Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Netherlands
fellow
Yuliia Kurnyshova
Home institution
University of Soderton
Country of origin (home institution)
Sweden
Discipline(s)
Philosophy
Political Sciences
Theme(s)
Contemporary violence & Justice
Democracy, Citizenship, Governance
Human Rights
Peace & conflict
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
Yuliia was a Safe Haven Fellow at NIAS during 2024-2025.
Yuliia Kurnyshova is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. Her current research project explores the political and security implications of the Russia's war against Ukraine. She graduated from Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, where she obtained Masters Diploma in History and Journalism. Her theoretical thesis was on U.S. Foreign Policy during the Berlin Crisis 1958-1963.
Yuliia Kurnyshova has been working for National Institute for Strategic Studies (Kyiv) and Institute for Social and Economic Research as a foreign policy analyst. Her most recent affiliation was with Institute of International Relations (Kyiv). Apart from her academic work, she has been engaged in different international and Ukrainian activities directed at implementation of reforms in Ukraine. With the start of Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, she had to flee Ukraine.
Research Project
Ethical subjects and the “post-justice” contenders: how to remain normative in times of war?
Research question: This project seeks to discuss and unpack the overlaps and divergences of the EU and Ukraine’s ethical reasoning during the current war.
The concept of “post-justice” suggests that the idea of law is being replaced by the interests of powerful geopolitical players, leading to the dominance of the strongest and a decline in international law and state sovereignty. Instead, geopolitical interests are taking center stage.
In her research, Yuliia Kurnyshova explores new ideas in performative and interventionist ethics. Performative ethics involves political actors with fluid identities who can adapt their priorities based on the changing situation. Interventionist ethics relates to the exercise of power, leading to concrete decisions, like military support for Ukraine.
From a policy standpoint, understanding the complex ethical reasoning during the current war is crucial for two reasons: a) It can help ensure more consistent support for Ukraine from Euro-Atlantic countries and institutions by relying on ethical arguments, and b) It can reveal the political impacts of different ethical arguments within Ukraine and among its allies.
Research Interests:
political discourses; foreign policy of Ukraine; International Security; war; ethics; identity; culture; geopolitics