Lara Sanchez Gil received the RUCARR Thesis Award 2023 for her MA thesis Being together through ICTs
Transnational family practices in the context of Ukrainian forced migration. It was written as an MA thesis in the subject International Migration and Ethnic Relations, at the Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University. Supervisor: Katarina Mozetič. The prize was awarded by Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society, Annika Olsson, Our warm congratulations to Lara!
An Honorauble mention was awarded to Johan Richter for his BA Thesis The Russia and China Disinformation Nexus (below). Supervisor: Isobel Squire.
The RUCARR thesis competition for BA and Masters levels at Malmö University is organized by the research platform Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR). The aim of this competition is to promote interest among students in the current development in the region.
Prof. Oleg Mazuryk will be speaking on the topic of ‘Civic Engagement in the Context of the Russian War in Ukraine: Practice and Research,’ focused of his ongoing research on the phenomenon of self-organization and social cohesion within Ukrainian society. His study is done in cooperation with the Ukrainian Evaluation Association. From the full-scale invasion in Feb 2024, there was an epicenter of social activities and hostilities in the Kyiv region, near the now globally renowned town of Bucha. The intention behind this initiative is to document the first-hand experience of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression, aiming at making this valuable information accessible for academic and professional scrutiny. The findings of the research into the self-organization and unification of Ukrainians are derived from a comprehensive analysis of 142 in-depth interviews. It is important to note that this is a work in progress, with further insights and data yet to be gathered and analyzed. This presentation will delve into the role that civic engagement played at the onset of the full-scale invasion and how it can contribute to the further development of a sustainable and democratic society in the post-war period.
You are welcome to attend a lecture by Vladimir Gelman, professor at Aleksanteriinstitutet, University of Helsiniki, and new member of RUCARR’s Advisory Board. He will talk about ‘Why Russia Fails: Origins of the Ukrainian Catastrophe’, which also is the subjet of his coming book. The event is a collaboration with Global Europe & International Cooperation (GEIC).
The post-Soviet wars and socio-economic crisis of the 1990s in Georgia and the North Caucasus shaped the lives of Pankisi residents, transforming the borderland region into the epicenter of tension. While Pankisi residents have kept a distinct Kist identity in Georgia, they have also maintained their ties with their Northern neighbours, and political developments in Chechnya and Ingushetia have often had a significant impact on their lives. The transition of North-Eastern Georgian borders from open to closed after the collapse of the Soviet Union unfolded in a specific way in Pankisi Gorge. This shift in border regimes coincided with the Russo-Chechen war. These events played a pivotal role in shaping their ethnic and religious identities and became an integral part of the collective memory of Pankisi Kists. It is against the backdrop of the Russo-Chechen wars and Georgia’s western-oriented geopolitical aspirations that I seek to understand the „valley of misconstrued“ by examining the formation of borderland identity at this politically and socially pivotal juncture.
Prof. Gerard Jirair Libaridian, professor (emeritus) of history at the University of Michigan, former advisor to the first President of the Republic of Armenia on foreign and security policies. (photo)
Magnusson, Märta-Lisa and Karina Vamling. (2023). Ryssland mot Turkiet i Nagorno-Karabach. Forskning & Framsteg. 
Makili-Aliyev, Kamal (2020).