Month: September 2022

Roundtable on Russia-China relations – Oct 4

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Welcome to join us for the Roundtable on Russia-China relations – a joint event organized by RUCARR, Malmö University, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University and the Swedish Society for the Study of Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Abstract

Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine and its escalation on February 24, 2022, was seen by many observers as an attack on the security architecture that was established in Europe after the end of the Cold War. During the first weeks and months after the invasion, speculations abounded that China was the only actor that could prompt Putin’s Russia into a de-escalation of the war. China was attributed a key role in the development of the war. If it sided with Russia in supplying arms and helping it to evade the effects of the international sanctions, this could lead to a decisive Russian victory and a change in the global correlation of forces. On the other hand, if it leaned towards the side of Ukraine, the United States and the political West in condemning the war, it would substantially weaken Russia’s hand. More than six months after the Russian invasion, China still seems to maintain a wait-and-see position, and the world is still waiting to see what position it will eventually take regarding the war.

Against this background, this roundtable discusses the history, dynamics and current developments of relations between China and Russia, focusing on both political leaders and ordinary citizens, and from the perspectives of historians, anthropologists, and political scientists.

Participants

Dr. Alexander Dukalskis, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, more info

Professor Bo Petersson, Dept. of Global Political Studies, RUCARR, Malmö University, more info

Dr. Ed Pulford, Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester, more info

Professor Marina Svensson, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (moderator), more info

Seminar on “Decommunisation and the Politics of Memory in Ukraine” with Dr. Maksym Kovalov, Sept 20

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When Lenin Becomes Lennon: Decommunisation and the Politics of Memory in Ukraine

RUCARR Seminar with Dr. Maksym Kovalov, instructor of International Studies at the College of Charleston. Maksym’s research focuses on democratization, populism, politics of memory, and political institutions in post-communist states. His current research projects are on populism in Poland and on the impact of political outsiders on democracy in comparative perspective.

When: Tuesday 20th of September, 15:15-17:00

Where: Hybrid, Seminar room on 9th floor, Niagara

Or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66119415789
 (no passcode required) (the presenter will attend online)

Abstract

In 2015 Ukraine’s parliament (Rada) passed a series of decommunization laws which set deadlines for clearing Soviet-era symbols from public spaces. Regional and municipal authorities were responsible for renaming the streets but Ukraine’s regions have shown highly uneven degrees of compliance with decommunization laws. How do we explain the differences in the scope of decommunization across Ukrainian regions? Why did some regions comply with the decommunization laws and rename all Soviet-era streets while others resisted and openly sabotaged the renaming process? I argue that political factors, or ‘politics of the present’, rather than structural factors, or ‘politics of the past’, explain the opposition to decommunisation since 2015. More specifically, two mutually necessary factors—the interaction among subnational veto players and the efforts of toponymic commissions—explain the opposition to the renaming of streets. Regions with a high number of subnational veto players and low engagement by toponymic commissions have shown a higher degree of resistance to the renaming of streets.