Noreen van Elk – författare

For more than two years now, Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine is a central matter of concern in the political, public and academic sphere. The war has sparked intense debates on a wide array of questions as well as on its global consequences and backlashes. At least academic discourses were in various degrees dominated by researchers with a non-Ukrainian background. This book, going back to a symposium held in Vienna in early 2023, gives a voice to early-career researchers from Ukraine, which have been affected by the war in myriad ways – to say the least. The academic contributions focus mainly on churches, religious institutions, beliefs and practices. They cover a wide array of topics, be they historical perspectives, diverse religious affiliations, the use of symbols in the war, ethnic groups, the voice of religious leaders and the role of Europe. The articles reveal the complexity of the conditions under which the war came about and the depth of the impact that the war will have on Ukraine, its neighboring countries and the whole of Europe. Included is also a lecture by Olexandra Matviichuk, human rights defender and director of the Centre for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.