The end of the twentieth century is marked by interethnic conflicts, with hotbeds and embers glimmering in countries at different levels of economic and cultural progress, with a varying degree of religious differences. Compared to former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, and the Transnistria, Ukraine is generally regarded as an area of relative interethnic accord.
However, there is a degree of xenophobia in any society. It is manifest primarily in negative views on and prejudices against people of different ethnic origin. A team of researchers from Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) has studied xenophobia levels in Ukraine for four years. The Day interviewed KIIS Director Volodymyr Paniotto, Ph.D. (Philosophy), on their findings.
Q: So what about xenophobia in Ukraine? Is the level high?
A: To determine this we used what is called Bogardus social distance scale used by sociologists elsewhere in the world. This technique boils down to asking people how they would feel about accepting representatives of different ethnic groups as members of their families (a reply in the negative serves to indicate a minimum level of prejudice), close friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc., or maybe such people should not be allowed to enter Ukraine (confirming the latter serves as a maximum prejudice indicator). We determined the level of xenophobia for the entire populace and for the largest ethnic groups, Ukrainians and Russians. This level turned out rather high: between 30 and 40 percent have ethnic prejudices, and this percentage has increased over the past four years, while ethnic tolerance has been declining.
Q: Which ethnic groups are least tolerated?
A: Gypsies. More than half the populace do not want to see them as citizens of Ukraine. Nine out of every ten respondents did not want them as members of their families. About the same is true of Africans: 60% did not want them as citizens of Ukraine. Now this is evidence of racial prejudice. The next in line are Romanians.
Q: And people from the Caucasus?
A: The attitude is more negative than toward Romanians but less so than toward the blacks. We studied this in only several polls, so I can’t talk about dynamics.
Q: Is there anti-Semitism in Ukraine?
A: It exists in many countries and Ukraine is no exception. In the developed countries it is considered a negative phenomenon and measures are taken to prevent it. Anti-Semitic moods are in a way an integral indicator of tolerance in a given society. They impact negatively on relations with other countries, particularly with the United States. When I visited there NBC showed right-wing radicals at an anti-Semitic rally in Lviv. Actually, it was a montage incorporating archival scenes of Nazi torch marches in the 1930s. This program gave rise to anti-Ukrainian attitudes in the US, and inquiries were made in Congress. It was followed by a campaign of protest proving that the radical rally in Ukraine did not reflect national policy toward the Jews (even the Chief Rabbi of New York joined the campaign). Without this campaign Ukrainian-US relationships would have suffered, I’m sure.
We registered 80% respondents with negative attitudes toward Jews. They said they did not want them as members of their families. One-third of the respondents did not want Jews as citizens of Ukraine. As an absolute value, this is high, but not as a relative one, because other ethnic groups are viewed even worse. Personally I believe that this is evidence of general intolerance rather than anti-Semitism as such.
Q: People with ethnic prejudices provide fertile ground for interethnic conflicts. What is the potential for such conflicts in Ukraine?
A: We have the potential, of course, because there are quite a few people prejudiced against certain ethnic groups. However, there is a great deal of social apathy in Ukraine, so the probability of spontaneous mass actions like pogroms is low. Another thing is that such interethnic conflicts can and are engineered by certain forces pursuing primarily political or economic goals. As is so often the case, in a sharpening socioeconomic situation one starts looking for enemies, and what better enemy than a “stranger,” someone speaking a different language and behaving differently. Unfortunately, sociological methods are no good for predicting organized rather than spontaneous pogroms. Like I said, in Ukraine the current degree of interethnic stability is guaranteed by popular apathy.






