Seminar March 16: Silent Dissent: Transforming Russia from within: Illiberal legislation and silovik coalition-building in the Russian State Duma, 2011-202

  By

🎓Welcome to our online seminar!

Seminar March 16: Silent Dissent: Transforming Russia from within: Illiberal legislation and silovik coalition-building in the Russian State Duma, 2011-2021

🎤Daniella Slabinski, PhD Candidate, Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo
📅March 16, 10:15-12:00
🏢Zoom: https://lnkd.in/e86W-CKi

Abstract: For the last decade, the Russian State Duma has arguably become a site where production of illiberal ideology and rent seeking intersect which has resulted in severe consequences for domestic and global politics. Nevertheless, knowledge of the lawmakers and the various power coalitions that they form to achieve their goals is limited. In this paper I address this lacuna by focusing on the role of the siloviki – individuals with career experience in the military, intelligence and law enforcement apparatus – in the State Duma and ask: what coalitions do silovik representatives form when passing illiberal legislation? Drawing on a unique set of illiberal bills sponsored by silovik-MPs during the 6th (2011 – 2016) and 7th (2016 – 2021) convocations, I use social network analysis to test for Brian D. Taylor’s typology of silovik formations (clan, corporate and cohort) on a unique dataset of illiberal legislation passed by silovik-MPs during the 6th (2011 – 2016) and 7th (2016 – 2021) Duma convocations. The data illustrates that neither ideology nor institutional belonging (corporate and party affiliation) among silovik-MPs are decisive factors during coalition-building when passing illiberal bills. Instead, there is a distinctively growing trend in favor of grouping into informal networks in which silovik-MPs act as legislative patrons.

Seminar March 3: Russian informational co-aggression? Ukraine-related disinformation in Belarusian pro-government Telegram channels

  By

Seminar March 3: Silent Dissent: Russian informational co-aggression? Ukraine-related disinformation in Belarusian pro-government Telegram

🎤Alesia Rudnik, PhD, Postdoctoral researcher at Södetrörn University and Maastricht University
📅March 3, 15.15-17.00
🏢Zoom: https://lnkd.in/exWc55gs

Abstract: Based on a qualitative content analysis of 2024 posts from leading pro-government Telegram channels in Belarus, this article examines how these sources spread disinformation about Ukraine. The authors show that such posts were relatively infrequent in 2024, and that their themes shifted in response to developments on the battlefield and changes in the broader international context of the conflict. However, certain false claims and allegations consistently received substantial attention. These include public dissatisfaction with conscription into Ukraine’s armed forces, deceptive and coercive methods of recruitment, declining morale among Ukrainian soldiers, corruption related to the war effort, and allegations of ‘neo-Nazism’ within Ukraine and its military. Although the Belarusian regime is often regarded as a co-aggressor in the Russo–Ukrainian war, little is known about whether and how it actively promotes pro-Kremlin narratives online. This article represents a first attempt to address this gap.

Speaker:

Alesia Rudnik, PhD in political science, defended her thesis “Machinery of Dissent: People and Technology in Protests in Autocracies” in 2025. Now she is a postdoctoral researcher at Södetrörn University and Maastricht University. 
Rudnik’s current research project “Negotiating Digital Power: Big Tech, States & Citizens in Democratic versus Autocratic Contexts” is supported by the Swedish Research Council. 
Rudnik is also a former director and an acting board member of an independent Belarusian think tank in exile Center for new ideas. Previously, Rudnik led the organization of the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden. She is also a recipient of the Swedish award “European of the Year 2022”. 
Currently, she is also a member of the editorial board of Belarus Voices (Ibidem.) and Belarus Analytical Digest.

RUCARR Distinguished Speaker Febr 24: Prof. Andrea Petö

  By

RUCARR Distinguished Speaker Series

Illiberal Turns and Gender Backlash: Rethinking Democratic Erosion

Andrea Petö, Professor at the Department of Gender Studies, Central European University, Vienna, Austria (Bio)

Tuesday 24 February, 17:30 – 19:00
Niagara, NI:B0E15, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1

The talk, based on the co-authored book Viktor Orbán’s Affairs with Women, offers a comprehensive analysis of Viktor Orbán’s illiberal policies on human and gender rights. It provides an accessible introduction to how the illiberal gender playbook impacts women, presenting how the government has co-opted and eroded national and international anti-discrimination and equality provisions, thereby creating an alternative to liberal values. Moreover, the talk analyses the reasons behind the decision of women to cast their votes in favor of an illiberal government that discriminates against and impoverishes them. As the Orbán government’s gender and “family-friendly policies” are the most successful illiberal soft-diplomacy product globally, this talk serves as a cautionary tale for those concerned about human rights worldwide. The talk also tells the story of how soft censorship works in Hungary in the case of this book.

Seminar February 3 with Irina Olimpieva, Silent Dissent: Exploring Russian Civic Activism as a Form of Opposition to the War in Ukraine

  By

Silent Dissent: Exploring Russian Civic Activism as a Form of Opposition to the War in Ukraine

🎤Irina Olimpieva, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Independent Social Research, Inc. (CISR USA)
📅February 3, 15.15-17.00
🏢Zoom: https://lnkd.in/eJCkhJVw

Abstract:  Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the apparent absence of mass antiwar protests inside Russia has often been interpreted as evidence of popular indifference or support for the war. Survey data seem to reinforce this conclusion, while street-level mobilization has remained limited even during moments of heightened political tension, such as the announcement of “partial” mobilization. This talk challenges such interpretations by shifting attention away from visible protest toward less conspicuous but socially meaningful forms of opposition that emerge under conditions of repression.
Drawing on a research project conducted since August 2022, I explore humanitarian volunteerism as a form of silent resistance. The analysis focuses on a case study of an informal volunteer network based in St. Petersburg that assists Ukrainian families who fled the war, found themselves on Russian territory, and are seeking asylum in Europe. Operating primarily through Telegram, volunteers meet refugees arriving in the city, arrange temporary accommodation, provide food, medicine, clothing, and financial assistance, and coordinate transportation to the border.

 

Seminar January 20 with Mane Tsaturyan: “Armenia’s Foreign Policy Options…”

  By , ,

Mane Tsaturyan: “Armenia’s Foreign Policy Options Within China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A Small State Perspective” 

Place & Time

Date: 20 January, 15:15-17:00 

Place: NI:C0933 seminar room, 9th floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1

Or Online: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68831376873, Meeting ID: 688 3137 6873

Bio

Mane Tsaturyan is an International Relations specialist currently working at the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, where she prepares briefings, assessments, and detailed political reports on developments in Armenia and the wider region. She holds a Master’s degree in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe in Natolin, where she was awarded the United Nations Award for the Best Thesis on “Europe, Multilateralism, and the UN.” She also holds a Master’s degree in World Politics from Yerevan State University, and is an alumna of the Diplomatic Academy of the MFA of Armenia. Her areas of expertise include EU foreign policy, multilateralism, the UN, the migration–foreign policy nexus, security, China, and Armenia.

Abstract

How does a small state like Armenia navigate one of the world’s largest infrastructure and economic projects, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? In this talk, I will present my research exploring Armenia’s foreign policy choices within the BRI framework, especially after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. Using small state theory, we will look at the unique challenges and opportunities Armenia faces in balancing security concerns with the desire for economic integration. I will highlight why, despite the BRI being over a decade old, Armenia remains largely outside its main corridors, and what this reveals about the delicate strategies small states use to engage with global mega-initiatives.

Welcome to RUCARR seminar 20th January!

New anthology – Languages in Conflict and War. Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Baltics

  By

New publication is out: “Languages in Conflict and War. Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Baltics”, available as ebook.

Welcome to the book presentation on February 17!

On February 17 at 3.30 pm CET, we will have a presentation of our book. This will be a hybrid event, so we hope as many authors as possible will be able to join us online. The event will also be open to researchers outside the department.

Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66238418148
Meeting ID: 662 3841 8148

Publisher’s webpage: 

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-08419-4…

Book series:

Palgrave Studies of Languages at War.

Editorial team: 

Karina Vamling, Nadiya Kiss, Bo Petersson, Liudmyla Pidkuimukha.

Table of contents and contributors:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-08419-4#toc

Foreword Alex Krouglov

1     Introduction: Languages in Conflict and War. Karina Vamling, Nadiya Kiss, Bo Petersson, Liudmyla Pidkuimukha
2     Language and Identity Erasure: Russia’s Strategy in the Occupied Regions of Ukraine. Liudmyla Pidkuimukha
3     Language Shift, Displacement, and Abrogation: Narratives of the Ukrainian Writers in Times of War. Nadiya Kiss
4     Depopulation of the Hungarian National Minority in Transcarpathia as One of the Consequences of Russia’s War against Ukraine. Halyna Shumytska and Fedir Shandor
5     The Sororization Effect in Interviews with Refugees: Negotiation of Positionality, Shared Knowledge, and Emotions. Lesya Skintey and Dariia Orobchuk
6     Linguistic Sovereignty and Vernacular Biopolitics: Estonian Russophones as a Postcolonial Phenomenon. Andrey Makarychev
7     Between Hopes and Anxiety: A Critical Analysis of Discourses Surrounding Latvian Russian-Speaking Youth during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Lena Hercberga
8     Surviving Suppression: Circassian Language Preservation in Russia and the Diaspora. Lidia Zhigunova

9     “It all starts in the family”: Placing Discourses on the Role of Families in Circassian Language Preservation into a Historical-Political Context. Valeriya Minakova
10   The Future of the Indigenous Circassian Language amid Increased Russification of the Kuban Region and the Russian War in Ukraine. Lars Funch Hansen
11   Official Language Ecology in Contemporary Georgia. Mariam Manjgaladze 
12   Functions of the Russian Language in Modern Georgia. Tinatin Bolkvadze
13   The Linguistic Landscape of Georgia—Diachronic and Synchronic Approaches. Maka Tetradze 
14   Conclusions. Karina Vamling, Nadiya Kiss, Bo Petersson, Liudmyla Pidkuimukha

 

RUCARR seminar Dec 9 with Håvard Swane Bækken

  By ,

Prof. Håvard Swane Bækken: “Militarized Patriotism and Identity Policy in the Occupied Donbas”

Time: 9 December, 15:15-17:00
Place: NI:C0933 seminar room, 9th floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1

Online: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/63790169816
Meeting ID: 637 9016 9816

Bio

Håvard Bækken is Professor of Russian Area Studies and has been affiliated with the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) since 2015. As of 2025, he is also affiliated with the School of Intelligence and Language (SESK) 

Bækken’s research focus at IFS is militarism and military patriotic education in Russia and in occupied parts of Ukraine. Bækken is heading the research project Contested Ukraine: Military Patriotism, Russian Influence, and Implications for European Security, and (temporary) the Research Programme for Ukraine and Full-Spectrum Threats. 

Bækken teaches extensively and is responsible for courses on Russian politics and society as well as on Russian history and its uses. His previous research includes several publications on quasi-legal practices in Russia.

Abstract

Since the first invasion of Ukrainian territories in 2014, Russia has been using militarized patriotic education to further its strategic aims in the occupied regions. In his presentation, Håvard Bækken will introduce his research on military patriotic education in Russia, and in particular his articles on the export of militarized patriotism into occupied Ukraine. At the core of the presentation will be the policy employed in the so-called peoples republics in the Donbas before the full-scale invasion, where the changing faces of patriotic education is seen as a reflection of strategic concerns in Moscow. Since 2019, Bækken argues, the pace and direction changed, as clubs (esp. Yunarmiya) has become more directly involved in Russia’s plan of cultural assimilation of the youth. Today, Yunarmiya is actively promoting Russian nationhood in every occupied oblast of Ukraine. 

Welcome!