Yaroslav Hrytsak spoke about the development of the concept of a social contract

Aspen Institute Kyiv, on the initiative of the Community Council, implements a project devoted to discussing a new social contract for Ukraine. Within the framework of the project, the Institute held three seminars and a discussion. During the debate, Yaroslav Hrytsak, a Ukrainian scientist, historian, and public intellectual, told how the concept of the social contract developed and what consensuses exist in Ukrainian society.

Yaroslav Hrytsak noted that the social contract arises as a response to the critical problem of world history — the limitation of violence.

• The first social contract is customary law. It regulated violence. In a more modern sense, the social contract arose in the ancient period with the concept of citizenship. It defined the rights and obligations of all residents of the state association.
• With the emergence of the idea of monarchy and the sacred right of the king, the concept of the social contract narrowed significantly, to be revived again in the era of revolutionary transformations of the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Later, the concept of “nothing for us without us” appeared among the Polish nobility, which provided for the direct participation of citizens in solving issues that concerned them. This idea has become a part of Cossacks culture as well.

The historian emphasized that modernity has many different social contracts-consensus, which are mostly not hierarchical historically and often coexist simultaneously. Among the consensuses inherent in Ukraine, he singled out three:

• The consensus of the gray zone arose in the late period of the Soviet Union and largely remained in the countries of the post-Soviet space. It means that the state closes its eyes to certain things that its citizens do because, without it, the existence of society is impossible. In the war conditions, this post-Soviet consensus in Ukraine is becoming less and less possible.
• The consensus of liberal democracy is the main thing for the modern world. It means that we delegate our rights to the state, and the state must ensure security and welfare.
• The consensus of the new middle class has emerged over the past 60-70 years. The new middle class mainly has a higher education, is employed in the service economy, and is characterized by a predominantly younger age. In addition to well-being and security, a new value appears in this concept – dignity. Ukraine is one of the few countries where this concept prevails.

Yaroslav Hrytsak noted that there might be conflicts between different social contracts. Ukraine is currently experiencing such a moment of the match:

— The post-Soviet consensus in our country burns out in the conditions of war. It becomes more and more impossible. The question is whether we can establish a new agreement built on welfare, security, and human dignity.