University of Oxford

Post-Doc, Department of Politics and International Relations

Petero Jacyk Prize Post Doctoral Fellow

University of Toronto

Thesis Title: REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS, REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS: DEMOCRATIZATION AND SOCIAL MOBILIZATION IN ARGENTINA, UKRAINE , BRAZIL AND POLAND

About

Dr. Olga Onuch
About: Dr Olga (Ola, Olya) Onuch is a Newton Prize Post-Doctoral Fellow in Comparative Politics at the University of Oxford and Petro-Jacyk Post-Doctoral Fellow at CERES, Munk School for Global Affairs, At the University of Toronto. She has received her DPhil in Politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College. The title of her thesis was "Revolutionary Moments and Revolutionary Movements: Comparing the Process of Mass-Mobilization in Argentina (2001-2002) and Ukraine (2004). Olga's current research is focused on social mobilization in democratizing states in Eastern Europe and Latin America.  Dr.  Onuch is a tutor in Comparative Politics and  in Comparative Eastern European Politics, she also works as a Research Assistant to Dr. Gwendolyn Sasse investigating the European Neighbourhood Policy in Ukraine. In 2008-2009 Olga has lived in Buenos Aires for the purposes of field research and she was associated with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT) as a visiting researcher. She is currently Working on a manuscript about the dynamics of social mobilization Ukraine and Argentina.
 
Previous Degrees: Olga also holds a Master of Sciences in Comparative Politics (2006) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (London, UK). Olga was enrolled in the Latin America Stream and thus focused on political and economic transition and development in the region. She combined this study with courses offered by the European Institute and Russian and Post-Soviet Studies providing a concurrent focus on Eastern European Politics of transition, democratization and accession. Dr. Onuch's MSc thesis is entitled: “The Dynamics of ‘Exit’ and ‘Voice’: Causes and Growth of the Informal Sector (‘exit’) and its Relationship to Collective Political Participation (‘voice’) in the Case  of Informal Workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Kyiv, Ukraine.” Olga has received her first degree, B.A. Honors (2005) in both Political Studies and International Development Studies from Queen's University (Kingston, Canada).
 
Professional Experience:  Dr. Onuch has worked as a project researcher at the IBRD in Kyiv, Ukraine (2001) and at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean in New York City (2004). She has also worked for the LSE, Oxford University and Queen's University as a researcher and tutor. 
Languages:  Dr. Onuch is a native speaker in Ukrainian, Polish and English is fluent in French and has working knowledge of Spanish and  has lower intermediate Russian language skills.
Research Focus: Olga is comparing patterns and mechanisms of mass-social mobilization in Eastern Europe and Latin America by focusing primarily on the cases of crisis related mass-mobilization in Ukraine (Orange Revolution 2004) and Argentina (December 19/20, 2001).  
 
Other Research Topics Include:
International Development and Democratisation
Informal Sector as an obstacle to democratisation (Msc. Dissertation, LSE, Gov. Dept. 2006)
Democratic Dialogue 

Political Participation in Democratising States 
Mobilisation in Electoral Politics
Electoral Populism

Mass-Mobilisation, Social Movements, Protest, Civil Society Organisation
History of Civil Society and Collective action in Ukraine.
Role of Social movements in the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution” 2004
Interaction between, Piqueteros, Cooperativas Autoconvocadas, and Political Parties in Argentina.

EU Integration (Eastward)
ENP in Ukraine (LSE research project under Dr. Gwen Sasse’s, and Dr. James Hughes’ Supervision)
‘EU and Ukraine: Members or Neighbours’ Conference Chair and Publication Editor (publication date 2010 Expected)

Politics of Development Finance in Latin America and Eastern Europe
Migration in Eastern Europe in comparative perspective.



Current Projects- Manuscripts:
REVOLUTIONARY MOMENTS, REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS: UNDERSTANDING MASS SOCIAL MOBILIZATION IN ARGENTINA (2001) AND UKRAINE (2004).
The Making of a Civil Society: Political History of Social  Mobilisation in Ukraine
 

Current Projects- Working Papers in Progress:
Electoral Populism in presidential elections in Latin America and Eastern Europe: Comparing "East” and “South"
"Politico-Economic Transition in Post Fidel Castro Cuba: Learning From Eastern European Experiences" (Working Paper being written with DEFAIT Colleague)
"The Political Makings of an 'Economic Crisis' and 'Ordinary People's' Political Response: An Analysis of Mass Mobilization during The December 2001 Crisis in Argentina"
The paper 's main these is that makings of  the 2001 crisis in Argentina where not solely economic but actually political in nature. The main mobilizing factors (according to the protest discourse) were the decline of political legitimacy and a crisis of political accountability- fueled by a perception of a loss of both political(state of siege) and economic (corralito) rights by Argentine Citizens.
The paper  examines three themes:
The role of the decline of political legitimacy during the De La Rua Government.
The role of the formal political opposition in facilitating the crisis and mobilizing Argentine citizens in Greater Buenos Aires in November/December 2001.
The political role and discourse of self organized 'Ordinary Argentine People' in mass social mobilisation leading to the down fall of the De La Rua Government .

"Interviewing Near and Abroad and Striking a Balance: How to conduct Inter-Regional Qualitative Research While Being an Insider and an Outsider"
 "Interviewing Near and Abroad and Striking a Balance: How to conduct Inter-Regional Qualitative Research While Being an Insider and an Outsider" is a Working Paper which focuses on methodology. Based on my experiences of trying to maintain methodological rigor and balance while conducting qualitative research(various interviews, focus groups, archival research) in Ukraine and Poland where I am native speaker with insider knowledge and in Argentina and Brazil where I am neither an insider nor a native speaker.
Two aspects are explored in this working paper; the first is the question how relational, cultural and insider knowhow affects the research design, framework and results; the second is how does language effect the methodological rigor and outcome, specifically when mythology, folklore, culture and translation are very open to interpretation.
Thus, this paper seeks to strike to provide a methodological frame work on how to strike a balance in such asymmetrical research.


Papers Being Presented, Under Review and Forthcoming:
ONUCH, O (2009) The Contradictions of Protest Movements in Democratizing States: A Comparative Analysis of the Within Movement Tension of Public Versus Partisan Politics Based on The Cases of the two PORAs in Ukraine and Piquetero Movements in Argentina. To be presented at the APSA Annual Conference 2009 at the University of Toronto , Toronto. September 2009 
ONUCH, O (2009) Moments and Movements: The Role of the Two ‘Poras’ in the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution”(2004). To be presented at The Munk Centre , University of Toronto, April 9th 2009 
ONUCH, O (2009) Moments and Movements: The Role of the Social Movements as Mobilizers in the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution” (2004).  To be presented at ASN Congress at Columbia University NYC, April 26th 2009 .
ONUCH, O. (2009) Transition versus Consolidation: Developing Common Theoretical Language for Intra-Regional Comparison of Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe and Latin America. To be presented at the 2009 MPSA Conference April 6th 2009. 
ONUCH, O‘ (2008). The Dynamics of ‘Exit’ and ‘Voice’: Mechanisms of the Informal Sector (‘exit’) and its Relationship to Collective Political Participation (‘voice’) in the Case  of  Informal Workers in Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil and Kyiv, Ukraine. Presented at the UNIVERSIDAD DI TELLA in Buenos Aires, Argentina  November 2008 as part of visit scholar program.
ONUCH, O (2008) Crisis Based Social Movements in Easter Europe: Comparing the role of the two ‘Poras’ in the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution”(2004) Presented at  the 2008 ECPR Conference Barcelona Panel: 269 Grassroots Mobilizations in Central and Eastern Europe
ONUCH, O. (2008) Transition versus Consolidation: A Theoretical Argument and Intra Regional Comparison of Social Movements in Eastern Europe and Latin  America. Presented at the 2008 ECPR Conference Barcelona, Panel: 281 Democracy and Democratisation
ONUCH, O (2008)  The Two PORAs: How little we Know About the Role of Social Movements and Mobilization in Post Communist Democratizing States. Presented at the WARSAW EAST EUROPEAN CONFERENCE 5th Annual Session, 15-18 July, 2008.
ONUCH, O (2008) Comparing Crisis Based Social Movements in the East and South: Comparing the Role  of  the two ‘Poras’  in the Ukrainian “Orange Revolution”(2004)  to the ‘Piqueteros’ in  the Argentine “Argentinazo”(2001). Presented at the June 26-28th Kyiv Ukraine, 2008 Annual Ukrainian Studies International Congress. 
ONUCH, O (2008) What is the Ukrainian Orange Revolution: Moment or Movement? Presented at the June 26-28th Kyiv Ukraine, 2008 Annual Ukrainian Studies International Congress.
 
Recent Academic Events:
Electoral Populism in Latin America and Eastern Europe : Comparing "East” and “South" October 6th, 2010, at 6:00 pm Room 108, North Building, Munk School of Global Affairs, 1 Devonshire Place

Oxford University Consortium For Ukrainian Studies - Annual Panel of Ukraine November 6th 2010, Nuffield College

'EU- Ukraine: Members or Neighbours'  NaUKMa, Kyiv, Ukraine November 14th 2008: Conference Co-Chair
'EU- Ukraine: Members or Neighbours' St. Antony's College, Oxford University, Oxford June 14th 2008: Conference Co-Chair 
'International Development Conference' Queen's University, Kingston,  Canada: Conference Founder

Recent Teaching Experience in Brief:

Lecturer, ‘Civil Society: Social Movements in Ukraine and Eastern Europe’(Spring 2011,
  Masters level seminar, University of Toronto)
Lecturer,‘Comparative Politics of Democratisation and Transition in Eastern Europe’ (Summer   
  2011,  Masters level seminar, NaUKMA)
Tutor in Post-Soviet Transition in Comparative Perspective (2007-2010 Tutorial, Oxon College)
Tutor in East European Comparative Politics (2007-2010 Tutorial, Oxon College)
Tutor in Comparative Latin American Politics (2007-2009 Tutorial, Oxon College)
Tutor in Comparative Democracy and Development (Spring 2008 Tutorial, Oxon College)
Seminar Teacher in Comparative Government POLS 200 and POLS 300 (Seminar, DPIR 
  2009-2010)
 

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