A holiday calendar as a marker of Ukrainians’ (un)acceptance of decommunisation and de-russification

This article examines selected calendar holidays as elements of memory politics in Ukraine, focusing on their significance in the context of decommunisation and de-russification processes. The purpose of the study is to investigate the connection between the practices of celebrating memorable dates and attitudes towards the policies of decommunisation and de-russification. The theoretical interpretation of holidays as components of collective memory is based on classical sociological concepts (E. Durkheim, M. Halbwachs, R. Caillois). Within the proposed framework, holidays are analyzed as sacred moments of social cohesion, as rituals of symbolic disruption, and as calendar-based mechanisms of historical legitimisation. The empirical part is grounded in a sociological survey conducted using quota sampling (by age, gender, macro-region, and type of settlement). The author utilises the Jaccard index to identify associations between commemorative practices and support for decommunisation and de-russification. Based on cluster analysis, two types of respondents were distinguished: 1) the pro-Ukrainian cluster (61%), characteristic of the Western and Northern macro-regions, small and medium-sized cities, individuals with higher education, medium income, and strong support for de-russification; and 2) the pro-Soviet cluster (39%), concentrated in the Eastern and Southern macro-regions, large cities, and among individuals with secondary education, lower income, and critical views on decommunisation and de-russification. The results can be applied in further research on national identities, public attitudes, and memory politics in post-Soviet and decolonial contexts.