How Ukraine's Elites Work - (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society) by Oleksandra Iwaniuk (Paperback)

About the Book

This sociological study examines how Ukrainian elites adapt during major crises, from Yanukovych to Zelensky. Using Bourdieu's theory, it reveals how power is embodied through habitus, symbolic capital, and field dynamics--offering a nuanced view beyond corruption and democratization clichés.

Book Synopsis

This sociological study explores how Ukrainian political elites think, act, and adapt in moments of profound transformation--from the authoritarian drift of the Yanukovych era to the national redefinition under Zelensky during the full-scale war. Using Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice, the book uncovers in which ways power is embodied and reproduced through the habitus of the elites, their symbolic capital, and field dynamics. Combining in-depth interviews, discourse analysis, and biographical investigation, the study reveals tacit norms, cultural resources, and survival strategies that shaped the behavior of Ukrainian policy makers and shapers. It traces how Ukraine's elites responded to crises--the Euromaidan, Russia's aggression, internal legitimacy struggles--while maintaining forms of continuity invisible to measurement with standard political science tools. By way of moving beyond cliché debates about corruption or democratization, the book paints a more nuanced picture of Ukraine's political field as a space of symbolic struggles shaped by history, class, and postcolonial legacies. It offers both new empirical insight and theoretical innovation, and thereby contributes to a better understanding of how elites operate not just in Ukraine but, in general, in transitional democracies facing external war and internal transformation.

Review Quotes

This book is the result of many years of immersive research within the highest circles of Ukrainian political power. It offers a rare and compelling glimpse into the hidden world of political elites -- not only elected officials but also their networks of influence and key actors shaping decisions behind the scenes. By uncovering the informal rules, internal dynamics, and symbolic struggles that govern elite behavior, the author reveals the often invisible logic of how power is exercised in contemporary Ukraine. Rich in unique firsthand material, this study brings to light mechanisms of influence, career trajectories, and the roles played by oligarchs and other powerful figures -- insights typically inaccessible to those outside the inner circles of authority. It is a vital and revealing contribution to our understanding of post-Soviet politics and the lived realities of elite power.--Tomasz Zarycki, Professor of Sociology, University of Warsaw

About the Author

Oleksandra Iwaniuk (Author)
Dr. Oleksandra Iwaniuk studied Political Science in Kyiv (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy), International Economics in Kyiv (Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman), and European Interdisciplinary Studies in Warsaw (College of Europe, Natolin). She received her PhD from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" at the University of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland. Previously, Iwaniuk served as an Expert at the Centre for Eastern Europe (Centrum Europy Wschodniej, UMCS), while remaining active in Polish-Ukrainian cultural dialogue at the Ukrainian House in Warsaw. Iwaniuk's previous books include the monograph Social Practices of Political Elites in Ukraine (2002-2016) in Light of Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Practice (UMCS, 2020), the novel Amor[t]e (Books XXI Publishing House, Chernivtsi, 2017; long-listed for the BBC Book of the Year and UNESCO's City of Literature awards), and Lessons in Philosophy (Tempora Publishing House, Kyiv, 2025). Her papers have been published by, among other outlets, Wschód Europy, New Eastern Europe, the Wilson Center's Focus Ukraine, and Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, as well as in edited volumes with University of Warsaw Press, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, and Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Georges Mink (Foreword by)
Prof. Georges Mink is permanent Professor at the College of Europe in Natolin. From 2019 to 2023 he was the Chairholder of the Chair of European History and Civilization. He is a sociologist and political scientist, specialising in Central and Eastern Europe. He has been one of the main two leaders of the Three Ukrainian Revolutions (3R) research project which was carried out by the College of Europe in Natolin from 2016 to 2024. He is Director Emeritus of Research at the Institut des Sciences Sociales et du Politique (CNRS - France), Université de Paris X, Nanterre and former President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES), 2015-2021. His research and publications - more than 250 - include books, chapters in the collective publications, articles and expert papers, and are dedicated to political systems, the sociopolitical evolution of these regimes, the conversion of ex-communist elites in Central and Eastern Europe and the Europeanisation of national political systems. He was also a co-editor of the first two volumes of the Three Ukrainian Revolutions publication prepared in the framework of the 3R research project and published by Ibidem. Among his recent books is also La Pologne au coeur de l'Europe, de 1914 à aujourd'hui, histoire politique et conflits de mémoire, published by Buchet-Chastel in 2015 (French version) and in 2017 (Polish version).