[Aaus-list] Andreas Umland vs Decommunization Law
Oleh Weres
oweres at charter.net
Tue Jun 2 14:04:41 EDT 2015
Professor Umland's comments are a bit much and really miss the point.
Agreed, the Law is a mess. It's purposes were legitimate but it was
poorly drafted and went way to far.
But the problem really wasn't with Vyatrovych, Shukhevych et al who
drafted it.
Laws are properly drafted by legislative staff working under the
supervision of legislators, and thoroughly reviewed and reworked by
legislators as they move forward. Outside "experts", lobbyists, etc,
contribute their advice which can be followed or not.
In this case, the fault lay with the Rada which uncritically passed the
draft prepared by Vyatrovych et al without properly reviewing what was in
the draft. A carefully drafted "sense of the Rada" RESOLUTION would have
served the Law's legitimate goals without providing fuel for Russian
propaganda and creating messes which will need to be cleaned up.
The main failure lay with the Rada which failed to do its job. The
problem wasn't caused by lack of academic credentials. After all, the Law
was not a manuscript to be peer reviewed for publication.
I chalk it up to lack of experience and amateurism on the part of the Rada.
And, in my opinion, President Poroshenko failed to do his job too. He
should have vetoed the thing and immediately proffered a properly drafted
resolution to replace it.
And finally, I do not agree with Professor Umland that only much published
academics are allowed to express an opinion on Ukrainian history in what
was in this case within the sphere of national identity, public opinion
and public policy rather than academic research.
--
Oleh Weres
PS Most of you don't know me, because I am not an academic. However, I
did serve as a Public Member of the US Government Commission on the
Ukraine Famine and thus had the opportunity to observe at close range how
the work of historians (Jim Mace et al) properly feeds into the work of
legislators. In addition to supporting historical research, the FamComm
effort had obvious though unstated purposes much like those of the cited
Law.
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