Statement on War in Ukraine

The International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) is an international organization with members from around the globe. We are horrified and deeply troubled by the unprovoked violence and harm committed against the innocent people of Ukraine. The ISFNR condemns the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine and expresses solidarity with the people of Ukraine and all those around the world who oppose this war

The ISFNR is committed to academic freedom, freedom of expression, and open international dialogue and collaboration. We can find no common ground with an ideological regime opposed to those values and we revile the active distortion of history and dissemination of disinformation. The war on Ukraine and the ‘alternative facts’ used to justify it demonstrate the extreme of rising trends in the acts, politics and logics of populist movements. This war requires immediate action against the Russian Federation, but this crisis is also a flag of warning about the dangers of similar ideological trajectories, wherever they occur in the world.

The invasion of Ukraine is a polarizing event in history, in which all must take sides. Responsibility for the future ultimately lies with individuals in the present. We therefore urge everyone to do whatever they can to end this war, and to promote peace, tolerance, knowledge, and understanding as the bedrock of a sustainable global future.

The ISFNR Executive Committee

Statement on War in Ukraine (NEW!)