An Annotated Guide to New Perspectives on Ukraine and Europe
What does it mean to think decolonially in the Ukrainian context — and why does this matter for Europe?
KARTA: Ukrainian Decolonial Thought is a transnational publishing and knowledge-transfer project that brings together key texts, concepts, debates, and cultural perspectives shaping contemporary Ukrainian decolonial thought in an accessible format. Conceived as an open-access annotated guide, the publication is designed for a broad public as well as for researchers, educators, cultural practitioners, and civil society actors.
Starting from the recognition that knowledge about Ukraine has long been shaped by imperial and Russia-centered narratives, KARTA offers alternative perspectives on Ukrainian history, culture, language, memory, and the present.
A Project at the Intersection of Research, Culture, and Public Dialogue
KARTA connects academic expertise with public engagement.
The publication brings together contributions by Ukrainian historians, literary scholars, journalists, and cultural practitioners on topics including:
- Decolonisation as a historical and political process
- Ukrainian decolonial studies and academic debates
- Literature and essay writing as spaces of intellectual resistance
- Media and journalism in the context of information warfare and knowledge production
- Decolonial narratives in Ukrainian cinema
- A glossary of key concepts and curated primary sources
Rather than presenting a closed theoretical framework, KARTA invites readers to approach Ukrainian experience as part of a broader European conversation about empire, memory, democracy, and epistemic justice.
Why This Project Matters Now
Russia’s full-scale invasion has made clear that coloniality is not simply a matter of the past.
Questions of imperial continuities, silenced knowledge, and the visibility of marginalised voices have become central not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe’s understanding of itself.
KARTA seeks to contribute to this discussion by:
- making Ukrainian perspectives more visible
- critically questioning established hierarchies of knowledge
- opening new ways of engaging with Ukrainian culture and history
- fostering transnational dialogue on decolonisation in Europe
Making Knowledge Accessible
Designed for a broad public as well as for researchers, educators, cultural practitioners, and civil society actors, KARTA can be used as a resource for teaching, research, public discussion, reading groups, cultural programming, and educational events.
The digest is available free of charge in German and Ukrainian:
Download the publication:
→ German edition [PDF link]
→ Ukrainian edition [PDF link]
Printed copies are also available free of charge on demand for cultural, educational, and civic organisations interested in using the publication in their work, events, libraries, or learning programmes. We kindly ask recipient organisations to cover delivery costs.
Donations to support printing and wider distribution are warmly welcomed.
For print requests, donations, or cooperation inquiries, please contact us at:
dialogkraft-europa@posteo.de
Cooperation
KARTA is a project by Dialogkraft Europa e.V., developed in cooperation with the Vinnytsia Regional Branch of the Ukrainian Library Association and the Valentyn Otamanovskyi Vinnytsia Regional Universal Scientific Library.
The project is part of the RHIZOM/RAZOM programme of the Ukrainian Institute in Germany, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented in cooperation with Insha Osvita.
KARTA is an invitation
to read.
to unlearn.
to ask new questions.
and to imagine new maps of European knowledge — together.
Dialogkraft Europa e.V. 