Katerina Szylo

Research Topic

Igniting Resistance: The Ukrainian Coal Miners' Strikes, 1989-1998

Supervisor: Zbig Wojnowski and Paul Betts

My doctoral research examines the Ukrainian coal miners' strikes, exploring how labor activists understood, framed, and mobilized around their grievances during the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods. I analyze how Soviet legacies, human rights dissent, nationalist movements, and emerging liberal democratic ideas, along with interactions with domestic and international political players, shaped miners' activism and political engagement. More broadly, my research interests lie at the intersection of civil society, energy infrastructure, and the environment.

Prior to beginning my DPhil, I completed a BA in History and Literature at the University of Toronto, an MSc in Politics and Communication at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MSc in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam.

My doctoral research is generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies, and St. Catherine's College.