Welcome to the Aleksanteri Institute!

The Aleksanteri Institute - Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies is affiliated with the University of Helsinki and operates as a national centre of research, study and expertise pertaining to Russia and Eastern Europe, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. The institute co-ordinates and promotes co-operation and interaction between the academic world, public administration, business life and civil society in Finland and abroad.

Aleksanteri News 1/2010 published

This year's first issue of Aleksanteri News is packed with information about the upcoming events at the Institute and its network. New projects, visiting fellows and graduate school students are also introduced as well as the latest books published by Kikimora Publications. Download Aleksanteri News 1/2010 here!

New Dissertation on Charter 77

Jouni Järvinen defended his dissertation, Normalization and Charter 77 – Violence, Commitment and Resistance in Czechoslovakia in the faculty of social sciences of the University of Helsinki on 29.1.2010. The custos was professor Seppo Hentilä and the opponent professor Michael Long (Baylor University, USA). Photo:Erkka Lehto

“Järvinen’s work brings much needed insight into the normalization period in Czechoslovakia, thus far underresearched”, stated Long and noted the dissertation especially valuable in that it examines Charter 77, apart from the angle of political history, even in a cultural and sociological perspective. Long estimated the theory of violence, applied in Järvinen’s research, as a particularly suitable tool to discuss the dialogue between the dissidents and the governmental actors. As Järvinen aptly elucidates in his book, Charta 77 was a hybrid between a traditional dissident activity and political action. It enabled to broaden the spectrum of questions raised to, for instance, human rights and protection of environment.

The dissertation is published in Kikimora Publications Series A (A21) and sold at the Aleksanteri Institute.

Successful Autumn for the Aleksanteri Institute

Several new projects are starting at the Aleksanteri Institute in 2010. One of these is a new research project led by Dr Markku Kangaspuro, the Institute’s Head of Research, entitled Constructing Russian Identity in the Media: Between the History of WW II and the Future of Europeanness. The project received funding for the 2010–2012 period from HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) as part of a larger project entitled Memory at War: Cultural Dynamics in Poland, Russia and Ukraine and also from the Helsingin Sanomain Säätiö Foundation. Dr Katalin Miklóssy received funding from the Academy of Finland and the University of Helsinki for the same period for her project, Competition in Socialist Society. A project that supports the working life orientation of future specialists on Russian and Eastern Europe, entitled OVET - Venäjän ja itäisen Euroopan osaajana työmarkkinoilla, is going through final negotiations. The project is funded by (ESF).

Individual researchers also received funding. The proposal submitted by the Institute in conjunction with Professor Margarita M. Balmaceda for the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowship) was graded exceptionally highly in the European Commission’s expert evaluation. The Grant Agreement for a 16-month fellowship starting in May 2010 is currently being negotiated with the Commission’s Research Executive Agency. Dr Sanna Turoma (see below) was chosen as one of 12 postdoctoral fellows of the University of Helsinki for 2010–2012, Elina Viljanen received a Fulbright Graduate Grant for advanced studies in the United States and several other scholars received funding from various foundations.

Sanna Turoma chosen for postdoctoral fellowship

Dr Sanna Turoma, a Kone research fellow at the Aleksanteri Institute in 2009,  was chosen as one of the 12 postdoctoral fellows of the University of Helsinki for the period of 2010-2012.

Turoma's research titled "Imperial Space in Late Soviet Russian Culture (1960-80)"analyzes the ways Soviet territory was represented in Russian-languagewriting and film during the last decades of Soviet rule with a focus on the cultural and imperial significations invested in geographical representations.

“By penetrating into Russia’s recent intellectual history, the study will provide tools for analyzing contemporary Russia's geopolitical discourse while it also attempts to rethink Cold War dissident ideologies from the viewpoint of the imperial paradigm”, says Turoma.  She is currently a visiting scholar at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University and will return to the Aleksanteri Institute in July 2010.

How to protect the Yakutian Cattle from extinction - And why?

The Yakutian cattle, Sakha ynaga, are the last remnants of the Siberian Turano-Mongolian cattle, and a valuabe source of genetic variation, most of the original types having disapperaed due to crossbreeding. The unique cattle is well adapted to living in the harsh conditions of the permafrost and thus has provided the people of the region with an invaluable means of livelihood for centuries.

They've survived the cold, dark winters and the turmoil of political changes, but now they face an uncertain future. There are less than 1,000 breeding females left. What has happened? The joint project by the Aleksanteri Institute and MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Genetic resources of Russian farm animals(2003-2007) investigated the state of cattle breeding in the Republic of Sakha. A book entitled Sakha Ynaga. Cattle of the Yakuts was published at the Aleksanteri Institute on November 26th, 2009. The book is edited by Leo Granberg, Juha Kantanen and Katriina Soini, published by Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and distributed by bookstore Tiedekirja. Read the pressrelease at MTT website (english) Pressrelease in Russian (pdf)