Our Next Fight: Fair system and Social justice in Ukraine! Can post-growth be a solution?
By Mykhailo Shchomak
TW: se**ual violence, gender-based violence, to**ture.
On February 5, the Rating sociological group published the data of a survey conducted from November 20 to December 4, 2024. It focused on the current mindset of Ukrainian citizens, their expectations, irritants and hopes. The results of these sociological surveys may seem unexpected, as they ruin the existing stereotypes and cast doubt on the statements of some officials.
For instance, it was confirmed that economy now is in the center of attention among Ukrainians: so 33% of respondents are alarmed by the rate of inflation, 32% - by the economic crisis. Only after these problems with a margin come shelling and occupation (27% and 25% respectively), but they are followed again by social problems - demographic hole (18% of respondents) and termination of some Western aid (17% of respondents). 80% Of respondents complain about the decline in the economy, 62% state that the situation in the country is deteriorating, 60% complain about the decline in incomes, 54% report that their health is deteriorating, and 49% say that the country is developing in the wrong direction. The main irritants are corruption (58% of respondents), falling incomes (49% of respondents). Finally, 52% of Ukrainian citizens are interested in information about the fight against corruption, while the war is of interest to a much smaller number of people - 34%, with 79% of respondents interested in the conditions in the occupied territories.
Currently, Ukrainian society, in addition to the war, is also interested in Ukraine's internal problems -corruption, deterioration of the economy and socio-political sphere. The fact that the largest conflict in Europe after World War II, which has been destroying Ukraine for the third year, worries Ukrainian citizens to some extent less than the above-mentioned problems, suggests that these issues have grown to terrifying proportions. This fact is confirmed not only by statistics, but also by the stories of Ukrainians facing injustice that have become commonplace and may shock an unaware observer.
Here are some of them:
Alim was born in Karabakh. When he was five years old, his family moved to Sumy, fleeing from conflict. He grew up a true patriot of his new homeland: on the very first day of Russian aggression, he went to the military recruitment center. He fought in the ranks of the 58th UMBR in Donetsk region. In the battle on Volnovakha direction he received a heavy wound in the leg, which later had to be amputated. After leaving the army, he applied to the TCR & SS (Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support) for disability payments. But they told him that he was a foreign citizen and he should apply to his state for payments! To Alim's words that he is a citizen of Ukraine, the TCR & SS said that they never had any documents confirming this. “I'm sure my documents were just thrown out to avoid paying. It is very convenient, because I have an Azerbaijani passport, which means they can make me look like a foreign volunteer,” the soldier explains. The veteran has never received the money for his disability…..
Olesya (name changed) served as a medic in the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) Support Forces. She joined the army voluntarily right after the war started, following her husband, leaving her young son in her mother's care. Despite her requests to serve on the front line, Olesya was sent to the rear to the Joint Training Center in Kamyanets-Podolsk. Very soon the woman faced gender discrimination - her coworkers simply did not take her seriously. At first it was sexist jokes, which turned into open harassment because of Olesya's feminist views, which she was not afraid to demonstrate. But the real nightmare began when she was “noticed” by the head of the medical service. Very soon rude molestations turned into open attempts to induce Olesya to sexual contact. The words that she was married did not work at all, and one night the girl was g*ng-r*ped. After that, her service turned into hell: she was engaged in exclusively “female” work - cleaning the unit and washing dishes. Sometimes at night she was called back to the office of her superiors, where she was r*ped. It seemed that there would be no end to it, but, fortunately, an acquaintance from the military hospital helped the girl to transfer to Kyiv, to work for herself. But even now, at home in Kyiv, she fears for her safety. Neither her husband nor her mother has yet told her about her nightmare. “I'm afraid that my husband will do something terrible if he finds out about it, and my mother may just not be able to stand it, she has a bad heart” - she said.
Andriy was a mechanic-driver in the 63rd UMBR. After being wounded at the front, he received a short leave of absence and went home to Khmelnitsky. However, a surprise awaited him at home: his wife had somehow illegally dissolved the marriage and left for Poland with their daughter. According to Andrei, he had a long-standing disagreement with his wife, but the fact that she was capable of committing a crime was a complete surprise to him. At first, the soldier tried to contact his wife or daughter, but the phone did not answer. Shocked, he went to the police, but they told him that the documents showed that everything was according to the law. Appealing to the court also did not help: the documents on the “dissolution of marriage” were perfectly executed, there was even Andrei's signature. When the soldier said that it was all fake, his wife had just bribed lawyers and a notary, he was advised... to go to the doctor. “I was politely asked if I had received any head wounds at the front or contusions. Then I realized that they thought I was inadequate,” says Andriy. Rejected and forgotten by everyone, now he does not know what to do….
These three stories of nightmare, humiliation and injustice happened to soldiers - people who should enjoy maximum support and respect from the state they defend. If the defenders of Ukraine are treated so horribly by the authorities, what is the treatment of ordinary Ukrainians?
The UN Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine from September 1 to November 30, 2024 can illustrate this. One of the main violations of the rights of Ukrainian citizens, it points out, is the disregard for constitutional and international law, which allows conscientious objection to military service for reasons of conscience and religion. The following horrifying cases are cited as examples: in one TCR & SS a Jehovah's Witness was threatened with cas**ation for “cowardice”; four other believers were beaten and to*tured by strangulation for their pacifism in the TCR. Moreover, all of them were subsequently sentenced to prison despite the judges' awareness of the violation of the constitutional rights.
Unfortunately, after the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, despite the past ten years, the fight against corruption and social injustice is still too slow. Thus, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, at the end of 2014, despite the overthrow of the Viktor Yanukovych regime, the country was still extremely corrupt, ranking 142nd out of 180 in the world. Today it has only reached 105th place, surpassed only by dictatorial Belarus. Such low rates of democratization make the chances of real European integration slow, and Ukrainian society is bitterly aware of this.
The sociological research conducted by the “Rating” group should become an alarming signal for the current authorities of Ukraine: our society, which has fully breathed the spirit of freedom during the three democratic revolutions, which has long ago learned to be very sensitive to the slightest violations of its civil rights, today hates corruption and social injustice more than enemy occupants.
But what can be done in this situation?
Post-growth (post-war) economics can be the alternative! Its basic principle is that the modern economy of accumulation, GDP orientation, inevitably leads to social inequality, which only intensifies as the economy grows and declines. Needless to say, such conditions make inevitable the emergence of corruption, which in the eyes of many looks like a means of survival for themselves and their families. At the same time, social inequality turns the rich elites into a closed caste where everyone is tied to each other. That is why the accumulation economy we are used to is to be changed to a beyond-growth economy that has answers to the problems that have accumulated, including corruption and human rights violations. Thus, it involves redirecting the economy to serve the citizen and their needs and the needs of society, distributing the resources justly. There is strong ground to believe that Ukrainian society is ready for such changes: we have lived for too long under the conditions of ruthless neoliberal and corrupt policies. Moreover, beyond growth economy addresses an environmental problem that has now taken on the character of a global catastrophe, especially in Ukrainian realities, when the local environment has suffered as a result of war. Our next fight is social justice, a country without corruption. We are ready for such changes, to debate and to create our future Ukraine!
