September 21, 2009

Ukraine’s Land Reform in Faces

I conducted a fieldwork in Ukraine between two summers of 2007 & 2008. It's approved by the Human Subject Review Board (HSRB) at George Mason University. Every social scientist has to go through HSRB if your fieldwork involves interviews with human subjects (that's how HSRB calls people).

Why did I conduct fieldwork in Ukraine? First, I am very interested in the aftermath of Ukraine's privatization and its unintended consequences for Ukrainians. I've also noticed that Ukraine has developed a very interesting mix of socialist-capitalist property rights system since its breakaway from the FSU. Second, I strongly believe that a quality of fieldwork improves significantly when you understand indigenous culture and speak indigenous language (in case of Ukraine, you have to speak both Russian and Ukrainian or their mixed version Surzhyk). Otherwise, you'll be either brushed off for cultural ignorance or lost in translation. I'll post more about my fieldwork soon. But now I'd like to invite you to check out a photo report about my fieldwork because I honestly believe that one picture is worth ten thousand words.

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