Olena Yermakova
ESR 12: Escape from liberalism. The right-wing turn in Central and Eastern Europe and the problem of ‘otherness’ (Jagiellonian University)
Olena’s research project explores the theme of ESR12 from both the supply and the receiver sides of ‘othering’ and illiberal right-wing populist discourse. The research narrows down CEE to Poland and focuses on its biggest inner ‘othered’ group that is migrants from Ukraine. It aims to explore the ‘othering’ discourse produced by populist radical right parties (PRRP) in Poland, primarily PiS, in order to examine how and why PRRP use discursive legitimisation strategies to construct an enemy ‘Other’. Subsequently, the research project aims to capture interactions between the discourse and some of its ‘othered’ receivers, the migrants, explore their experiences and perceptions of it, and how their identity has been influenced by it.
Prior to her PhD, Olena studied languages at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In addition to her studies, she was an active member of the European Youth Parliament NGO, was elected to the Board of the Ukrainian branch of the organisation twice and organised international educational conferences for young people. This experience sparked her interest in European affairs, prompting her to study for an MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe in Natolin (Warsaw), and develop an interest in Central Europe as well as migration studies. In between her degrees, she worked for the press team of the Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, gaining experience in government and political communications.
She is supervised by Zdzisław Mach and Magdalena Góra at Jagiellonian University and Isidora Jarić at the University of Belgrade, with UCL’s Anne White serving as an intra-consortium reviewer.
Contact:
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Twitter: @O_Yermakova
Website: https://europeistyka.uj.edu.pl/pracownicy/olena-yermakowa
Work in Progress:
The Mythology of Law and Justice’s (PiS) Migration Discourse
Publications:
- 2021: “PiS vs LGBT: The “othering” of the LGBT movement as an element of populist radical right party discourse in Poland”, in Sprawy Narodowościowe: Seria nowa / Nationalities Affairs (SNSN), 2021(53), Article 2568. Available in open access: https://doi.org/10.11649/sn.2568
- 06/2021: “The silent Russian colonisation of Crimea”, in New Eastern Europe. Republished in Eurozine. Translated into Italian and republished in Internazionale
- 11/5/2020: Streets of Rage? Why asking Ukrainians to love their neighbours might show they are still streets apart (with M. Cole)
- 2019: “The mythology of Law and Justice’s migration discourse”, in Politeja, https://journals.akademicka.pl/politeja/article/view/1312/1186
- 10/05/2019: Ukrainian Politics is Like a Box of Chocolates… You Really Never Know What You’re Gonna Get, with M. Cole, also available on the UCL SSEES Research Blog
- 14/05/2019: The joker becomes king: what happened in the Ukrainian election and why Chantal Mouffe might also vote for Zelenskiy, with M. Cole, also available on the UCL SSEES Research Blog
Conferences and workshops:
05/2022: An interdisciplinary series of lectures “The Russian invasion in the core of Europe: bringing Ukrainian voices to the fore” (online by the University of Helsinki and Tampere University), as presenter
04/2022: FATIGUE final conference “Populism in Central and Eastern Europe: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” (Prague, Czechia), as paper presenter
02/2022: TCUP Conference “Beyond Borderland: 30 Years of Ukrainian Sovereignty” (online by Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University), as participant
01/2022: Roundtable discussion “Peaceful Solution for Ukraine” (online by International Institute for Peace), as participant
09/2021: UACES Annual Conference 2021 (online), as paper presenter
02/2021: Fatigue-Poprebel Seminar Series: Populism in Poland (online), as paper presenter
01/2021: ZOiS Conference 2021 (online), as participant
10/2020: International conference “Muslim migrants in Europe – overcoming social stigma” (Halina Niec Legal Aid Center, Krakow, Poland), as participant
09/2020: UACES Virtual Conference, as paper presenter and co-organiser of panel “LGBT Activism in the Age of Populism in Central and Eastern Europe: Poland, Serbia and Lithuania”
05/2020: Rogers Brubaker and Tariq Modood: Nationalism and Populism Today (online webinar by the University of Oslo), as participant
05/2020: Online Departmental Seminar: Populism as a Regime (Central European University), as a participant
02/2020: Workshop “Jewish art and tradition 2020” (University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia), as participant
12/2019: International conference “Contemporary populism and its political consequences: discourses and practices in Central and South-Eastern Europe” (University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia), as paper presenter
02/2019: International student conference “European politics and migration” (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland), as paper presenter
01/2019: Research symposium “Tackling right-wing populism: theoretical, political and activist perspectives” (University of Westminster, London, UK), as participant
Teaching activities:
2021, winter semester: Co-designing and co-teaching BA course “Socio-Cultural Trajectories of Central and Eastern Europe” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow) with. S. Volk and Prof. Mach
12/2021: Lecture “Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy: the case of Ukraine” (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, online)
12/2021: Lecture “The Ukrainian crisis: historical perspective” (Riga Stradins University, online)
2021, summer semester: Co-designing and co-teaching MA course “Democracy, Identity and Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow) with. S. Volk, F. Melito, R. Hornok and Prof. Mach
05/2021: Seminar “Contemporary Democratic Revolutions in CEE” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
05/2021: Lecture “Political system of the European Union” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
04/2021: Seminar “Democracy, democratisation and illiberalism in Central and Eastern Europe” together with Francesco Melito (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
04/2021: Lecture “Political system of selected European countries in comparative perspective: Ukraine” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
04/2021: Lecture “EU-Ukraine relations within the European Neighbourhood Policy: causes and consequences of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution” (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, online)
03/2021: Seminar “The concept of Central and Eastern Europe” together with Sabine Volk (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
12/2020: Lecture “CEE and conflicts in the European Neighbourhood: Ukrainian crisis” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
05/2020: Lecture “EU-Ukraine relations within the European Neighbourhood Policy: causes and consequences of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution” (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, online)
2019: Teaching assistant for MA course “Democracy, Identity and Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
12/2019: Lecture “The fall of communism: perspectives from Poland and Ukraine, preconditions of delayed transformational fatigue” (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade)
05/2019: Seminar “Migration in political discourses in Central and Eastern Europe” (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
Other relevant activities:
06/2021: Co-organised and co-chaired FATIGUE-POPREBEL panel debate “Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe? (Il)liberal Democracy Between Populist Governments and Civil Society Protest, Before and During Pandemic” with academics and civil society representatives for MA students (Centre for European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
2020-2021: Member of Common Future Conversations community by Chatham House
05/2019: Co-organised a panel debate “European Election results: what do they mean for Central and Eastern Europe?” (Centre for European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
Training:
2018-2022: Interdisciplinary PhD Programme: Politics, Culture and Society in the Contemporary World at the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Courses taken: Theories of Politics; Research Design; Teaching Methods and Advanced Teaching Methods; Religion, Diversity and Toleration in Central and Eastern Europe; Anthropology of Heritage and Memory in Europe; Arguing with Liberalism; International Relations, Qualitative Research Methods for Political Science, Quantitative Research Methods, and Polish language.
2020-2022: Online workshops organised by Fatigue consortium, such as Comparative Analysis, Discourse Analysis, Concept-building, How to Get Published?, Research-to-policy/Stakeholder Engagement, Policy Paper, Postdoc Opportunities, interrupted fieldwork research in times of Covid and lectures on political culture.
2021: ECPR Virtual Summer School in association with KU Leuven
- Critical Discourse Analysis course by Michał Krzyżanowski
2021: Master Class: Media Discourse and Social Protest (online by Centre of Discourse Studies)
2021: UACES-IACES joint seminar “Confronting Racism in Ireland, the UK and the EU” (online)
2021: 1st Jean Monnet Chair Workshop ‘Research-based Teaching in European Studies’ (online through University of Southampton)
2020: 1st ECPR Virtual Methods School (online through Central European University), courses taken:
- Interviews for Qualitative Data Generation
- Ethnographic Field Research Methods: Issues and Interpretation
- Survey Design
2020: International Summer Course in Critical Peace Studies by Peace Academy “Resisting Nationalism and Populism: Lessons from the case of Bosnia & Herzegovina” (online)
Winter semester 2019/2020: academic exchange to the University of Belgrade and research internship at the Jewish Community Belgrade/Jewish Historical Museum, where working with various researchers I received training in interviewing, familiarised myself with archival research, memory studies, minority studies and biopolitics, as well as took classes of Serbian.
2019: ECPR Winter School in Methods and Techniques (University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany). Courses taken:
- Introduction to MAXQDA: A Qualitative and Mixed Methods Data Analysis Software
- Introduction to Qualitative Interpretive Methods
2019: FATIGUE workshop “Interdisciplinary Area Studies Methods II” (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland)
2018: FATIGUE workshop “Interdisciplinary Area Studies Methods I” (University College London, London, UK)