Author: imkava

RUCARR Distinguished Speaker Series, May 5: Madina Tlostanova: “Caucasian deep coalitions? A case for the future relational critical political imaginary”

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Caucasian deep coalitions? A case for the future relational critical political imaginary

Bio Madina Tlostanova

Madina Tlostanova professor of gender studies at Linköping University, is a decolonial feminist thinker and fiction writer. Her research interests include epistemic and aesthetic aspects of decoloniality; the postsocialist human condition, fiction, and art; critical future inquiries and critical interventions into complexity, crisis, and change. Tlostanova`s most recent books include A new Political Imagination, Making the Case (co-authored with Tony Fry, Routledge, 2020), Decoloniality of Knowledge, Being and Sensing (Centre of Contemporary Culture Tselinny, Kazakhstan, 2020, Kazakhian translation – 2023), and Narratives of Unsettlement. Being Out-of-joint as a Generative Human Condition (Routledge, 2023). Currently she is working on a monograph Not by Leviathan Alone. An exercise in Post-nation-state Worlding. 

Time: 5 May, 17:30-19:00
Place: Niagara (Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 211 19 Malmö), NI:C0E11 or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69619037103

Abstract:

An integral perception of the Caucasus as a single community/space has gradually disappeared throughout the 20th and particularly in the 21st century while the Caucasus has become divided into often hostile to each other nation-states with divergent allegiances while its Northern part has remained a Russian colony. Despite these current geopolitical divisions, a long-going transversal intra-Caucasian community, determined not only culturally or historically but also geographically and even climatically, is no news to Caucasians and may become important in the future. Caucasian community grounded in Lugonesian deep coalitions that allow to keep our differences yet also find intersections for refuturing – is not a myth, but a viable onto-epistemic and ethical-political stance, which may help to survive. Yet, the Caucasus continues to be represented in media, arts and in area studies through typically modern/colonial Orientalist or alarmist security lenses, leaving no legitimate space for any bottom-up alternative frameworks of relational political and social life and images of the shared future coming from Caucasian thinkers, artists and activists themselves.  Bringing these voices forward internationally, as well as facilitating democratic discussions with each other, is necessary for the Caucasians to be able to reimagine themselves regionally in the upcoming decades of the intensified enviro-climatic and geopolitical crises when the main challenge will be that of physical survival.
Moderator: Karina Vamling, Professor Emerita of Caucasus Studies, Malmö University 

RUCARR seminar with Alexandra Brankova: Russian Digital Nationalism; April 21

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Alexandra Brankova: “Russian Digital Nationalism: Digital Practices and Discursive Constructions of the Russian Nation in a Nationalist Media Ecology”

Time: 21 April, 15:15-17:00

Place: NI:C1029, Niagara or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/64162465427?from=addon
Mötes-ID: 641 6246 5427

Alexandra Brankova is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Political Science at the Swedish Defence University working on a project about Geopolitical Narratives and mediatisation of emotions in international relations. Alexandra is also an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Russian and Eurasian studies, Uppsala University. She holds a PhD degree in Media and Communications from Uppsala University. Her research interests include geopolitical narratives, identity construction, international relations, digital media, & nationalism studies.

 

Abstract:

The seminar explores the discursive construction and digital enactment of Russian nationalism in a hybrid media system, before and after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The discourses and practices are situated through a close mapping of the Russian nationalist media ecology, and intertextuality with other actors is examined (such as state institutions, state-aligned media groups, the Russian Orthodox Church portals, military bloggers, and influencers). Theoretically, the study is grounded in the discursive turn of nationalism theories, critical discourse studies, digital practices, and media ecology. Media outlets owned by entrepreneurs of influence (such as Konstantin Malofeev or Yevgeny Prigozhin) or the state act as intermediaries between the regime and audiences. A mixed-methods and longitudinal approach (June 2018–June 2023) was adopted, combining digital methods (such as data scraping and netnography) with discourse-historical analysis, incorporated into the framework of a digital discourse-ethnographic approach. The primary data for this study consists of websites and media publications (news, opinion pieces, manifestos, videos), social media posts (from VKontakte and Telegram), and other audio-visual formats.
The findings reveal that the Russian nationalist media ecology penetrates mainstream media spaces, youth initiatives, and memory politics. Discourses about the nation are not only found in texts of various formats and genres. They are also enacted through digital practices of representation and aesthetics, gamified through virtual or augmented reality applications, and manifested in social media engagement campaigns, reels, or participatory denunciation. The discourses about the Russian nation and its enemies construct a supranational identity and narratives about Russia’s return to great power politics, striving towards the establishment of multipolarity. Russian digital media and technological infrastructures are subjects of securitisation and ongoing enclosure framed as a push for Internet sovereignty from Western platforms. Neo-authoritarian hybrid media systems involve media intermediaries in nation-building, political influencing, discourse dissemination, and user engagement in times of war, going beyond standard mechanisms of restrictions and surveillance.
Link to the book: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A2006494&dswid=4174
Welcome!

RUCARR Distinguished Speaker Febr 24: Prof. Andrea Petö

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

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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

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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

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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!

Seminar June 3: Parliamentary Buildings as Contested Spaces in Georgia and Ukraine: Power, Protest, and Legitimacy from the Soviet Era to Post-Independence

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Parliamentary Buildings as Contested Spaces in Georgia and Ukraine: Power, Protest, and Legitimacy from the Soviet Era to Post-Independence

 RUCARR seminar with Lika Kobeshavidze

Lika Kobeshavidze is a Georgian political writer and analytical journalist specialising in EU policy and regional security in Europe. She is currently based in Lund, Sweden, pursuing advanced studies in European Studies.

Time: 3 June, 15:15-17:00
Place: Seminar room 9th floor, Niagara or online https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62245882436

 Abstract:

This thesis explores the changing symbolic meanings of parliamentary buildings in Georgia and Ukraine. It focuses on how these spaces evolved from symbols of Soviet authority to main sites of resistance and political struggle through protest movements. The study offers a comparative analysis of Georgia and Ukraine through six key events that illustrate the symbolic transformation of the parliament buildings: the Georgian language protests and the Helsinki Group movement during the late Soviet era (1978–1988), the independence movements of 1989–1991 in both countries; the Rose Revolution in Georgia (2003), and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2004). The thesis uses Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD) to compare Ukraine and Georgia, two countries that share a common Soviet past and similar experiences with mass protests, although the state response and course of the events differ in detail. The analysis focuses on Henri Lefebvre’s idea of space as socially produced and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic power, combined with discourse analysis methods by Norman Fairclough and Teun van Dijk. These theoretical frameworks allow a detailed analysis of how the discourse of the population, the language of protest, and the collective perception influence the change in the symbolic meaning of these spaces. By focusing on both the discursive and physical aspects of protests, the thesis emphasizes that these buildings are more than administrative centers and that during specific events, they change their symbolic meaning through the discourse and actions of the protesters. 

 

RUCARR seminar “Resilient Voices: Women Educators in Conflict Zones and Their Role in Rebuilding Societies” with Iryna Halasa, May 27

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Resilient Voices: Women Educators in Conflict Zones and Their Role in Rebuilding Societies

Dr Iryna Halasa, Associate Professor at West Ukrainian National University and British Academy Fellow and visiting scholar at King’s College London

Time: 27th May, 15:15-17:00
Place: Seminar room 9th floor, Niagara or online https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/64991963211

 

Bio

Iryna Halasa is an Associate Professor at West Ukrainian National University. She is currently a British Academy Fellow and visiting scholar at King’s College London, where she is working on her project “Researcher in Conflict: Maintaining Neutrality Amid Personal and National Crisis”. Her research examines how war impacts academic positionality, neutrality, and voice, particularly in the fields of linguistics and communication studies. Dr Halasa earned her PhD in Philology from Ivan Franko National University of L’viv in 2011. She is also leading the project “Resilient Voices: Women Educators in Conflict Zones and Their Role in Rebuilding Societies”, which explores the experiences of female educators in war-affected regions, focusing on education, gender, sociolinguistics, and post-conflict reconstruction. She is the author of the 2025 book Making War Visible: Language as a Weapon During Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, which analyzes how language is used strategically in wartime discourse. Her academic experience is supported by numerous international fellowships and internships in the USA, the UK, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, and other countries.

Abstract

Education is a fundamental pillar of societal resilience and recovery, particularly in conflict-affected regions where the destruction of infrastructure, forced displacement, and psychological trauma disrupt learning. In these crises, women educators play a crucial yet often unrecognized role in maintaining access to education, fostering community stability, and shaping the post-conflict reconstruction process. Our project seeks to explore and document the contributions of Ukrainian female teachers during the full-scale invasion by Russia, highlighting their resilience, challenges, and impact on rebuilding societies through education. The problem our research addresses is the position of Ukrainian women educators and their vital role in sustaining education, supporting students, and fostering societal resilience amid military, economic, and personal crises. Armed conflicts affect education systems, leaving teachers – especially women – to navigate extreme challenges such as displacement, trauma, lack of resources, and threats to personal and family safety, all while maintaining their professional and caregiving responsibilities

 This project aims to uncover how female teachers navigate the immense challenges of teaching in Ukraine during wartime, shedding light on the strategies they employ to sustain education and provide stability in times of upheaval. By examining their approaches – both formal and informal – we seek to understand how they adapt curricula, foster resilience, and offer crucial emotional support to students facing war trauma. Beyond immediate survival, the project explores how women’s dedication lays the groundwork for healing future generations and shapes post-war societies through education and mentorship.

Russia Reverts to Muscovy: What if We Drop “Russia” from the Discourse? – RUCARR seminar with Prof. Stefan Hedlund

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Stefan Hedlund: “Russia Reverts to Muscovy: What if We Drop “Russia” from the Discourse?”

Time: 18th March, 15.15 – 17.00

Place: NI:C0315 or online: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66754621955

Abstract

The presentation expands on three of the main themes of the book Russia Reverts to Muscovy: What if We drop “Russia” from the Discourse?, all of which converge in an argument that we should stop talking about “Russia” and revert to the old name for northeastern Rus, which is “Muscovy.” The first is that so much of the territory of the former Russian Empire has now been lost that it is only logical to refer to the remnants as Muscovy. The second is that the present-day Russian Federation has reverted almost fully to the institutional order that marked old Muscovy, thus adding to the relevance of using that name, and the third is that continued use of the name “Russia” implies acceptance of the Muscovite claim to a sphere of interest that includes Ukraine.

If the present-day Muscovites want to call themselves “Russians” then that is of course their prerogative, much as others have a right to refer to themselves as Ukrainians or Belarusians. Where it goes unacceptably wrong is when it is claimed that all Eastern Slavs are “Russians,” and that those “Russians” must not only accept this distinction but also submit to being ruled from Moscow.

Stefan Hedlund is Professor Emeritus of Soviet and East European Studies at IRES, Uppsala University. He has published more than two dozen books, mainly but not exclusively on themes relating to Russian developments, and he has published more than a hundred articles on similar themes, in various forms and shapes. His works have been published in Russian and Chinese, and he has been a frequent commentator in various media across a number of countries. His most recent book, Russia Reverts to Muscovy: What if We drop “Russia” from the Discourse? (Routledge, 2025), is the latest instalment in a series of books on institutional developments in Russia and Ukraine, the previous volume being Ukraine, Russia and The West: When Value Promotion met Hard Power (Routledge, 2023).

 

Seminar with Leila Wilmers – Interpreting the Discourse of a Multi-Ethnic Russian Nation in Kazan, May 6

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Diversity or Unity: Interpreting the Discourse of a Multi-Ethnic Russian Nation in Kazan

Dr. Leila Wilmers is a Regional Scholar at Cornell University’s Einaudi Center for International Studies and teaches in Cornell’s Department of Sociology. She has a background in peacebuilding work in the non-profit sector and holds a PhD in human geography from Loughborough University, UK. Her research concerns nationalism in the contemporary world, and particularly experiences of nationhood and the processes and conditions of bottom-up engagement with nationalist ideology and politics. Her research and teaching crosses the disciplines of sociology and human geography and her regional expertise is in the post-Soviet space. Her work has been published in the journals Europe-Asia Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Nationalities Papers, and Ethnicities.

Time: 6th May, 15:15 – 17:00 (rescheduled from February 18)

Place: Seminar room 9th floor, Niagara or online: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/64838117167

 Abstract

This talk explores bottom-up responses to the Kremlin’s approach to nation-building in a multi-ethnic state. How do residents of ethnically mixed cities navigate conflicting themes of unity and diversity in the federal discourse of Russia as a multi-ethnic nation (mnogonatsional’nyi narod)? This discourse runs counter to assimilative policies and a concurrent vision of Russia as a civilisation rooted in Slavic culture. In the diverse city of Kazan, the discourse is shown to be easily adopted by residents in narrating belonging, while being a problematic basis for nation-building. The talk highlights the importance of regional and ethnic subject positions in bottom-up engagement with nation-building in Russia.

Welcome!