Author: imkava

RUCARR seminars with Prof. Oliver Reisner – November 12 and 26

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Prof. Oliver Reisner, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, visiting researcher at RUCARR, will give two seminars. Welcome to join us on campus or Zoom:

Social Cohesion and Political Developments in Georgia in Times of Democratic Backsliding and Growing Authoritarianism

When: November 12, 15.00 – 17.00
Hybrid seminar: Seminar room, 9th  floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68228687099, Meeting ID: 682 2868 7099

Golden or Pink – Stalin as an Embattled Memory Site, or How to Cope with a Traumatic Past in Post-Soviet Georgia

When: November 26, 15.00 – 17.00
Hybrid seminar:Seminar room, 9th  floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69679035449 Meeting ID: 696 7903 5449

 Short Bio

Since September 2016 Oliver Reisner works as Jean Monnet Professor in European & Caucasian Studies at Ilia State University and teaches courses for BA, MA and PhD students with majors in “European Studies” and “Caucasian Studies.” In 2000 he graduated with a Dr. phil. in Eastern European History, Slavic Studies and Medieval and Modern History from Georg August University Goettingen (Germany). 2000 – 2003 he prepared and coordinated a MA program “Central Asia/Caucasus” at the Department for Central Asian Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. 2003 – 2005 as a human rights program manager for World Vision Georgia he implemented a civic integration project in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia. 2005 – 2015 as project manager at the EU Delegation to Georgia he dealt with democratisation, minority, education, youth, labour and social affairs. In 25 years of research on Russian, Georgian, Caucasian history and contemporary affairs in theory and practice he covered topics of 1) Nation-building and identity in the Caucasus during the 19th and 20th centuries; 2) Memory studies on dealing with the Soviet past in Georgia and the Caucasus; 3) History of Caucasian Studies as area studies and 4) the role of religion in Georgia.

 

 

RUCARR Thesis Award 2024 awarded to Johan Richter

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The RUCARR Thesis Award 2024 has been awarded to Johan Richter for his MA thesis entitled “Milbloggers, Telegram, and the Russo-Ukraine War: The Role of Non-State Actors in Shaping Strategic Narratives during Global Conflict”- 

The Thesis Award was presented to Johan Richter by Prof. Mona Lilja, Head of Department, Global Political Studies, on October 22, 2024.

Excerpts from the statement by the jury:

Johan Richter’s thesis is an innovative study of Russian military bloggers  

and their role in influencing and amplifying the Russian regime’s discourse on the war in Ukraine.  The research design is elegant and sophisticated without being over-complicated. The amount of data he has used for this thesis, and the manner in which he handles the analysis and keeps the reader’s interest is impressive.

This is a thesis that contains high-quality original research and uses a systematic research framework. It is innovative and points the way forward to new possible lines of research in the study of authoritarian information spheres.

Children’s Literature and the War in Ukraine, Nov 14

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Children’s Literature and the War in Ukraine

When: 11/14/2024 2:15:00 PM
Where: Orkanen, E526, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10

https://staff.mau.se/first-page/calendar-for-staff/childrens-literature-and-the-war-in-ukraine/

Dr Aliona Yarova presents a Crafoord-funded postdoc project in which she has explored the societal and educational potential of Ukrainian children’s literature about the war. The talk, which is co-organized by the Faculty of Education and the University Library, will focus on her research in Ukrainian children’s literature, her collaboration with the NGO Poruch and her work with the “Schools of Peace”-project. The exhibition will feature some examples of children’s artworks – the result of creative writing workshops with three Ukrainian schools as well as an award-winning map of Ukraine made by the children which was displayed at the University of Tartu Art Museum. She will also discuss about the project’s future prospects, ideas of collaborative funding applications and a possibility to organize an exhibition showcasing children’s works.

RUCARR seminar with Prof. Irina Busygina, Oct 15

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Welcome to the seminar with Prof. Irina Busygina on October 15, the seminar room, 9th floor, Niagara:

Russia’s War against Ukraine: Implications on Russia’s Territorial Stability

Professor Irina Busygina is a Research Fellow at Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and Researcher at the Center of Eastern European and International Studies (ZoiS) in Berlin. She previously worked as Professor of Comparative Politics at the Department of Political Science and International Relations (Higher School of Economics at Saint Petersburg, Russia) and headed the Center for Comparative Governance Studies. Her research interests include comparative federalism and decentralization, Russian domestic and foreign policy, Russia-EU relations.

Her latest publications include “Center-regional relations in Russia”. In: Routledge Handbook of Russian Politics and Society. Ed. by Graeme Gill. UK: Routledge, 2023 (with Mikhail Filippov); “Ready to Protest? Explaining Protest Potential in Russian Regional Capitals.” Regional and Federal Studies”, published online January 2023 (with Ekaterina Paustyan); “Pandemic Decentralization: COVID-19 and Principal–Agent Relations in Russia.” Problems of Post-Communism, Published online: 14 Sep 2022 (with Stanislav Klimovich). Her last book (coauthored by Mikhail Filippov) is “Non-Democratic Federalism and Decentralization in Post-Soviet States” (UK: Routledge 2024).

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Journalist Johanna Melén presents her new book “Imperiehunger”

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Welcome to a presentation in Swedish at RUCARR by Johanna Melén, foreign correspondent at Sveriges Radio:

Johanna Melén besöker RUCARR vid Institutionen för Globala politiska studier för att berätta om sin bok “Imperiehunger : Putins storryska drömmar och ett nyvaknat motstånd”.

När: 10 september, 15-17
Var: Seminarierummet, vån 9, Niagara, eller Zoom, https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68024609948

Det här är en bok om de självständiga länder som genom historien dominerats av Ryssland och som fortfarande drygt tre decennier sedan Sovjetunionens fall kämpar för att ses som något annat än före detta sovjetrepubliker.

Vladimir Putin har byggt sitt politiska varumärke kring att återskapa bilden av Ryssland som en stormakt, därtill med en tusenårig historia. Länderna som tidigare levde under rysk hegemoni har behövt förhålla sig till det. När det storskaliga anfallskriget mot Ukraina inleddes väcktes en rädsla bland flera postsovjetiska länder för att stå näst på tur. Men också en växande insikt om vikten av att värna sin autonomi, sitt språk, sin nationella kultur som något oavhängigt den ryska.

I Imperiehunger rör sig Johanna Melén mellan Armenien, Azerbajdzjan, Belarus, Georgien, Kazakstan, Moldavien, Tadzjikistan och Ukraina. Hon beskriver utvecklingen i respektive land och hur relationen till Ryssland har förändrats sedan februari 2022. Boken ger också en historisk tillbakablick över både kommuniståren och den tidiga historien för att ge en djupare förståelse kring rysk imperialism då – och nu.

Johanna Melén är Sveriges Radios korrespondent i Östeuropa. Hon debuterade 2021 med Mina ryska vänner: en berättelse om Putins Ryssland.

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Visit to RUCARR by the board of Friends of Georgia Society, SWEDEN

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Seminar and networking meeting at RUCARR with the Friends of Georgia Society

On August 30 RUCARR hosted a meeting with members of the board of the Friends of Georgia, Society, SWEDEN. The expertise and experience of the members of the board in various fields of business, culture, politics and other perspectives of the Georgian society is quite unique. Among them Chairman Sven Holmström with expertise in Georgian agriculture,  advisor to the board Per Eklund, former EU ambassador to Georgia and Armenia, professor Joakim Enwall (Uppsala University), one of the founding members and Georgian expert, Anuki Sturua, former secretary to the ambassador of Georgia to Sweden, Eric Jönsson, CEO to the Fulbright Commission in Stockholm and former honorary consul in Tbilisi, Bengt Carlström, chair of the Swedish-Georgian chamber of commerce, Ulrica Söderlind, Senior lecturer at Umeå University, gastronomic expert and the author of several books in the field, historian Ann Grönhammar and Suzanne Menzel Persson, with special inerest in travel in the Georgian highlands..

It was a pleasure for the RUCARR reseachers to present their research and activities with a focus on Georgia (see program below), and to have very lively and good discussions and networking among all participants. 

Prof. Derek Hutcheson, vice dean and RUCARR researcher, thanked chairman Sven Holmström and the Society on behalf of the Faculty Culture and Society nd RUCARR. (photo below).

Program

Prof. Karina Vamling, RUCARR och Sven Holmström, Chairman of  Friends of Georgia society: Welcome and introductory words
 
Karina Vamling, Prof: Presentation of Caucasus Studies and RUCARR
The online course in Georgian. “Swedish-Georigan contacts in the early years”
Dr. Manana Kock Kobaidze: “Literary translations Swedish-Georgian”
Dr. Revaz Tchantouria: “Two Georgian-Swedish art exhibitions”
Dr. Katrine Gotfredsen: “Everyday experiences and effects of occupation and borderization in Georgia: Displacement, precarity and social rupture”
PhD Candidate Nick Baigent: “Hydropower development and its political and social challenges in Georgia”
Dr. Michel Anderlini: ”EU and the Georgian dilemma”
Dr Tom Nilsson: ”Summer Academy for Young Professionals”
Dr Mariia Tyshchenko: “Empowering Civil Society in Eastern Partnership Countries”
Dr Svitlana Babenko: “Gender Studies and Russia’s War Challenges: Networking for Excellence in Teaching and Institutional Development”
Lecturer Teresa Tomasevic: “Teaching of Swedish at Tbilisi State University Exchange and cooperation”
 

Seminar May 14 – The Georgian-Byzantine literary interaction in the 11th century

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The Georgian-Byzantine literary interaction in the eleventh century

— Christian Høgel, Professor of Greek and Latin, Lund University

Welcome to this joint seminar with RUCARR and CEMES-network “Thinking the European Academy of Letters”!

When: May 14, 15.15-16.30 CET
Where: Zoom link https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/67115473647

After the Georgian nobleman Ioane Tornike supported the young Byzantine emperor Basil II against pretenders to the Byzantine throne, Georgians became much closer connected to Byzantine politics and to Byzantine text culture. The establishment of the Iviron monastery in mount Athos turned out a most productive translation center but also became an aristocratic setting of Georgians within the Byzantine world. Our extant text material witnesses both this Byzantine-Georgian literary exchanges and gives us valuable information on different text cultures along the Silk Road.

Bio

Christian Høgel is professor of Greek and Latin at Lund University since 2023. He has published widely on Byzantine hagiography and on translations – on the early Greek translation of the Qur’an and on translations from Georgian. He is co-director of the Retracing Connections research programme (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond).

RUCARR Roundtable April 29 – Armenia’s Human Rights agenda

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Armenia’s Human Rights agenda: efforts amidst social and security challenges

Welcome to join us for a RUCARR Roundtable on Monday April 29, 15.15-17.00; Seminar room 9th floor, Niagara Building.
Online option: Zoom https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62708879156

Valentina Gevorgyan: Civil Society actors in Armenia as the main defenders of human rights

The talk will concentrate on Armenian civil society. First, the speaker will present the phases of civil society development in Armenia’s post-Soviet period of troubled transition, followed by current developments and challenges for the civil society. The talk will reflect on one recent study (and research in progress, RWI), highlighting the main areas and functions of civil society actors, as the main drivers of democratisation and defenders of human rights in the republic.

Anna Melikyan: Impact of fighting corruption on human rights in Armenia since 2018

The presentation will focus on the efforts in Armenia to fight corruption after the change of government in 2018 as a result of the peaceful protests with a focus on prosecution. It will encompass how this fight affects the human rights situation in the country given the pressure of public expectations and whether the government and the judiciary are able to ensure the rule of law and human rights principles in corruption-related trials, including recovery of illicit assets. 

Srbuhi Michikyan: Examining Multidimensional Poverty in conflict affected regions. The case of Syunik region in Armenia: Methodological concerns.

In conflict-affected regions worldwide, poverty is intertwined with violence, displacement, instability,  and significantly affects the ability of individuals to lead dignified lives. Conventional poverty measures, focusing solely on income or consumption metrics, fail to capture the complexity of deprivation experienced in such contexts, however, multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has revolutionized poverty analysis, offering a holistic framework that considers diverse dimensions impacting well-being. The talk explores the methodological considerations specific to conducting MPI research in conflict areas, using Syunik region in Armenia as a case study. It discusses the challenges and opportunities inherent in conducting MPI research in a conflict contexts to understand the limitations of used methodology.

Moderator is Dr Katrine Gotfredsen, Senior Lecturer in Cauasus Studies, Malmö University.

Bios

Valentina Gevorgyan – is a researcher of social and political developments in hybrid regimes with problematic post-Soviet legacy. Her academic interests centre on civil society, state-society relations, cultural policy and the EU accession and democratisation processes of the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries. She holds PhD in Political Science from University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and MA in Political Science from American University of Armenia.

Previously, she worked as a research specialist with Open Society Foundations (Armenia), Academic Swiss Caucasus Net and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in South Caucasus. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at Yerevan State University, Department of Political Science and a lecturer at University of Fribourg, Department of European and Slavic Studies. She reads courses on Civil Society and Political Culture, and is author of “Civil Society and Government Institutions in Armenia. Leaving Behind the ‘Post-Soviet’ Title” (Routledge, 2024). Currently she is a Research Fellow with RWI Armenia Programme.

Anna Melikyan – Since 2020, Anna Melikyan is a Legal Analyst with the Armenia-based human-rights NGO “Protection of Rights Without Borders”. She also manages projects in the field of justice sector and anti-corruption reform in Armenia. Prior to that, Ms. Melikyan worked in the field of human rights and conflict settlement for international organizations, including the OSCE Mission to Moldova, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mission to Osh. In 2012-2017, Anna worked for the Armenian NGO “Civil Society Institute” as Director and Human Rights Officer.
Ms. Melikyan has long-years of experience in teaching courses related to human rights and international humanitarian at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.
Anna Melikyan holds Law Degree from the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, and LL.M. from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Currently, is a Research Fellow with RWI Armenia Programme.

Srbuhi Michikyan – is a Research Associate at Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) – Armenia Foundation. She holds a Master’s degree in Research Methodology and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, both earned from Yerevan State University. She spent one semester of her Master’s degree studies at University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. Now she is a Ph.D. student in sociology at the Yerevan State University. Since 2018, she has been actively engaged with academic institutions, research institutes, and civil society organizations in Armenia. Srbuhi’s research interests encompass a wide range of sociological themes, with a particular focus on Inequality, urban studies, and space and place transformation studies. She has contributed to the academic discourse through the publication of several scholarly articles and analytical reports on these subjects. In her research activities, she employs a mixed approach, conducting both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Also, she is an expert of accreditation of Higher Education and worked as a student-expert both in Armenia and abroad. She has experience of coordinating and organizing local and international workshops and trainings. Currently she is a Research Fellow with the RWI Armenia Programme visiting Lund, until June 2024.

Seminar May 7 “Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State” with Dr Hamed-Troyansky

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RUCARR seminar with Dr. Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky, Ass. Prof. of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara:

Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State

 

When: May 7, 17.00-18.15 CET

Where: zoom https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62352627321

Between the 1850s and World War I, about one million Muslims from the Russian Empire’s North Caucasus region sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire. In his new book, Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, Dr. Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky examines how Circassian, Chechen, Dagestani, and other refugees transformed the late Ottoman Empire and how the Ottoman government managed Muslim refugee resettlement. Empire of Refugees argues that, in response to Muslim migrations from Russia, the Ottoman government created a refugee regime, which predated refugee systems set up by the League of Nations and the United Nations. The book also revises our understanding of how Russia used migration policies to govern the Caucasus and its Muslim populations.

Bio

Dr. Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky is a historian of global migration and forced displacement and Assistant Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research examines Muslim refugee migration and its role in shaping the modern world. He is the author of Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State (Stanford University Press, 2024). His articles appeared in Past & Present, Comparative Studies in Society and History, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Slavic Review, and Kritika. He received a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University and served as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University.

Seminar with Prof Stefan Hedlund, May 28

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Ukraine, Russia and the West

When Value Promotion Met Hard Power

Professor Stefan Hedlund, Uppsala University, Institue for Russian and Eurasian Studies

When: May 28, 15.15-16.30
Where: K3 Studio, C Area, 5th floor, Niagara building, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/s/65067842259

Why did Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine come as such a surprise to the West? This is the key question considered in this broad-ranging book. It argues that Russia and the West had been playing different games: while Russia under Putin had become obsessed with using hard power to restore the Cold War security architecture in Europe, the major Western powers had become equally obsessed with value promotion that allegedly would ensure a global triumph for the values of the West, touted as “universal values.” While the Russian play for a sphere of interest was clearly defined and demarcated, the Western play for values was by definition without limits. Hence there could be no common ground and no common understanding. When push came to shove, Russian hard power trumped Western value promotion – and Ukraine was left to pay the price.