EUROPEAN SOCIAL IDEAS OF THE NEW AGEAND THEIR INFLUENCE FOR THE BIRTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL PROJECT

Abstract

The idea of national self-determination has always been an important factor that has consolidated and spiritually united peoples into political nations and de- termined their identity. In different historical periods, it is the awareness of the national idea that is the main factor that sets the basic guidelines for the future historical path. The revolutionary movements of the Modern Age faced the need to legitimize new political institutions and norms of social coexistence. It was in the context of such legitimization that the concept of self-determination ac- quired practical content and imperative significance, and national revolutionary movements emerged as movements for the separation of a national community. The Ukrainian national project was born on the basis of European social ideas of the Modern Age.

A profound rethinking of one’s own identity is of particular relevance in the

context of Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. Ukrainian state- hood and the national idea are closely connected with a thousand-year history, national and cultural identity, and a complex and discontinuous state-building process. Since modern Ukrainian society is in a difficult transitional state, where systemic basic values are of particular importance, an extremely important prob- lem is the national and political identification of Ukraine, that is, the awareness of its identity with a certain mental and cultural model based on the national idea. After all, the concept of “nation” reflects a complex of ethnopsychologi- cal, cultural-historical and socio-domestic forms of humanity. It is the nation, in contrast to a social status or class, demographic, confessional or other group, that is the largest and most stable internally structured group of interests capable of creating a separate society – forming a national political organization.

This issue is relevant in modern times, since the formation of national identity is

an important factor in ensuring the national security of Ukraine, because Ukrai- nian identity is a fundamental component of the national security system. In the era of globalization and uncontrolled geopolitical changes, the issue of ensuring national security is especially acute, and the preservation of Ukrainian national identity has become relevant with the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the occupation of Crimea. Therefore, the experience of the Modern Age in the formation of a national project is extremely important and relevant in the present.