From colonial status to independence: Ukraine’s economic model in the scientific and publicist heritage of Makar Kushnir

Abstract

Abstract. The goal is to explore the innovative economic model of Ukraine on the path from colonial dependence to sovereign status in the scientific and journalistic heritage of M. Kushnir, as one of the leading ideologists of the early OUN. The research methodology is based on the scientific principles of historicism and objectivity. The work employs general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, systematization, and generalization. The originality of the study stems from the comprehensive involvement of M. Kushnir’s publicistic works to reconstruct his economic views. The scientific novelty of the work lies in revealing the conceptual breakthrough in Ukrainian economic thought achieved by M. Kushnir, as well as identifying the Soviet system as extractive state capitalism. The article examines in detail the researcher’s views on the consequences of the colonial policies of the Russian Empire and the USSR for the Ukrainian economy. The author’s evolutionary model of land reform and his sharp criticism of Soviet industrialization and collectivization as mechanisms for depleting the Ukrainian countryside are analyzed. M. Kushnir’s substantiation of the economic self-sufficiency of Ukraine and its oppressors is highlighted. Conclusions. M. Kushnir’s scientific and journalistic works represent mature national economic thought, devoid of socialist populism. It is proved that the thinker considered the achievement of full political independence to be the fundamental prerequisite for economic survival, modernization, and the transformation of Ukraine into a powerful industrial-agrarian state.