Jessica Zychowicz PhD, University of Michigan; BA, University of California Berkeley

FREEDOM TAKING PLACE: WAR, WOMEN AND CULTURE AT THE INTERSECTION OF UKRAINE, POLAND, AND BELARUS

Edited and with an Introduction by Jessica Zychowicz (Vernon Press, 2023).

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Available at 24% DISCOUNT using CODE: CFC1031064998 (on checkout) at VERNON PRESS or on Amazon.

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AUTHORS: Oksana Briukhovetska (Secondary Archive.org), Magdalena Furmanik-Kowalska (The Polish Institute of World Art Studies, Poland; Fundacja Art & Modern), Małgorzata Jankowska (Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland), Olga Plakhotnik (Ethnology Institute of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; University of Greifswald, Germany), Maria Mayerchyk (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; University of Greifswald, Germany), Svitlana Biedarieva (Kennan Institute Wilson Center George Washington University), Kateryna Iakovlenko (Suspilne.media; UCL SSEES), Joanna Dobkowska-Kubacka (University of Łódź, Poland), Veronica Laputska (Graduate School for Social Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences), Antonina Stebur (Spaika.media; The International Coalition of Cultural Workers Against the War in Ukraine; Universität der Künste Berlin, Germany; European College of Liberal Art, Minsk, Belarus), Nataliya Tchermalykh (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Jessica Zychowicz (Fulbright Ukraine; Institute of International Education Kyiv office), Agnieszka Graff (American Studies Center, Warsaw University), Natallia Paulovich (Independent Researcher, Warsaw, Poland), Iryna Shuvalova (University of Oslo, Norway).

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SUMMARY: Freedom as a concept shifts with different forms of expression. As the authors of this volume convey in their focus on 'freedom of expression', the idea of 'freedom' in the twenty-first century does not stand apart as a purely physical location marked by national borders. In the Internet Age information is increasingly co-determinate of physical freedom. The information-dense space of the protests of 2021, and beyond, provide soil for the intellectuals writing in this volume to reflect on women’s agency in struggles for human rights.

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Where historical discourse on “The Woman Question” once conflicted with “feminism” as a perceived importation from the West, this conflict also produced productive tensions that have provided ongoing sites for research. When closely studied, these contexts can deepen global concepts of democracy and justice, providing not only pathways for acts of solidarity and mutual assistance, but intellectual depth and breadth for the future 'ways of knowing', and thus ways of creating, more equitable post-conflict power systems and citizenship amid times of revolution and war. Coming from multiple generations, gender identities, nationalities, and language; the authors in this volume represent the most forward-thinking voices and figures working on gender in the region today.

SELECTED PRAISE: "Freedom Taking Place: War, Women and Culture at the Intersection of Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus is a compelling and original collection. The richness of the sources and the interdisciplinary nature of the methodology is very impressive. [...] The reflection on self-positionality and opening a conversation about the work on the intersection of activism and academic commitment is long overdue in East European studies. I am convinced that this book can become a very strong addition to many courses on Eastern Europe, and feminism as well as courses on art history and gender studies. [...] This book will be a great and important accomplishment." - Prof. Anna Muller, Frank and Mary Padzieski Endowed Professor in Polish/Polish American/Eastern European Studies, Assistant Professor of History, University Michigan.

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COVER IMAGE: from the series called "Drawing on Maidan" (2013) by the contemporary Ukrainian artist Lesia Khomenko. Khomenko had sketched many faces of people she saw on the Maidan on carbon paper over a carbon block. The many papers with individual portraits are also part of the series, but what you see here is the residual carbon block that forms a kind of palimpsest of hundreds of faces. This particular series is kept at the Revolution of Dignity Museum in Kyiv.