Is the Census in Independent Ukraine a Political Project?

Absztrakt

This article examines the state’s desire to control the lives of its population by using statistics and the census, particularly to legitimize the regime as the embodiment of political democracy, social justice, and cultural tradition.
The process and results of the Ukrainian census became instruments in the struggle to legitimize the power of various political groups after the collapse of the USSR, when significant changes in identity and migration occurred. The census results acquired significant sociopolitical significance, both at the political and governmental levels.
This article analyzes the census results of the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Key factors included indicators of the ethnic composition of the population, language preferences, and the regional distribution of national minorities.
The Ukrainian census had exclusively political significance, as it allowed for ”the construction of the image of the nation and the state, and the correction of harsh realities through census categories and manipulations.”