ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on politically-charged consumer movements as a field of explicit and engaged production of a national identity. It argues that a new interpretation of national identity is shaped among middle-class Ukrainians. This interpretation reveals more intimate and approachable relationships between citizens as a national community, and between citizens and their state. The chapter begins with an exploration of the theoretical terrain, outlining the author's approach to the notions of state, nation, and consumer citizenship. It provides an overview of some recent socio-political changes in Ukraine, and particularly the revolutions of 2004 and 2013/2014, to contextualize the arguments. The chapter highlights the relationships between state-building processes and the development of national identity. It explores the recent Ukrainian tendency to heighten their European self-identification that can be captured through consumer preferences. The chapter discusses the politicized consumer practices and also explores how boycotts and consumer nationalism are forms of political engagement and national identification.
