Aleksanteri Alumni Talks

The seminars explore this region in the present and past times, through lenses of a broad range of disciplines and methodologies.

These talks are held on Zoom and take place in the afternoon at 15.00 Helsinki time, unless stated otherwise. The presentations are followed by comments given by Aleksanteri Institute’s researchers and scholars from among the Visiting Fellow alumni, and a Q & A session.

Aleksanteri Alumni Talks continue along with the Visiting Fellows Research Seminars that feature ongoing research by scholars whom we are hosting at the University of Helsinki within the frame of the Visiting Fellows Programme.

BIOS

Marina F. Bykova is a Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University and the Editor-in-chief of Studies in East European Thought. Her research primarily focuses on the history of nineteenth-century continental philosophy, with particular emphasis on German idealism, especially Fichte and Hegel. She has also contributed to the study of Russia’s philosophical and intellectual traditions. Professor Bykova has published 11 books and over 240 scholarly articles in Russian, German, and English. Her most recent books include the edited volumes Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: A Critical Guide (Cambridge UP, 2024) and At the Vanishing Point in History. Critical Perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine War (Bloomsbury, 2025). She has received numerous prestigious awards, including Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (Germany), European Fellowship (Switzerland), the Lisa Meitner Fellowship (Austria), and the Aleksanteri Institute Visiting Fellowship (Finland). Marina was a Visiting Fellow at the Aleksanteri Institute in 2023.

Maja Soboleva is Professor of Philosophy at Philipps University of Marburg.  Her main area of specialization is the history of continental philosophy, with a focus on German and Russian philosophy. She is an author of eight books including “Logika zla” (The Logic of Evil) (Dalʼ 2019), “Leben und Sein. Hermeneutische Bedeutungstheorien von Georg Misch und Josef König” (Passagen Verlag 2014), “A. Bogdanov und der philosophische Diskurs in Russland zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Zur Geschichte des russischen Positivismus” (Georg Olms Verlag 2007). She has also edited some collections of papers such as “‘Heimat’: eine Begriffsanalyse” (Colloquium: New Philologies. 2021, Vol. 6, Issue 1 (special issue)), “Das Denken des Denkens. Ein philosophischer Überblick” (Transcript 2016). She is the author of more than 100 research articles published in English, German, and Russian. She is an associated editor of the journal “Studies in East European Thought” (Springer). Professor Soboleva was awarded a Lisa Meitner Fellowship (Austria) and a Mildred Miller Fort Visiting Scholar in European Studies at the Columbus State University (Georgia, USA). She was a university professor at the Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt and a visiting professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev and the University of Silesia of Katowice. Maja was a Visiting Fellow at the Aleksanteri Institute in 2013.

ABSTRACT 

The Russia-Ukraine war has triggered an urgent need to reevaluate the historical, cultural, and philosophical forces driving this devastating conflict. In this Alumni Talk, the editor and one of the authors present “At the Vanishing Point in History: Critical Perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine War”, a comprehensive collection of analytical essays and articles that delve into the underlying causes and historical context of the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe. The volume brings together esteemed humanities scholars and prominent novelists, who are Russian émigrés with deep expertise in Russian culture, history, and philosophy. Their collective insights aim to dissect the roots of the current crisis, offering essential background and context to better understand the unfolding events in the region.
The contributors critically assess the trajectory of Russia's political landscape, emphasizing the urgent need to investigate the true origins of its aggressive actions. They argue that the atrocities committed in the name of the "Russian world" not only endanger Ukraine but pose a significant threat to global civilization. By examining the past, this work seeks to illuminate the present situation and propose pathways for future research in the humanities, with the goal of uncovering solutions to this pressing international issue. 

The book serves as a vital resource for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war and its broader implications for global security and human rights. 

At the Vanishing Point in History: Critical Perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine War 
(edited by Marina F. Bykova. Bloomsbury, 2025) https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/at-the-vanishing-point-in-history-9781350438309/

BIO 
 

Marlene Laruelle, Ph.D., is Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University.  She is also Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at GW and the former director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES).   She has been working on Russia's ideological landscape and its outreach abroad for more than two decades. 

ABSTRACT 
 

Marlene Laruelle discusses insights from her new book Ideology and Meaning-Making under the Putin Regime (Stanford University Press, 2025). This critical genealogy of ideology in Russia today demonstrates how illiberal ideology is crystallizing in Putin's Russia. Laruelle reclaims the study of ideology as an essential analytical framework for understanding complex political phenomena. By situating the current Russian regime within a broader context of strategic cultures, ideological dynamics, and intellectual history, this research represents a significant contribution to the scholarly debate on the interaction between ideas and policy decisions. The book provides a nuanced analysis of the intricate mechanisms through which ideological constructs influence state behavior and strategic choices. The author meticulously traces the ideological underpinnings that have contributed to the Russo-Ukrainian War, depicting how strategic narratives, intellectual traditions, and interest group dynamics intersect to create political realities. 

 

BIO

Gertjan Plets is an Associate Professor in Heritage Studies and Cultural History at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. In his work, he uses heritage as a lens to explore cultural politics and statecraft. He especially studies how museums and cultural property are mobilized in regions politically shaped by the energy sector (gas, oil, and mining) and how the past is used to normalize energy discourses and futures. In his work, he draws on his extensive ethnographic research in the Altai Republic (Russia) and Groningen (the Netherlands).

ABSTRACT

Heritage Statecraft and Corporate Power examines the politicization of heritage and heritage conflicts in Siberia. In so doing, it challenges the idea that heritage is created by the state and instead argues that heritage creates the state.

Building upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in south-central Eurasia, this book provides an analysis of the sociopolitical enmeshment of archaeology and heritage in Russia’s resource colony: Siberia. Although many examples from across Siberia are discussed, the core study region for the book is the Altai Republic, which is located where Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China intersect. Taking a “heritage statecraft” approach, Plets argues that heritage is a particularly important political instrument in this region. The book considers how different social “groups”—including indigenous communities, Russian settlers, displaced groups, national and international archaeologists, political parties, and energy companies—translate archaeological data into culturally distinct heritages. Plets encourages scrutiny of the different players that mobilize heritage to instill norms and ideas and the ways in which new regulations or institutions are ultimately implemented.

Heritage Statecraft and Corporate Power contributes to key debates around the politics of archaeology, resource development, and cultural heritage. It will be essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of heritage, archaeology, and memory.

BIO

Maryna Shevtsova is a Senior post-doctoral FWO Fellow at KU Leuven (2023/2026). She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Humboldt University, Berlin (2017), an MA in Gender Studies from Central European University, Budapest (2013), and is a Fulbright (University of Florida 2018/19) and Swedish Institute (Lund University 2020/2021) Alumna. Maryna Shevtsova was an Aleksanteri Visiting Fellow in August-September 2022. Prior to starting her work at KU Leuven, she was an MSCA Co-Fund EUTOPIA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (2021/2023).  Shevtsova is a co-founder of Equal Opportunities Platform, a Dnipro-based Ukrainian NGO working towards combating discrimination and promoting gender equality. In 2022, she received the Emma Goldman Award for her work as a feminist scholar and human rights activist. Her research interests include LGBTQ rights and activism in Central and Eastern Europe, queer migration, and anti-gender movements. Her recent publications include the monograph LGBTI Politics and Value Change in Ukraine and Turkey Exporting Europe? (Routledge 2021) and an edited volume (with Radzhana Buyantueva) on LGBTQ+ Activism in Central and Eastern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan 2020). Maryna was a Visiting Fellow at the Aleksanteri Institute in 2022. 

ABSTRACT

In this Alumni Talk, Maryna Shevtsova presents the book "Feminist Perspective on Russia’s War in Ukraine. Hear Our Voices", a volume that aims to amplify the voices of feminist scholars from Ukraine and the wider Central and Eastern European region. It sheds light on the long-overlooked aspects of the war that began in 2014, presenting a collection of essays contributed by scholars from various disciplines. Through a diverse range of methodologies and data – archival research, media analysis, legal examination, surveys, participant observation, and feminist autoethnography – the book delves into how gender norms have been transgressed and cultural expectations of womanhood and manhood have evolved in Ukraine from 2014 to 2023. This collaborative effort offers unique local perspectives on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inspiring the development of innovative methodologies to unravel the intricate relationship between gender and warfare. 

BIOS

Olga Shevchenko is Paul H. Hunn ’55 Professor in Social Studies at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Williams College. She is the author of Crisis and the Everyday in Postsocialist Moscow and the editor of Double Exposure: Memory and Photography. She was Aleksanteri Visiting Fellow in 2017.

Oksana Sarkisova is Research Fellow at the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives and cofounder of the Visual Studies Platform at CEU. She is the author of Screening Soviet Nationalities: Kulturfilms from the Far North to Central Asia and coeditor of Past for the Eyes: East European Representations of Communism in Cinema and Museums after 1989.

ABSTRACT 

In Visible Presence: Soviet Afterlives in Family Photos (MIT Press, 2023), by Aleksanteri Visiting Fellow alum Olga Shevchenko and Oksana Sarkisova, is an absorbing exploration of Soviet-era family photographs that demonstrates the singular power of the photographic image to command attention, resist closure, and complicate the meaning of the past. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork and interviews, as well as internet ethnography, media analysis, and case studies, the book offers a rich account of the role of family photography in creating communities of affect, enabling nostalgic longings, and processing memories of suffering, violence, and hardship.

When viewed today, old Soviet photos evoke youthful aspirations, dashed hopes, and moral compromises, as well as the long legacy of silence that was passed down from grandparents to parents to children. With more than 250 black and white photos, In Visible Presence is an astonishing journey into domestic photography, family memory, and the ongoing debate over the meaning of the Soviet past that is as timely and powerful today as it has ever been.

BIO

Bettina Renz is a Professor of International Security at the University of Nottingham’s School of Politics and International Relations. Her area of expertise is Russian security and defence policy and she has published widely on the subject, including her latest monograph, Russia’s Military Revival, which appeared with Polity in 2018. Bettina graduated with an MA and MSc in Russian Studies from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham. She is an alumna of the Aleksanteri Institute’s Visiting Fellows Programme and also worked at the Institute as a researcher in 2015/16.

ABSTRACT

When Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many observers in the West expected the war to be over within a couple of weeks. This mistaken assumption led to a debate about why the West overestimated Russian military capabilities. The talk will take an in-depth look at possible explanations for these overestimates. It argues that these explanations go far beyond faulty approaches to military analysis. Identifying ways to improve future analyses of opponents’ military capabilities is an important undertaking, but it will not be an easy undertaking.