Kyiv Connection: Governing Diversity and Differences

Last spring, the Davis Center, the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard (HURI), and the Kyiv School of Economics began collaboration on an online series, "Kyiv Connection: Disciplinary Dialogues on Ukraine." The series features compelling and contemporary conversations across various disciplines, all from a Ukrainian perspective. Each session highlights a Ukrainian scholar in dialogue with an international counterpart, offering diverse viewpoints and rich insights.

The first talk this semester — "Governing Diversity and Differences" — will feature Oleksandra Keudel,  a founding director of the Center for Democratic Resilience, Kyiv School of Economics, in conversation with Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, a founding director of the  Center for Governance and Markets, University of Pittsburgh. Together, they will explore how societies can govern social diversity and persistent divisions without descending into conflict. 

Drawing on fieldwork in communities marked by ethnic, status, and religious diversity across multiple contexts, Keudel and Murtazashvili will discuss how polycentric systems—those with multiple, overlapping centers of decision-making—can foster social order, mutual accommodation, and cohesion in practice. They will also reflect on what Ukraine’s decentralization reforms reveal about the relationship between local governance, social cohesion, and societal resilience.