
1. Indignation of citizens toward the unprecedented rise in corruption.
2. Failure to sign the Association Agreement with the EU for the prospects of rapprochement with Russia.
3. The brutal violence that the police used on those who dared to express dissatisfaction with Yanukovych"s policies [Shveda, 2016:86].
The president escaped from Ukraine to Russia and the crisis in relation between Ukraine and Russia get deeper and deeper. At the result of direct and hidden military activity, Russia performed the annexation of Crimea. Two quasi-republics were originated at the East of Ukraine. This situation caused intensive refugees movement. The educational institutions also became the subject of evacuation processes.
Tragic experience of Ukrainian higher education and universities division
We already underlined that postcolonialism is comprehended as a fruitful methodological approach for discovering the logic of the contradictions of Ukrainian modernization. Higher education of Ukraine (HEU) is also the subject of postcolonial social and cultural dynamics: "The remains of colonial and totalitarian systems in HEU are perceived as its own originality and uniqueness. The danger of such narcissism is romanticization and glorification of reality that actualize the pre-modern practices and forms of education. Nostalgic motives about the
"effectiveness" of Soviet HE contribute to hybridization of totalitarian colonial educational elements into the system of global education, creating its illusory and imitative substitutes" [Gomilko at el, 2016: 182].
At the previous parts of the articles, we paid some attention for discovering the social and cultural preconditions of divided universities problem. Also we tried to substantiate the need of performing of ethical evaluation procedure at the "idea of university" values coordinate system. To check the fact that university fits the requirements of "idea of university" we decided to analyze the fundamental principles of contemporary universities declared at Magna Charta Universitatum.
This document contains the following fundamental principle: "The University is an autonomous institution at the heart of societies differently organized because of geography and historical heritage; it produces, examines, appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching. To meet the needs of the world around it, its research and teaching must be morally and intellectually independent of all political authority and economic power" [Magna Charta Universitatum, 1988]. It is a proved fact, that universities at uncontrolled (annexed) territories have no autonomy. Maybe one"s research and teaching are morally independent of political authority? We have no reasons to answer positively.
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Magna Charta Universitatum also places an emphasis on the fact, that freedom in research and training is the fundamental principle of university life, and governments and universities, each as far as in them lies, must ensure respect for this fundamental requirement [Magna Charta Universitatum, 1988]. This fundamental principle is also violated in case of the universities operated at the territory of annexed Crimea, some territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
From the other hand, students and teaching stuff that performed troubled (and even danger for their life) procedure of evacuation should be comprehended as people who are firm to the principal of Magna Charta Universitatum. This document rightly comprehended as a dense collection of the basic principles of modern idea of university. Thus, evacuated universities are evaluated positively by us from the ethical positions: these universities stayed firm to Ukraine as well as to university fundamental principles.