Category: Seminar

RUCARR seminar with Doctoral Fellow Natalia Iost – March 12

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The Influence of Critical Junctures with Russian Involvement on its Standing in the Baltic States. The Analysis of Narratives and Public Perceptions

When: March 12, 2024, 15.15-16.30
Where: Niagara building, 9th floor, seminar room (zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/s/64204938730)

Natalia Iost studied political science and Jewish theology in the Universities of Heidelberg, Stuttgart, and the University of Jewish Studies. Today, she is a Doctoral Fellow in the University of Greifswald’s International Research Training Group: Baltic Peripeties – Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions, and Catastrophes.

Abstract

Critical junctures with Russian involvement have always affected the security situation in the Baltic states. The Russian-Georgia War (2008), the Annexation of Crimea (2014), as well as the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine War in 2022 caused a splash in security narratives, which increasingly depict Russia as the main threat. In my analysis, I apply securitization theory to show how critical junctures such as international crises and wars influenced the securitization of Russia in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the last 30 years. I will answer the questions of how exactly the depictions of Russia changed in the security narratives of the Baltic states in the aftermath of the international crises. Which Russia-related issues started to be perceived as a threat? And which strategies were discussed to combat the threats? In the next step, I will analyze the changes in public attitudes towards Russia in all BSR countries. I claim that critical junctures with Russian involvement considerably influenced security narratives and public attitudes in the Baltic states and the whole Baltic Sea region, shifting Russia to the very center of security concerns.

Seminar Febr 6 with Dr Lena Hercberga: Understanding difference and disagreement among young Russian speakers in Latvia

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Welcome to the first RUCARR seminar this spring semester. On Tuesday February 6, 15.15–16.30 Dr Lena Hercberga (Copenhagen Business School) will present her research:

How to be many: understanding difference and disagreement among young Russian speakers in Latvia

Lena Hercberga (Copenhagen Business School) holds a Doctoral degree from the University of Bristol, UK. Her current research interests include revisiting post-Soviet identity struggles, social cleavages, and democracy from alternative points of view, such as e.g., radical democracy and agonistic pluralism. Additionally, Lena is interested in self-reflexive forms of inquiry and non-conventional research methods

Abstract

This self-reflexive ethnographic study aims to contribute to the knowledge about minoritised young Russian speakers in Latvia by understanding how a group of young Russophone high-school students (aged 16-18) perceive and perform difference in the context of long-lasting exclusionary minority politics in the country. By applying the theoretical lens of Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic pluralism, the study was able to foreground moments of disagreement and conflict – as opposed to the conventional focus on the moments of consolidation and unity – with ‘the other’. The methodological approach to extend school ethnography to an urban walking experiment allowed to account for Mouffe’s emerging and nomadic conception of identity as well as to observe the group’s engagement with ‘the different’ in a less confined setting.
 
The study contributes to the pool of previous research in this field by unpacking complexity behind the relations of the research participants with ‘self’ and ‘the other’. The process of perceiving and performing difference by these young people can be described as a balancing act of two contradictory yet complementary behaviours: 1) displacement across various discursive fields in the process of self-making, and 2) fixation – when the research participants perform their difference according to the context and structures of power in place. By being able to navigate complex structures of power, social norms and expectations ‘on the surface’, these young people thus negotiate a ‘backstage’ space where they can be many, i.e., enact multiple, at times conflicting discursive fields in the process of self-making. By depicting the research participants as constituted through multiple subject positions, the study contributes to the critique of binary conception of Latvian society along ethnic lines, as well as to more global issues of democratising minority/majority relations in post-Soviet/post-colonial contexts.

RUCARR Seminar with Prof. Oleg Mazuryk, Dec 13

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Prof. Oleg Mazuryk, Social Structures and Social Relations Department at the Faculty of Sociology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv:

Civic Engagement in the Context of the Russian War in Ukraine: Practice and Research

When: December 13, 15.15
Where: Niagra building, 9th floor, room 1029
Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/67665494034

Abstract

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.

Bio

Prof. Oleg Mazuryk is the Head of Social Structures and Social Relations Department at the Faculty of Sociology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. His research interests encompass social audit, social control, social responsibility, monitoring, and evaluation of social programs and projects. He serves as the head of the NGO Social Audit Centre and the chairman of the Ukrainian Evaluation Association. His primary efforts are directed toward the training of young evaluators, the promotion of an evaluation culture, and the development of professional and civic competencies.

RUCARR Seminar with Prof. Vladimir Gel’man, November 28

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Prof. Vladimir Gel’man: Why Russia Fails: Origins of the Ukrainian Catastrophe

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).

Vladimir Gelman’s areas of expertise include Russian and post-Soviet politics and governance. This knowledge is applied in a theoretical and comparative perspective with a special emphasis on political regime dynamics, political institutions, policy-making, electoral and party politics, regional, and local government.

His most recent book isThe Politics of Bad Governance in Contemporary Russia (University of Michigan Press, 2022). Previous works include Authoritarian Russia: Analyzing Post-Soviet Regime Changes (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015) and Authoritarian Modernization in Russia: Ideas, Institutions, and Policies (Routledge, 2017). He also authored scholarly articles in Post-Soviet Affairs, International Political Science Review, East European Politics, and other journals.

When: November 28, 15-17

Where: Niagara, K3 Studio 5th floor, C0541

Please, sign up here by Nov 27

Seminar with Dr Maia Barkaia: Georgia’s North-Eastern Borderland Entanglements

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Dr Maia Barkaia, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Visiting RUCARR  researcher: A Valley of Misconstrued: Georgia’s North-Eastern Borderland Entanglements

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.

When: October 24, 15.16-17.00
Where: Seminar room, 9th floor (campus seminar)

SEMINAR JUNE 13th, Striving towards democracy? Political participation in post-Soviet countries by Viktor Tuzov

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When? Tuesday 13th of June, 15:15-17:00

Where: Zoom-link: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69779449463

Striving towards democracy? Political participation in post-Soviet countries by Viktor Tuzov,  Ph.D Candidate in Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

The formation of political systems in the post-Soviet region remains a relevant topic even thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to the social, economic and cultural factors, the political regimes continue to move from the general communist in the past towards different political futures dominated by authoritarian or democratic frames. Our study aims to analyze the patterns of political participation and political culture, focusing on the binary categorization of political regimes across post-Soviet countries and the impact of media trust. It focuses on eight post-soviet countries equally divided into authoritarian and hybrid political regimes using WVS/EVS 2017-2020 survey. The results highlight the importance of media in the formation of political participation habits across countries with unconsolidated democracy. The people with higher media trust tend to participate in non-institutional political actions less frequently but have a higher willingness to vote during the national elections. The freedom index has also been integrated into the research as a moderator due to the importance of freedom for the media to mobilize society. The moderation analysis has revealed the distinctive patterns of political participation in countries with lower and higher levels of freedom.

 

Cyberwarfare and our resistance to aggression: key insights from 2022, seminar with Prof. Potii, May 16

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Prof. Oleksandr Potii, Brigadier General the Deputy Chairman of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine since September 2020, will give a prsentation at the RUCARR seminar:

Cyberwarfare and our resistance to aggression: key insights from 2022

When: May 16, 15.16-17.00
Where: Zoom – https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68914039402

Bio

Prof. Potii is an expert on information protection standards, on the development of personnel potential in the field of cyberdefense, and on the protection of critical information infrastructure, information security and cryptography. From 2019 to 2020, Deputy Chief Designer of Systems and Means of Cryptographic Information Protection at the Private Joint Stock Company “Institute of Information Technology”. From 2014 to 2019, Professor of Security Information Systems and Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, the Kharkiv National University. Earlier served in the Air Force of Ukraine for 25 years.

 

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.