Freedom: what it is(n’t)

“Then I am joyful, then I am rich, when my heart shall walk in freedom!” wrote Taras Shevchenko, one of Ukraine’s  most prominent writers. He knew very well what he was writing about, given how severely he was persecuted by the Russian Empire for his revolutionary poetry and his defense of Ukrainian identity. His words still resonate today, not least because  the struggle for freedom has taken on a whole new dimension. 

Many will remember the footage from 2022, when Ukrainian defence forces liberated Balaklia from Russian occupation. As they removed Russian propaganda plastered across town, they discovered verses by Taras Shevchenko hidden underneath. In them, Shevchenko   reflected on the Russian colonisation of the Caucasus. 

And glory, mountains blue, to you,

In ageless ice encased!

And glory, freedom’s knights, to you,

Whom God will not forsake.

Keep fighting—you are sure to win!

God helps you in your fight!

For fame and freedom march with you,

And right is on your side!

The meaning of these words, and their striking resonance with the defense of Ukraine today, was not lost on those familiar with the histories of these regions. Moreover, the episode also illustrates with precise clarity how, even under the harshest conditions of oppression, the human desire for freedom prevails. Yet, some thinkers have also long recognised that freedom is a lot more complicated than simply being liberated from oppression. As the prolific writer and pioneering feminist thinker Lesya Ukrainka emphasized, “Who frees themselves, will be free; who frees another, takes them into captivity.” Indeed, this powerful aphorism became a prominent slogan during the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, recognising that genuine freedom cannot be given; it must be claimed by the people themselves. 

This understanding of freedom that must be claimed, defended, and continually renewed resonates far beyond Ukraine. Across the RUTA region(s) and across different historical moments, thinkers and political figures have returned to the same fundamental ideas: freedom depends on the determination to resist domination. 

On August 23, 1989, in one of the biggest pro-democratic protests in European history, an estimated two million people joined hands across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, forming a 675 kilometres long human chain in an act of transnational solidarity against Soviet imperial rule. The simple act of holding hands, body linked to body, constructing a wall of human connection against overwhelming force, was the Baltic peoples’ chosen method of non-violent resistance. Yet, when the Soviet empire chose to use violence against the Baltic countries in January 1991, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians stood on the barricades around their democratically elected institutions, unarmed but ready to fight, guarding freedom with nothing more than their own bodies.

This dedication to free oneself from imperial subjugation has been strong across the RUTA regions. Dzhokhar Dudayev, the leader of the 1990s Chechen independence movement from Russia and the first President of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, notably advised: “if you lack the strength to win, do not lack the will to not submit”, highlighting the crucial role of defiance. A century before him, Uzbek reformer Munavvar Qori Abdurashidkhanov similarly emphasized that independence is never a passive gift: “Freedom is taken, not given! It is not seen in history that freedom was given to any state and country without blood and sacrifice.” Of course, his words also remind us of the immense costs of freedom in the RUTA regions, a cost known all too well across Ukraine. 

These reflections acquire a particular urgency in the present moment.  In 1991, every region of Ukraine unanimously voted to leave the Soviet empire; today, Russia’s war against Ukraine serves as an example of a desperate attempt to regain a lost “greatness,” – which notably none of the liberated societies want back. In Sakartvelo/Georgia, meanwhile, students and academics have been leading pro-democratic protests against an increasingly totalitarian pro-Russian government, showing up for their society for over 600 consecutive days and taking insistence on freedom to new levels. Indeed, “freedom was not won to be handed back” is the central sentiment echoing across the sustained demonstrations that have taken place in Tbilisi, emphasizing that the independence and civic liberties gained since 1991 will not be surrendered to an authoritarian tide. Notably, Georgian academics continue to protest, despite immense pressures of political repression, the risk of imprisonment, hefty fines and the firing of actively pro-democratic educators from their jobs.

Yet the question remains, what does it actually take to overthrow a dictatorship? In her recent book on the Kazakh Spring, Diana Kudaibergen reflects on the struggle for freedom as a monumental, yet often non-linear and unfinished journey. The lessons of her book resonate with the legacies of Prague as well as the Arab Spring: movements of extraordinary mobilisation and courage do not always bring liberation, or at least not always immediately. Clearly, the desire for freedom does not die under authoritarian rule, but breaking free also requires more than mass protest alone. 

What, then, does freedom take? What can we learn from those who thought and fought for freedom long before us? And where do our freedom paths cross with those of other people? “For your freedom and ours,” a slogan that emerged from a 19th century Polish uprising against the Russian Empire, was later used by Polish volunteers fighting against fascism in the International Brigades of the Spanish war, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against Nazi-German occupiers, and subsequently, by the eight protestors who gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to oppose the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Remarkably, there are slogans and experiences that bring us closer to one another, even across long distances of time and space. 

“Our solidarity comes from a place of anger at the injustice, and a place of deep pain of knowing the devastating impacts of occupation, the shelling of civil infrastructure, and humanitarian blockade, from experiences in our homeland,” reads the letter of Ukrainian Solidarity with the Palestinian people. Similar experiences of military occupation, wars of aggression and subjugation can speak across different contexts, but they are often not enough; for histories to speak to one another, people must be willing and ready to hear them. What enables such hearing? And what hinders it? How can our freedom become yours and yours ours? Which intellectual traditions, theories, methods and concepts can help us understand these processes? What makes our historical experiences audible across the world? And are there some stories that mostly art can tell? 

We especially welcome contributions on these (but not only these) topics:

• What is freedom? Who are the theorists, dissidents, artists from the RUTA regions and globally, who inspire us when we think about what freedom is and isn’t? 
• What will set us free? Decolonial, feminist, queer, antiracist, and antifascist perspectives on freedom and liberation 
• What freedom isn’t? Which approaches, theories, and conceptualisations of marginalisation and oppression are most generative in supporting our work across the RUTA regions and in global dialogues? 
• Where does our freedom end: the limits and complexities of freedom 
• What can we learn from the rich histories of dissident thought and liberation movements in the RUTA regions and in transregional dialogues? 
• Freedom from war and occupation 
• How does civic nationalism differ from ethnonationalism and why is this distinction crucial with respect to freedom and liberation from imperial oppression; anticolonial nationalism, nationalism of the oppressed 
• Indigenous liberation thought, movements, and sovereignty 
• The histories of slavery, serfdom, forced labour, gulag, the liberation struggles that ended some of them, as well as current forms and ongoing legacies 
• Opre Roma! Roma slavery, liberation struggles, and intellectual heritage
• The freedom of movement, forced migration, histories of mass deportations, the rebuilding of life in exile
• Critical perspectives on the “Free world” 
• “Free market” and its limits; labour movements and unions 
• No freedom on a dead planet: environmental protection 
• Academic freedom, freedom of expression, and attacks on the freedom of speech 
• Limits of speech: the sanctioning of hate speech, promotion of totalitarian movements, disinformation, atrocity, and genocide-denial
• Spies and lies: agents of influence, intelligence services, surveillance
• The histories of samizdat: which lessons they teach us for present times?
• Freedom of faith, religious freedom, and histories of repression 
• Bodily “freedom” in a disabling world: critical disability studies 
• Procreative freedom, bodily sovereignty, self-determination 
• Methodologies, theories, and concepts that enable us to research freedom 

The conference will take place 7-10 July, 2027 in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountains, in a location with on-site air raid shelters. The Carpathians are recognised as a Green All state and local guidelines regarding safety and security will be strictly adhered to throughout the conference. For safety and security reasons, the venue and logistics pertaining to the conference will be disclosed to registered participants close to the conference date.

Proposals of panels, roundtables, as well as individual presentations must be submitted by November 15, 2026. Confirmations of acceptance will be communicated by mid February 2027.

Preference will be given to transregional panels that bring region(s) into conversation (ideally, perspectives on an umbrella topic by scholars from multiple RUTA region(s), tracing how particular concerns manifest in similar / different ways across the region).

Submissions that discuss the RUTA region(s) in the global context are highly encouraged.

Individual Papers

Paper abstract (300 words max.)
Biography (100 words max.)

Individual submissions will be clustered into trans-regionally conceptualised panels that will involve experts working from/on different parts of the RUTA region(s) and beyond.

Panels and Roundtables

Panels (consisting of four papers; or held e.g. as a discussion on a particular concept or text, in which case please propose a suitable format under the panel description in the submission form) and roundtables (with a maximum of five participants-speakers, including a moderator – in total a maximum six people per roundtable)

Panel and roundtable abstract (300 words max.)

List of participants with presentation titles and paper abstracts (each 300 words max.)
Biography of each participant (100 words max. per participant)

We strongly encourage and prioritise trans-regional panels and roundtables, involving researchers working from/on various parts of the RUTA region(s) and globally. In regard to the format of the debates, we welcome panels and roundtables discussing particular topics, but also e.g. different ways that specific concepts or theories have been worked with or critiqued in various parts of the RUTA region(s) and globally. We also welcome panels and roundtables that will focus on discussing the significance of a specific core text and its links or importance to the RUTA region(s) and beyond; and those that will explore how to conduct socially responsible, ethically sound, non-extractivist, decolonial and equitable forms of research and fieldwork in the RUTA region(s) and globally. All conference panel, roundtable and workshop sessions are planned for the duration of max 1,5 hours. White we strongly prefer in-person attendance, we can occasionally enable online participation of a few participants on transregional panels. 

Artistic Engagements

Possible artistic engagements might include pop-up events, workshops, art interventions, activations, performances, screenings, etc.

Project description (500 words max.). Please include information about the necessary equipment and setting requirements. Priority will be given to projects that meet the criteria of feasibility.

Biography of each participant (100 words max. per participant).

Conference registration fee: the conference will have sliding scale fees. As the RUTA Association, we are committed to making our conferences affordable for scholars from the RUTA region(s).

There will be a limited number of travel grants that participants in need of financial assistance can apply for. These grants are reserved for applicants without full time employment, including independent scholars and artists. Priority will be given to scholars from the RUTA regions and global South(s) contexts. 

Attendees are responsible for securing their own visas and travel documents. While we can provide official invitation letters for registered participants, RUTA cannot process, sponsor or guarantee visa or entry to Ukraine. Confirmed speakers are encouraged to check visa requirements in advance and allow enough time for communication with our team, especially as we will be dealing with many requests for assistance.