Waiting for Europe: utopia, Narratives of the Imaginary West and the Materiality of Police Culture in Ukraine

Despite the long-held interest of researchers in the police culture(s), police imaginaries have barely received attention. This article is concerned with the imaginaries of the West produced by Ukrainian police officers. Based on the 5-month ethnography in two Ukrainian cities, I argue that Ukrainia...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shmatko, Ivan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: The British journal of criminology
Year: 2023, Volume: 63, Issue: 5, Pages: 1327-1342
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Policing
Police Culture
Imaginary West
Utopia
Working conditions
Materiality
Description
Summary:Despite the long-held interest of researchers in the police culture(s), police imaginaries have barely received attention. This article is concerned with the imaginaries of the West produced by Ukrainian police officers. Based on the 5-month ethnography in two Ukrainian cities, I argue that Ukrainian police officers construct the idealized non-place of the Imaginary West to cope with the pressures of their work and criticize their working conditions, perceived lack of support from the state, gaps in infrastructure and lack of authority in encounters with the public. I discuss the implications of research on imaginary non-places for the field of police studies, arguing for the need to account for the materiality of culture.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 1340-1342
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azac087