The Russian-Ukrainian War as a Liminal Situation: Clarifying Identity

Abstract

The global political and socio-economic transformations that have swept through Ukraine since the very beginning of its independence have led to significant changes across all spheres, including value orientations and mentality, in the context of national-cultural and civic-political identities. The Russian-Ukrainian war has marked a shift to a new reality and has become a watershed moment in the historical development of the nation, dividing it into "before" and "after." In this liminal situation, a profound existential crisis within contemporary Ukrainian society has become increasingly evident. Addressing this issue requires a contextual analysis of the multilayered events of the Russian-Ukrainian war in order to clarify the question of identity. The purpose of this study is to seek a theoretically grounded answer to the problem of identity clarification in a liminal situation shaped by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The following research objectives have been defined in accordance with this goal: to outline the methodological and conceptual framework and define key categories; to conceptually analyze the Russian-Ukrainian war as a liminal situation that shapes the multidimensional aspects of societal meaning-making; and to reveal the ways in which identity is determined by the transformational processes inherent in such a liminal situation. The scientific novelty of this study lies in its reflective and critical understanding of the correlation between identity and the war-induced liminal condition, which determines fundamental value transformations, as well as in its attempt at a comprehensive interdisciplinary conceptualization of the issue. This research aims to deepen and enrich the understanding of the essential processes of identity formation in contemporary society. The results of the study point to the dual nature of the liminal situation that has emerged amid the large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war: it simultaneously poses threats (including existential ones) and opens new perspectives for identity formation, the construction of temporary identities, and the strengthening of the society’s and nation’s consolidation potential under wartime conditions. The interdisciplinary nature of this research may inspire further scholarly inquiry into the issue of identity in liminal situations shaped by the Russian-Ukrainian war.