Category: Countries

Seminar April 25th, 15:15-17:00: Internet freedom in Russia: An infrastructural approach by Dr Mariëlle Wijermars

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Internet freedom in Russia: An infrastructural approach, by Dr Mariëlle Wijermars, University of Helsinki

When: April 25th, 15:15-17:00

Where: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69356487660

Description: Over the past decade, internet freedom in Russia has dramatically declined as a result of the state’s repressive policies and enhanced digital surveillance and censorship capacities. Yet, looking at the Russian state provides only a partial picture and risks obscuring the agency of various domestic and foreign (private) actors in shaping these processes. This talk shifts focus to the implementation and enforcement of restrictive Internet policies in Russia to examine how the actions of, among others, platform companies can enable, shape or constrain how these policies impact internet freedom.

Bio

Dr Mariëlle Wijermars is a CORE Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies of the University of Helsinki, on leave from her position as Assistant Professor in Cyber-Security and Politics at Maastricht University. Her research focuses on the human rights’ implications of internet policy and platform governance, in particular in authoritarian states.  Her work has been published in, e.g., Post-Soviet Affairs, Digital Journalism, New Media & Society, and Information, Communication & Society. She is the editor (with Daria Gritsenko and Mikhail Kopotev) of The Palgrave Handbook of Digital Russia Studies, published by Palgrave Macmillan (2021), and Freedom of Expression in Russia’s New Mediasphere (with Katja Lehtisaari), published by Routledge (2020).

Seminar May 11 – The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Russia and China in Central Asia

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Welcome to the RUCARR seminar on May 11, 10.00-11.30 with Ass.Prof. Edward Lemon, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University and Dr Oleg Antonov, researcher at Södertörn University and RUCARR, Malmö University.

Sign-up for zoom link 

 

The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Russia and China in Central Asia

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led many analysts to predict that its role in Central Asia would decline. While there have been moments of pushback against Russia from the region’s governments, political, economic and security ties remain strong and resilient to change. At the same time, China is capitalizing on Russia’s distraction to make further inroads in Central Asia, becoming less deferential to Moscow, accelerating a trend that existed before February 2022. The speakers will discuss how the region is being affected by the war in Ukraine and what this tells us about the influence of Russia and China.

About the speakers

Dr. Edward Lemon is a Research Assistant Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University. He previously held positions at the Wilson Center and Columbia University. His research focuses on Russia and China’s influence, authoritarianism and security in Central Asia

Dr. Oleg Antonov is a Researcher at the Department of Global Political Studies, the Faculty of Culture and Society, with Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR), Malmö University (supported by the Crafoord Foundation) ant at the same time a Researcher at the Department of Political Science, Södertörn University. His research focuses on authoritarian governance in Central Asia, in particular Russia and China’s influence in the region. He has previously held positions at Uppsala University, University of Amsterdam, University of Gothenburg, University of Heidelberg and University of Fribourg.

RUCARR seminar with Evgeny Romanovskiy, April 11

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National Historiography, Élite Ideology, and Nation-Building in the Northern Caucasus

Very welcome to join our next RUCARR  seminar on April 11 with Evgeny Romanovskiy, Charles University.

WHEN: April 11, 15.15-17.00

WHERE: Sign-up here for zoom link 

Abstract

The Caucasus has always been a mystical region for researchers not only from abroad, but also for Russians, where “traditional methods did not work.” Nevertheless, in this study, the author will lift the veil of the secrets of the formation and development of state policy in nation- and identity building in two republics of the North Caucasus: Chechnya and Dagestan. While Chechnya is a traditional mono-ethnic and mono-religious republic within Russia that has given rise to a “special” kind of nationalism, Dagestan is a «Babel tower of languages and cultures” that represents a different type of nationalism, or lack of it. While using modern social theories, the author of this study [in both cases] will try to prove that the Caucasus went through a difficult, but the same way of forming national identities as other regions of the Earth. This seminar will help to better understand the Caucasus, as well as the processes that took place and are taking place there and that have shaped the image of this region as we know it.

Short bio

Evgeny Romanovskiy has an MA in Political Science from the University of Vienna, and currently he is a PhD student at Charles University, and also affiliate both at Queens University and CEU. His research interests are ethno-conflicts, border and visual studies, nationalism and Europeanization. He is the author of several scientific articles, with working experience in several think tank centres and media agencies in both Russia and Europe.

Seminar with Katrine Gotfredsen on Georgian borderland villages – Living with “borderization”

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Living with “borderization”: Accommodating, negotiating and contesting occupation in Georgian borderland villages

Welcome to next RUCARR  seminar on March 21 with Dr Katrine Godfredsen, senior lecturer in Caucasus Studies at Malmö Unversity.

When: March 21, 15.15-17.00

Where: Sign-up here for zoom link    (new link)

Zoom Meeting  https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/67632369897  Meeting ID: 676 3236 9897

Abstract

In this presentation I will outline some preliminary findings from recent ethnographic fieldwork in Georgia conducted as part of the research project “Occupied Intimacies: Borderization in Palestine, Georgia and Western Sahara”. The project as a whole is about contemporary military occupations and their effects on the everyday lives of people under their rule. It compares three cases of on-going and disputed military occupations: the Russian occupation of the Georgian territory of South Ossetia, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.

The Georgian case study explores local effects of Russian border-making practices, or “borderization”, between the occupied territory of South Ossetia and Tbilisi controlled territory. Through the installation of physical barriers and symbolic gestures, such as signposts, fences and patrolling border guards, a previously invisible and elastic administrative boundary line (ABL) is gradually being turned into a de-facto international border. Moreover, these activities are accompanied by instances of what is locally described as “creeping occupation” – the step-by-step moving of fences and barbed wire further into Georgian controlled land and seizing of more Georgian territory.

Borderization has grave effects on the lives and livelihoods of borderland village communities. Some families have already experienced being cut off, or displaced, from their native farmlands, gardens and orchards, and others live with the fear and risk that this might happen at any time. This ongoing uncertainty presents local families with a number of economic and social problems and dilemmas, but it also fosters innovative strategies of accommodation, negotiation and contestation. In this presentation, I will examine how, and to which effect, borderization as a tool of dominance and subordination affects and reconfigures local village communities and livelihoods.

RUCARR Seminar, March 7th (15-17): “You’re a disgrace to the uniform!” Lev Protiv’s challenge to the police in Moscow streets and on YouTube

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“You’re a disgrace to the uniform!” Lev Protiv’s challenge to the police in Moscow streets and on YouTube by Gilles Favarel-Guarrigues 

When: March 7th, 15:15-17:00

Where: On Zoom, link: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66776698229

Lev Protiv presents itself as a “social project” intertwining civic involvement, moral policing and entertaining Youtube show. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and pretending to defend the innocent youth, the Moscow vigilantes patrol since 2014 in public spaces in search of people consuming alcohol or smoking and implement governmental bans. However, their targets are not only drunkards and youth subculture, but also the police which are reluctant to implement the law. Sponsored by the government during two years and earning money thanks to their YouTube channel, how to explain that a vigilante activity, openly challenging State authority , may be tolerated in an authoritarian regime? This paper is based on the analysis of the videos of the group and on personal participation in several anti-drinking nocturnal raids. It shows that Lev Protiv has imposed a particular form of police oversight from below, forcing law enforcement officers to act as vigilante auxiliaries, partially in line with the governmental management of civil society.

Restoritative Justice in Action, February 16

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Welcome to join tomorrow’s conference Restoritative Justice in Action, where Dr. Mariia Tyshchenko, Honorary Doctor of Malmö University and affiliated RUCARR researcher will speak about her research and results of  the School of Peace in Ukraine. The conference will discuss potential post-war restoritative strategies that might be employed in Ukraine going forward.

Where: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88596115140 Meeting ID: 885 9611 5140

When: 4.30 pm Swedish time

Organiser: Kenneth Laundra, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Sociology Program Director, Sociology Millikin University visited camp of School of peace last year.

Background reading: Laundra, Kenneth. Restorative justice in Ukraine: understanding practices and challenges. The International Journal of Restorative Justice 2022 vol. 5(2) pp. 263-280.  doi: 10.5553/TIJRJ.000125

 

 

Seminar with Iryna Degtyarova – Needs and support for Ukrainian higher education in times of war: the Polish perspective

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Needs and support for Ukrainian higher education in times of war: the Polish perspective

Welcome to the RUCARR seminar “Needs and support for Ukrainian higher education in times of war: the Polish perspective” with Dr. Iryna Degtyarova, Senior Researcher in Polish Rectors Foundation, SGH Warsaw School of Economics Rector’s Representative for Cooperation with Ukrainian Universities.

When: February 13, 15-17 CET

Where: zoom link: https://mau-se.zoom.us/s/67633545052

For those of you who would like to join the seminar at campus: Seminar room at floor 9, Niagara building (Nordenskiöldsgatan 1)

Abstract

“At the seminar Iryna Degtyarova will present a multidimensional perspective of support of Ukrainian academia in times of war of aggression of russian federation against Ukraine. The systemic perspective will be shared through the lenses of the Polish-Ukrainian national rectors’ conferences’ cooperation within the project funded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science. She will focus also on the Institutional university perspective of the response to the war and refugee crisis . As for individual level, the recent study about the situation of Ukrainian academics abroad and their needs will be discussed.”

Insight into Ukraine’s current reality

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Insight into Ukraine’s current reality

Welcome to the RUCARR seminar with Ukrainian students  Mariia Vashchenko and Zoriana Tsiupak.
When: February 8, 15.00-16.30.
Where: Zoom link https://mau-se.zoom.us/s/61691650885

For those of you who would like to join the seminar at campus: Seminar room at floor 9, Niagara building (Nordenskiöldsgatan 1)

Two Ukrainian students, staying in Malmö on a Swedish Institute scholarship, are going to hold a presentation about the situation in Ukraine in the context of the full scale russian invasion. They want to highlight some aspects of the current reality based on their personal experience and some statistical data found on the Internet. In their presentation they want to cover some challenges for Ukrainian citizens during the war time, including gender equality and social inclusion among other things. Moreover, the role of Lviv as a transit center of humanitarian aid and a refugees’ destination will be discussed. 

RUCARR Lunch Seminar January 24th: Understandings of democracy and “good citizenship” in Ukraine: utopia for the people, participation in politics not required

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Understandings of democracy and “good citizenship” in Ukraine: utopia for the people, participation in politics not required by Dr. Joanna Szostek, Lecturer in Political Communication, University of Glasgow 

When: January 24th, 12:15-14:00 CET time

Where: Zoom-link: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/63683894763

Description: This research presentation will explore how people in diverse peripheral regions of Ukraine understood democracy, their role as citizens in a democracy, and the meaning of “good citizenship” in 2021, the year before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Using thematic analysis of focus group discussions, the research demonstrates gaps and inconsistencies in the understandings of democracy articulated by participants. A utopian understanding of democracy was common, in which authorities are expected to “listen to the people” and keep them satisfied, but the need for government to manage conflicting interests is not recognized. Understandings of good citizenship are inclusive and pro-social, but mostly detached from institutional politics. Similarity was observed across regions in how democracy is understood in the abstract. However, the meaning ascribed to democracy often varied when discussion moved from the abstract to particular country examples – a finding relevant beyond the Ukrainian case, for survey-based research on public understandings of democracy more generally.

 

 

Seminar on Georgia and the Russian invasion of Ukraine with Prof. Alexandre Kukhianidze, Dec. 13

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Georgia: history and memory in the conditions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Video from the seminar available here: https://youtu.be/I0vvrtdzSg4

 

RUCARR online seminar with visiting researcher Alexandre Kukhianidze, Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences,  Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University University (Georgia).

When: December 13, 15.15-17.00 CET (6.15-8.00 pm Tbilisi)
Where: Zoom link https://mau-se.zoom.us/s/62874227691

Abstract

The online seminar discusses how Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the early morning of February 24, 2022, led not only to a rethinking of international security and stability, of Russia’s entire policy towards its immediate neighbors, but also to international assessments of Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008. The war led to a complication in relations between the ruling “Georgian Dream” party and the Ukrainian leadership, influenced the relationship of the Georgian leadership with the political opposition and leading non-governmental organizations, as well as the relationship of the ruling party to the European Union and the United States. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the Georgian political opposition is increasingly accusing the political leadership of Georgia of pro-Russian orientation, rejection of European and Euro-Atlantic integration and insufficient assistance to Ukraine, attacks by individual representatives of the “Georgian Dream” on the ambassadors of the European Union, the United States and the leadership of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the scale of mass rallies held in Georgia in support of Ukraine and aimed at criticizing the Georgian leadership has sharply decreased by the autumn of 2022, which has an impact on the stability of the latter. Based on personal observations and analysis of the entire post-Soviet period in Georgia, the speaker explains the reasons for the behavior of the Georgian leadership and the public against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine.