Category: Ukraine

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.

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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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 21, 15:15-17:00: The inefficiency of EU leverage in Serbia during the Russia-Ukraine war

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The inefficiency of EU leverage in Serbia during the Russia-Ukraine war, Branislav Radeljić

When: May 21, 15.15-17:00 CET
Where: Zoom link https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69865873540

The war in Ukraine has exposed a rift between Serbia and the Brussels administration. Serbia has been accused of aligning itself with Russia as opposed to the strictly pro-Ukrainian EU. In this talk, Prof. Radeljić will look at the nature of EU–Serbia relations, with a particular focus on (a) the relevance of EU norms and values as policy tools, (b) the foreign policy of Serbia under the Progressivists and the regime of Aleksandar Vučić, and (c) the rising influence of Russia and China in the Western Balkan region, which has been undermining the EU’s push for democratization and Europeanization.

Branislav Radeljić is Professor of International Relations in the Department of Government and Society, United Arab Emirates University. In addition, he serves as Visiting Professor of European Politics at Nebrija University. His scholarly interests focus on European and Middle Eastern political and socioeconomic developments. 

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.

RUCARR and MIM seminar with Prof. Aadne Aasland, April 23

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The reception of Ukrainian refugees in Norway: Experiences of refugees and frontline workers

When: April 23, 11.00-12.50
Where: Niagara Building, room TBA

Prof. Aadne Aasland’s presentation will address the following:

1. How do Ukrainian refugees experience their settlement and integration in Norway? 

2. What are the frontline workers’ assessments of challenges and opportunities related to the settlement and integration of Ukrainian refugees? 

3. What similarities and disparities are there between the Ukrainian refugees and the frontline workers’ assessments and perspectives, and what are the main challenges and dilemmas? 

Bio

Aadne Aasland is a research professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, and conducts research on social welfare, migration and integration, ethnicity, and diversity, with a particular focus on Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic countries. Currently, he is leading a project on Norwegian cooperation with Russia on health and welfare in the Barents region (RE:Barents) and participating in a project on how Russia promotes its interests in Norway and Western Europe (PRORUSS). Recently, Aadne completed a major project on addressing regional diversity in Ukraine (ARDU). Read more here: https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/employee/aadnea/