The Program

Welcome to the Aleksanteri Conference 2023, held on October 25–27 at the City Centre Campus of the University of Helsinki, Finland. Please note that some changes in the program may occur.
WEDNESDAY 25 OCT

On Wednesday the registration tables will be located at the Main Building of the University of Helsinki, Fabianinkatu 33. 

On Thursday and Friday the registration tables will be located in the Main Lobby of Metsätalo, Unionkatu 40, 1st floor. Tables have service throughout the conference. Collect your personal name tags to attend.   

Copies of Abel Polese´s book The SCOPUS Diaries and the (il)logics of Academic Survival A Short Guide to Design Your Own Strategy and Survive Bibliometrics, Conferences, and Unreal Expectations in Academia will be available to buy at the every day at the registration desk. 

10.30-11.00 | The Great Hall, Main Building

Fabianinkatu 33, Helsinki 
 

Welcoming ceremony with 

  • Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Belarusian activist and opposition leader 

  • Tuija Brax, director of the new Rule of Law Center, University of Helsinki

  • Markku Kangaspuro, director of the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

11.00–12.00 | The Great Hall, Main Building

Fabianinkatu 33, Helsinki

MADINA TLOSTANOVA

Professor of Postcolonial Feminism
Linköping University

12.00–13.15 | LUNCH BREAK

You can for instance visit the Unicafe canteen on the -1 floor at Metsätalo or in other university buildings, go to Kluuvi mall, Fennia Block or towards the city centre. 

Social Policy in Authoritarian Regimes:
Regime Type, Gender, Agency and Structure in Eurasia and Beyond

Chair: Leo Granberg, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
Discussant: Eugenia Pesci, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Power and Policy Pillars of Social Policymaking in Authoritarian Regimes:
Comparing Housing Policies in China and Russia

Marina Khmelnitskaya, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
co-author: Jo Zhou, University of the West of England

Women’s Agency During the Conservative Wave in Russian Social Policy
Ann-Mari Satre, IRES, Uppsala University, Sweden

Gender and Social Policy in Turkey, 2002-2020
Sevinc Bermek, London School of Economics, England

Imaginaries of Environmental Responsibility of the BigTech:
Evidences from Russian Digital Platforms

Olga Dovbysh, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 1A–1
ROOM TBC
The Ebbs and Flows of New Russian Emigration

Chair: Anna Tarasenko,  Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Reclaiming Dignity: Modes of Political and Civic Engagement
by New Russian Migrants, A Comparative Perspective

Margarita Zavadskaya, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)/ Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Health Professionals’ Migration After the Start of Russia’s
Invasion of Ukraine: Professional as Political

Anna Temkina, Ben Gurion University, Israel
co-author: Anastasia Novkunskaya, representing in individual capacity 

Comparing Cultures of Collective Actions.
Visibility of the Russian Civil Society Initiatives in Tbilisi

Sofia Gavrilova, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany
co-author: Olga Bronnikova, Universite Grenoble Alpes, France

New Russian Diasporas Outside the European Union:
Policy Implications for EU Member-States

Dmitry Kokorin, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom,  Germany

Russian Journalists in Exile: Rethinking of Professional Identity
Jenny Wiik, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
co-author: Elena Johansson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

PANEL 1A–2
ROOM TBC
Russia at War: Repression, Propaganda and Resistance

Putin’s Invasion into Ukraine and Determination of “Chinialization” for Russian Federation Freedom of Speech
Seyed Behzad Akhlaghi, University of Law, England

“Nasha Armiya Samaya Sil’naya”:
Myth-making & the Semiotics of a Russian Children’s Military Parade

Brooke Barton, University of Alaska, USA

Art Activism: Russian Popular Music and Anti-war Resistance
Azniv Tadevosyan, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia

PANEL 1A–3
ROOM TBC
Reshaping the Field: Postcoloniality and Slavic Studies

Sanna Turoma, University of Tampere, Finland

Roman Dubasevych, University of Greifswald, Germany

Dirk Uffelmann, University of Giessen, Germany

Christian Voss, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

Miranda Jakisa, University of Vienna

ROUNDTABLE 1A–4
ROOM TBC
Carceral Dilemmas in Central Asia and Russia´s Muslim Peripheries

Ethics and Ethnicity in the Gulag: a Central Asian Victim Speaks Out
Nathan Light, Uppsala University, Sweden

International Prison Standards and Prison Reform in Present-Day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The Role of Social Workers as Agents of Change
Ulla Pape, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Another Side of Islam and State Relations:
Criminal Prosecution of Muslims by Russian Authorities

Denis Shedov, University of Helsinki, Finland    

PANEL 1A–5
ROOM TBC
The Political Economy of Informality, Public Opinion and Political Change: Evidence from Central Asia

Chair: Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

Discussant: Anna-Liisa Heusala, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

The Russian World, Export of Propaganda and Internet Media
Michael Rochlitz, University of Bremen, Germany
co-Authors: Andrey Tkachenko, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
and David Karpa, University of Bremen, Germany 

What is Informality?
(Mapping) “the Art of Bypassing the State” in Eurasian Spaces - and Beyond

Abel Polese, Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, Dublin City University, Ireland

Where Do Smallholders Fit in?
Narratives Surrounding Smallholder Farmers in Uzbekistan

Madina Gazieva,  Dublin City University, Ireland

PANEL 1A–6
ROOM TBC
Entanglements of Past, Present, and Future at the Local Level:
Case studies of Myth-Making and Memory from Across Russia

Bridging Wars: Regional School History Textbooks in Northwestern Russia and the National Narrative on the Great Patriotic War
Helge Blakkisrud, University of Oslo / Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway

From Post-Soviet to Neo-Imperial: Transforming Stereotypes in Public Opinion in the Data of Opinion Polls in Russia in 1991–2022
Elizaveta Savolainen, presenting in individual capacity

Reproducing 'Sovietness':
Materiality and Built Environment of Russian Karelia

Anna Sokolova, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 1A–7
ROOM TBC
Border Studies and Popular Geopolitics on the Finland-Russia Border 

Limits of Paradiplomacy: Multi-layered Geopolitics of Finland’s Eastern Border
Joni Virkkunen, University of Eastern Finland 

Kazakhstan-Russia Border: From Colonial Borderland to Problematic Gateway
Sergei Golunov, Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan

Looking West. The Finland-USSR Border as a Threat and Opportunity, 1918-1924
Tamara Polyakova, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA / University of Eastern Finland

Border Governance: Optimising European Union Impact in the Eastern Region
Tatsiana Shaban, University of Victoria, Canada

PANEL 1A–8
ROOM TBC
(Post-)imperial Urban Landscapes: Memory and Transformation in Cities of the Global South and Global East

Is the Change of Toponyms and Monuments in Kharkiv During the Russian Invasion a Decolonizing Practice?
Vadym Ilin, Prisma Ukraina, Germany

Symbols of the Soviet Steppe: Heritage, Nationalism, and Decolonization
in Heraldic Symbols of Kazakhstan and Russian Asia 1959--1991

Evgeny Manzhurin, University of Eastern Finland

Cityscapes of the Cold War:
The Interplay of Socialist and Capitalist Ideologies in Middle Eastern Urbanization Within the Dynamics of the Global East, North, and South

Asma Mehan, Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, USA

PANEL 1A–9
Ukraine’s Interrupted Reforms & Post-War Reconstruction

Agricultural Land Markets in Ukraine: Past, Present & Future
Susanne Wengle, University of Notre Dame, USA / Uppsala University, Sweden
co-author: Natalia Mamonova, Ruralis, Norway

Governing Under Crises: Sub-national Evidence from Ukraine During Pandemic & War
Sarah Wilson-Sokhey, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
co-author: Paula Ganga, Duke Kunshan University, China

Ukrainian City Odesa on the Way of Rethinking Imperial History
Olena Uvarova, Odesa National Medical University, Ukraine (online)

PANEL 1A–10
ROOM TBC
Waste and Pollution in the Russian Arctic:
Colonial Legacies and Forms of Resistance

Florence Fröhlig, Södertörn University, Sweden

Vladislava Vladimirova, Uppsala University, Sweden

Elena Gorbacheva, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Paul Josephson, Colby College, USA

ROUNDTABLE 1A–11
ROOM TBC
Mythmaking, Terror and Memory

How the First Revolution Affected the Second:
The Setback of the Chinese Communist Revolution in the 1920's

Luyang Zhou, Zhejiang University, China

Gulag as Usable Past: FSIN and the Great Patriotic War,
Ryan Reed, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

From Number 22 to NKVD Prison Memorial Site.
Ambivalent Dispositions and Commemoration Attempts in Tbilisi, Georgia

Laura Mafizzoli, University of Manchester, England

From Owning a Russian-English Dictionary to Pigeon Breeding:
What Made Non-Russian Individuals ‘Suspicious’ in the Eyes of NKVD in 1937 Moscow

Liudmila Lyagushkina, University of Nottingham, England

The Making of the Myth: A Soviet-Finnish Hero Toivo Antikainen
Anna Laakkonen, University of Eastern Finland

PANEL 1A–12
ROOM TBC
Poster session

A poster session presenting thesis papers by the second-year students in the University of Helsinki's international Master’s Programme in Russian Studies. 

14.45–15.15 | COFFEE & TEA

A short break with some light snacks and coffee and tea. 

Producers, Transmission Channels, and Consumers of Russian Propaganda:
Exploring the Intersection of Media, Politics, and State Control

Chair: Olga Zeveleva, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

News Production and News Consumption by Russians and Ukrainians During the Russian War Against Ukraine
Sergey Sanovich, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, USA

VK as a New Dominant Player in Russia‘s Internet
Philipp Dietrich, German Council on Foreign Affairs (DGAP), Germany & Alena Epifanova, German Council on Foreign Affairs (DGAP), Germany

Propaganda in the Guise of Entertainment:
How Non-News Accounts Disseminate Kremlin Propaganda to Mass Audiences on Russia’s Social Network VKontakte

Julia Kling, University of Passau, Germany
co-author: Florian Toepfl, University of Passau, Germany & Pascal Juergens, University of Trier, Germany 

The CVs of the Propaganda Workers at Russia’s Internet Research Agency:
Socio-demographics, Tasks, and Career Paths (2013-2021)

Serge Poliakoff, University of Passau, Germany
Co-author: Florian Toepfl, University of Passau, Germany
 

PANEL 1B–1
ROOM TBC
Analyzing the Internal Logic of Kremlin’s War Rhetoric:
Between Totalitarian Discourse and Conspiracist Worldview

The Internal Logic of Kremlin’s War Rhetoric
Katri Pynnöniemi, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki / National Defence University, Finland

Conspiracist Worldview and the War Against Ukraine
Maksym Yakovlyev, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine

Kremlin Narratives – Making Sense of Official Statements on the War
Amelie Tolvin, University of Toronto, Canada

A Road to War: Enemization of Russian Public Discourse before 24.02.2022
Viktor Lambin,  Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 1B–2
ROOM TBC
Performing Loyalty in War: Insight Into Regime Support in Russia and Beyond

Marco Siddi, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland

Veera Laine, Unit for Policy Planning and Research at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Jussi Lassila, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland

Teemu Oivo, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland

Kristiina Silvan, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland

ROUNDTABLE 1B–3
ROOM TBC
Feminism, Queer Politics and the Strategies of Resistance

Chair: Marianna Muravyeva, University of Helsinki 

Learning the lesson from SEE:
Struggles of Queer Women Within the LGBT+ Activist Scenes and NGOs

Ramona Dima, University of Stavanger, Norway (online)

The Magic Closet, the Dream Machine, and Queer Partisaning:
Post-Soviet Queerness, Film Archiving, and the Art of Resistance

Masha Godovannaya, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria (online)

Domestic Violence and Murder of a Transgender Women in Russia
(the Case of Anzhela Likina)

Evgeny Shtorn, University of Helsinki, Finland

Politics of Queer Life Writing in Contemporary Poland
Błażej Warkocki, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland 

PANEL 1B–4
ROOM TBC
Revisiting Ethnography in Times of War and Crises

Iuliia Gataulina, Tampere University, Finland

Eugenia Pesci, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Daria Krivonos, Centre of Excellence in Law, Identity and the European Narratives, University of Helsinki, Finland

Vadim Romashov, University of Eastern Finland

Pauliina Lukinmaa, University of Eastern Finland

Inna Perheentupa, University of Turku, Finland

ROUNDTABLE 1B–5
ROOM TBC
East-West Knowledge Transfer, Mobility and Integration:
Historical and Global Perspectives

Can EU Member States Support Political Transformation in Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus?
Tyyne Karjalainen, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) / University of Turku, Finland

Tracing “Trajectories of Choice” in the Geopolitical Everyday:
Explorations in the Field of Mobile Aspirations with Students in Bishkek and Osh

Barbara Meier,  University of Jena, Germany

Colonial Seminars and Knowledge Production in Russian Turkestan
Roman Osharov, University of Oxford, England

PANEL 1B–6
Decolonizing Knowledge Production: Epistemicide and Alternative Epistemologies in the Social Sciences and Area Studies

Are You Really Interested in Really-Existing Russia?
Sanshiro Hosaka, The International Centre for Defence and Security, Estonia / University of Tartu, Estonia

Between the West and the Rest:
The Ukraine Challenge and a Plea to 'De-ColdWar'ize' European Social Sciences

Valeria Korablyova, Charles University, Czech Republic

Decolonizing Buriad-Mongolia:
Recentering Buriad-Mongol from the Perspective of a Country

Erdem Lamazhapov, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway

From the High Middle Ages to the Present Day:
The Need to Decolonialize Our Understanding of East European History from a Library Perspective

Juergen Warmbrunn, Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Germany / Institute of the Leibniz Association, Germany

PANEL 1B–7
ROOM TBC
Disciplinary Spaces in (post)Yugoslav Cinema

Chair: Miranda Jakisa, University of Vienna, Austria

Incarceration and Prison in Yugoslav Cinema, University of Sarajevo
Nebojsa Jovanovic, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

The Life of Insects: Repressive Modernity and Anti-Psychiatry in Miša Radivojević's Bube u Glavi
Adrian Pelc, University of Vienna, Austria

Spaces of discipline:
Post-WW2 Orphanages and Rebelling Orphans in Yugoslav Cinema

Vesi Vukovic, presenting in individual capacity, Bosnia and Hercegovina  

PANEL 1B–8
ROOM TBC
Russia´s War in Ukraine: Implications for State Power & Development 

Alexey Navalny as a Representative of the Russian Intellegentsia.
Theoretical Background of an Individual and a System of Interactions

Małgorzata Abassy, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland

Shift in Russian Legislation Towards State Protection, the Rise of Isolationist Rhetoric, and their Implications for the Possibility of War with Ukraine
Daria Korolenko, presenting in individual capacity 

Long Shadow of Empire? Bases of Russia`s Conduct in Ukraine
Oleksii Polegkyi, Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland / Center for Public Diplomacy, Ukraine

PANEL 1B–9
ROOM TBC
Study of the Subjective Experience of Refugeehood:
Reassembling the Post-Soviet Self, Body and Space

Chair: Emma Bond, Oriel College, Oxford University, England

Trauma-informed Research: Methodological Challenges in Studying Forced Migration
Anna Tarasenko, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Dislocated Bodies and Minds: Exploring the Experience of Refugeehood.
Theory Review and First Impressions from the Field

Elena Bogdanova, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
co-author:  Elena Nikiforova, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Anthropology of Loss:
Exploring Mental Mapping with the Displaced Hadrut Armenians

Anita Khachaturova, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
co-author: Elena Nikiforova, University of Helsinki, Finland (online)

Emotions and Humanitarian Optics in the Refugee Study:
the Case of Ukrainian Refugees in Russia

Olga Bredinkova, presenting in individual capacity (online)

PANEL 1B–10
ROOM TBC
Mediations of Music and Art in the Global East

The Geopolitics of Maksym Berezovsky’s Symphony in C
Jeffrey Yelverton, University of Minnesota, USA

A Writer in Exile in the Soviet Union from North Korea:
Jin Lee's Case of Being a Stateless Political Exile in the Global East During the Cold War

Intaek Hong, University of Washington, USA

Russia’s Heart of Darkness: Aleksandr Deineka’s Vision of the Donbass
Marina Gerber, Institute of Slavic Studies, Hamburg University, Germany

PANEL 1B–11
ROOM TBC

16.45–17.00 | GUIDED TOUR: ATTENTION, PRISON! 

Tour guide: Anastasia Artemeva

Attention, Prison! is an exhibition of posters created by incarcerated youth based on their personal experience (2014).

The main authors of the exhibition are young men in juvenile detention centers in Russia. They share their experiences, and speak about their destinies. This series of posters and booklet edited by psychologists and social workers has been created with the intention for use at institutions for the prevention of repeated offences. This exhibition has been produced by The Center for the Promotion of Criminal Justice Reform, Russia. It is the oldest human rights organization that works with the issues of incarceration, criminal justice and the execution of sentences. The Center was established in 1988 by Valery Abramkin, a former political prisoner, with the ardent support of Academician Andrei Sakharov, who actively collaborated with the Center until the final days of his life (December 1989).

17.00–18.30 | HALL 1, 1st floor
 
PLENARY II: ROUNDTABLE
The End of Area Studies, or a Brand New Beginning?

Chair Katalin Miklossy, University Lecturer & 
Head of Discipline in Eastern European Studies
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Sirke Mäkinen, University Lecturer, Title of Docent in Political Science
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Matthias Neumann, Professor of Modern History
University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

Jeremy Morris, Professor of Global and Russian Studies
School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Denmark

18.30–19.30 | POST PLENARY EVENT
3rd floor corridor

Discussion and refreshments.  

 

THURSDAY 26 OCT
Lawyers and Courts in Post-Soviet Spaces

Authoritarianism and Social Mobilization in Soviet Uzbekistan:
The Changing Dynamics of Comrades' Courts and Volunteers' Militias in the City's Old Neighborhoods

Zayra Badillo Castro, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), England

Lawyers in the Russian Provinces:
Professional Rights and Limitations in Criminal Defense

Ekaterina Khodzhaeva, presenting in individual capacity

In Search of General Public Law in Kyrgyzstan:
Analysis of the Supreme Court’s Administrative Cases in 2021

Kirill Koroteev, presenting in individual capacity 

PANEL 2A–1
ROOM TBC
Political Transformations and Political Reforms from Past to Present

Moldova's Political Transformation and Search for Identity, 1989-2023
William Hill, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, USA

The Constitutionalization of Unelected Corporatist Assemblies in Post-Soviet Countries
Maxim Sorokin, American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan

Perception of Late-70s SFRY in China:
Yugoslavia as an Inspiration for Chinese Reforms?

Yuguang Zhou, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

 

PANEL 2A–2
ROOM TBC
Decentering Histories of Carcerality and Penality in the Global East

"Jachymov Hell": Carceral Labor and Uranium Mining in Communist Czechoslovakia
Kelly Hignett, Leeds Beckett University, England

Decolonizing the Soviet North: Monumental Landscapes and the Production of Space in Gulag Returnees’ Autobiographies and Art
Tyler Kirk, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA

GULAG Doctors Remembered: Practicing Medicine Inside Stalin’s Labor Camps
Dan Healey, University of Oxford, England

PANEL 2A–3
ROOM TBC
Russia, the World, and the Road to War I: Global Visions

Chair: Jeremy Smith, University of Eastern Finland

Discussant: David Lewis, University of Exeter, England

Civilizational Tropes in Russia's Road to War: Russian and Chinese Discourse
Natasha KuhrtKings College London, England

Multilateral Diplomacy and the Road to War
Hanna Smith, College of Europe, Belgium

Political and Strategic Narratives:
Exploring Choices and ‘Inevitability’ on the Long Road to War in Ukraine

Edwin Bacon, University of Lincoln, England

PANEL 2A–4
ROOM TBC

Media’s Role in Feminist Politics and Representation at the Time of War

Chair: Saara Ratilainen, Tampere University, Finland

Postfeminist Media and Feminist Politicization
Daniil Zhaivoronok, Tampere University, Finland & University of Padova, Italy (online)

‘Smuggling’ Anti-war information with the Feminist Zine Zhenskaia Pravda
Inna Perheentupa, University of Turku, Finland, co-author: Galina Miazhevich, Tampere University & Saara Ratilainen, Tampere University, Finland

Macro Celebrities’ Elusive Appropriation of Feminism
Galina Miazhevich, Tampere University, Finland & Harvard University, USA (online)

Conflicting Discourses of Feminisms in the Domain of Russian Micro-celebrity
Saara Ratilainen, Tampere University, Finland

PANEL 2A–5
ROOM TBC
Ideologies Behind Colonization and Decolonization

Markku Kangaspuro, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Ira Jänis-Isokangas, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Olga Zeveleva, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Katalin Miklóssy, Aleksanteri institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

ROUNDTABLE 2A–6
ROOM TBC
Resistance and Solidarity  in Face of Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Forging a Culture of Resilience in Ukraine During the War:
Conceptual Framework, Key Factors and the Role of Decolonization and Deoccupation Discourses

Yuliya Bidenko, Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine /
Centre for Eastern European and International Studies (ZOiS), Germany

Crisis as the Potential for Collective Action:
Solidarity on the Polish-Ukrainian Border

Iwona Kaliszewska, University of Warsaw, Poland

The Language of War:
Historical Analogies in Ukraine’s Resistance to Russian Aggression

Lina Klymenko, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 2A–7
ROOM TBC
Higher Education in Authoritarian Regimes

Chair: Anatoly Pinsky, University of Helsinki 

De/re/composing Authoritarian-Neoliberal Assemblages:
Ethnography of Russian Universities and Beyond

Iuliia Gataulina, Tampere University, Finland

Internationalisation of Higher Education in Russia: The Policy of Privileges
Svetlana Shenderova, University of Helsinki / Tampere University, Finland

Between North and South: Decolonial Isolationism of Russian Social Science in the State of War and Beyond
Ivan Kislenko, presenting in individual capacity

Teaching International Relations in Eurasian context: Experience of Introducing Gamification into Classes in Armenia, Tajikistan and Russia in 2018–2022
Natalia Piskunova, presenting in individual capacity

 

PANEL 2A–8
ROOM TBC
Human Rights and Minority Groups: Seeking Justice and Refuge

Refugee and Asylum Seekers:
Defining the Status of the Ukrainian Refugees in Neighboring Countries

Ales Michalevic, International Collegium of Lawyers, Lithuania
Co-author: Tatsiana Shaban, University of Victoria, Canada

The New Arctic Colonization? Indigenous Peoples and their Rights in the Russian Arctic 
Mirkka Elisa Ollila, University of Helsinki, Finland

Racialized Identities and the Police Gaze:
The Case of the Romani Minority in Romanian Secret Police (Securitate) Files

Delia Popescu, Le Moyne College Syracuse, USA

PANEL 2A–9
ROOM TBC
Economic Interest in a Political Context

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ): From Spending to Reforms
Teymur Khalafov, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Londongrad: The Dark Geography of Dirty Money
Nadir Kinossian, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany

Europeanness and Positionality in the Borderlands: The Eastern Partnership Under a Post-Development Lens
Valentin Luntumbue, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

PANEL 2A–10
ROOM TBC
Ethnography in Research in Authoritarian Settings - The Case of the North Caucasus

Discussant: Guzel Yusupova, presenting in individual capacity

Instruments Used by Outsider-researcher in Weak and Strong Authoritarian Contexts
Irina Starodubrovskaya, presenting in individual capacity

Probing Peer-Minority Researcher's Position in Ethnographic Study in Dagestan
Maria Vyatchina, Department of Applied Anthopology, Tartu Univeristy, Estonia

Identity Formation and Re-formation on the Internet: a Digital Study of the Chechen Diaspora in Europe
Maryam Sugaipova, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway

Network Activism as an Ethnographic Method in Research of Closed Communities
Akhmet Yarlykapov, presenting in individual capacity

PANEL 2A–11
ROOM TBC
Post-Soviet Women Responding to the Challenges of Conservative Politics

Ann-Mari Sätre, Uppsala University, Sweden

Yulia Gradskova, Södertörn University, Sweden

Li Bennich-Björkman, Uppsala University, Sweden

Aliaksandra Shrubok, Uppsala University, Sweden

Alexandra Brankova, Uppsala University, Sweden

Kateryna Boyko, Uppsala University, Sweden

ROUNDTABLE 2A–12
ROOM TBC
Book Discussion Eastern Europe: Global Perspectives

Discussant: Francis Onditi, Riara University, Nairobi, Kenya 

Gilad Ben-Nun, Leipzig University, Germany

Konstantin Branovitskii, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

In this roundtable, editors and authors of the new textbook for MA and PhD education present the most pertinent findings from selected chapters and discuss them with guest speakers. In public discourse, Eastern Europe is still rather often seen as a place where social, political, and strategic objectives are executed over and above the will, freedoms, or choices of this region’s populaces.

Taking a somewhat different approach, the textbook recognizes not only subordination but also agency and scopes of action. It explores Eastern Europe as a dynamic and global area, not in isolation but in the context of constant exchanges, by revealing the multiple ways in which its societies have positioned themselves in and towards global processes through entanglement from the 19th through to the 21st centuries.

The round table speakers shed light on aspect of Eastern Europe in relation to international political and legal spheres, via deeper explorations of the ways in which its actors came to participate in and heavily impact on international organizations and structures of global governance. From the influential role played by representatives at the League of Nations and the United Nations to the making of modern international law by East European jurists, they demonstrate how this region shaped the so-called “international community”. Over the past century, Eastern European legal systems have faced several ruptures and have recalibrated the region’s domestic and multilateral legal bedrocks. Konstantin Branovitskii will give examples of Eastern European countries' endeavors to break away from the post-Soviet model of civil procedure. He explores the path of the legal reform of selected countries and discusses the significance of involving foreign experts in such reforms. In his chapter, Gilad Ben- Nun depicts Eastern European impacts on modern international law while pointing to other world regions where these principles were later applied. Francis Onditi brings the contributions together in a critical comment from the perspective of International Relations and Diplomacy.

DISCUSSION 2A–13
ROOM TBC
Legality of Transformation: The Russian Consitution and Law between 1990-1993

From a Prison of Nations to a Federation: Russia's Consitutional Evolution from 1990-1993 and the Assertion of the Rights of Ethnic National Republics
Jeff Hawn, London School of Economics UK

Decentralizing Russian Judiciary: Mistakes of the Past and Potential for the Future
Dmitry Kurnosov, University of Helsinki

+TBC

PANEL 2A–14
ROOM TBC

11.00–11.30 | COFFEE & TEA

A short break with some light snacks and coffee and tea. 

11.30–13.00 | HALL 1, 1st floor
 
PLENARY SESSION III: CARCERAL PRACTICES

Chair Brendan Humphreys, Senior Researcher
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Kresimir Petkovic, Professor of Political Science
University of Zagreb, Croatia

 Alan Barenberg, Associate Professor
Department of History, Texas Tech University, USA

Dominique Moran, Professor of Carceral Geography
University of Birmingham, England

Petru Negura, Visiting Fellow
Aleksanteri Institute, Finland 

13.00–14.30 | LUNCH BREAK

You can for instance visit the Unicafe canteen on the -1 floor at Metsätalo or in other university buildings, go to Kluuvi mall, Fennia Block or towards the city centre. 

13.30–14.30 | TOUR TO THE SLAVONIC LIBRARY

The Slavonic Library is a continuously accumulating collection at the National Library of Finland serving research related to Russia and Eastern Europe. The Legal Deposit Collection that was accrued in 1828–1917 includes deposit copies of printed matters in all subjects published within the borders of the Russian Empire. From the Soviet period, the collection contains literature mainly from the fields of humanities and social sciences from the Soviet Union and other countries within the Slavic language area. 

 

Book Discussion: The Scopus Diaries and the (il)logics of Academic Survival: Questions and (unorthodox) Answers About Publications, Networking, (fake) Bibliometrics and Research Careers

Abel Polese, Dublin City University, Ireland & Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Based on the book «The SCOPUS Diaries and the (il)logics of Academic Survival A Short Guide to Design Your Own Strategy and Survive Bibliometrics, Conferences, and Unreal Expectations in Academia», this presentation offers a two-fold focus on the management of (your and everyone’s) research careers.

On the one hand, tips, hints and strategies about «how to publish faster», «how to increase your citation record» and performance in general will be provided. On the other hand, however, it will be made clear that this is not the way academia should go.

Academics should not be reduced to mere «productive machine» to meet the quantitative criteria by national evaluation exercises. Bibliometrics and publications can be taken into account in research assessment but so should also integrity and morality of researchers. By the same token, the term «excellent research» should be phased out (who decides what is excellent? The public like in a Hollywood movie?) and replaced by «good enough science» that implies you have collected, processed and interpreted data in a solid and robust manner.

The presentation will happen in a form of interactive debate with the public discussing issues that are urgent to the participants of the session.

PANEL 2B–1
ROOM TBC
Decolonization or Recolonization:
The Intricate Journey of Russian Out-Migration

Chair: Maria Tysiachniouk, University of Eastern Finland

Discussant: Juha Kotilainen, University of Eastern Finland

Migrants from Russia in the South Caucasus:
Historical Context and “Decolonialist” Discourses

Vadim Romashov, University of Eastern Finland
co-author: Sergei Rumyantsev, Centre for Independent Social Research, Germany

Exodus: Russian Repression and Social ‘Movement’
Laura Henry, Bowdoin College, USA, 
co-authors: Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, University of British Columbia, Canada
and Valerie Sperling, Clark University, USA

Mobilising Diasporic Political Engagement Among non-Russian Migrants in the Time of Crises
Tsypylma Darieva, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), Germany

From War and Repression to New Shores: The Journey of Russian Environmentalists in Exile
Maria Tysiachniouk, University of Eastern Finland 
co-authors: Juha Kotilainen, University of Eastern Finland and Arsenii Konnov University of Eastern Finland

PANEL 2B–2
ROOM TBC
Foundations of Russian Law Book Presentation

Discussant: Jeffrey Kahn, Professor of Law
SMU Dedman School of Law, USA

Marianna Muravyeva, University of Helsinki

Anna-Liisa Heusala, University of Helsinki

Bill Bowring, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

Kirill Koroteev, Agora International Human Rights Protection Group

Ekaterinna Khodzhaeva, presenting in individual capacity

ROUNDTABLE 2B–3
ROOM TBC
An Unsettled Communist Legacy: the Soviet Monuments.
Symbolism, Public Perceptions and Political Discourses in the Republic of Moldova and Romania

Chair: Marius Diaconescu, Romanian Centre for Russian Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania

Discussant: Armand Goșu, University of Bucharest, Romania (online)

Communist Monuments in the Republic of Moldova Between Condemnation and Glorification
Sergiu Musteață, Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău (UPSC), Moldova

The War of Monuments:
Soviet Monuments Versus Romanian Monuments in the Republic of  Moldova

Iulian Rusanovschi, Free International University of Moldova

Soviet Monuments in Romania.
From the fall of Romanian Communism to the War in Ukraine:
Legislative Measures and Social Imaginaries

Bogdan Ceobanu, Romanian Centre for Russian Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania

PANEL 2B–4
ROOM TBC
Prison Islam: The Experiences of Muslim prisoners in the Russian Federation 

Everyday Islam, Religiosity and Radicalization in Russian Prisons
Rustam Urinboyev, Lund University, Sweden

Muslims do not Submit to Anyone Except the Almighty:
Staying the Same and Evading Prison Categories in Chechen Prisoners’ Experiences in Russia

Lili Di Puppo, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Humiliation, Shame and Torture:
the Treament of the Ethno-Religious other in Russian Correctional Colonies

Elena Omel’chenko, presenting in individual capacity

ROUNDTABLE 2B–5
ROOM TBC
Assessing the Legacy of Societal Activism in Russia

Regina Smyth, Indiana University, USA

Jeremy Morris, Aarhus University, Denmark

Ivan Grigoriev, Kings College London, England

Anna Dekalchuk, Global Governance Unit of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany

Andrey Semenov, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

ROUNDTABLE 2B–6
ROOM TBC
Elections, Parties & Elites

Bulgarian Parliamentary Election 2022 - 2023:
In Search of a Government and Political Agreement

Miglena Dikova-Milanova, Ghent University, Belgium

Stolen Treasure of Recognition. The Surge of Right-wing Elites in Poland
Piotr Kulas, The University of Warsaw, Poland

The Influence of Socio-Demographic Factors on the Results of Parliamentary Elections in the Russian Federation (Analysis of the Post–Soviet period)
Angelina Zinina, presenting in individual capacity

PANEL 2B–7
ROOM TBC
Nuclear Power, Nuclear Narratives:
An Interdisciplinary Look at Energy Diplomacy and Crisis 

India-Russia Nuclear Energy Cooperation:
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant 1 & 2

Pallavi Pal, Tampere University, Finland

Ecocritical Geopolitics in the Time of War:
Chornobyl/Chernobyl as a Site of Trans-Corporeality

Mika Perkiömäki, Tampere University, Finland

From Mining to Fission:
Russian and Kazakhstan in the Global Nuclear Power Sector

Marco Siddi, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland
co-author: Kristiina Silvan, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland

PANEL 2B–8
ROOM TBC
Labour, "Life" and Repression in Carceral Spaces in the Global East

Europeanisation of Post-Soviet Prisons:
A Comparative Case Study of Prison Policy Transfer from Norway to Latvia, to Lithuania, and to Moldova

Nadejda Burciu, Moldovan Ministry of Justice, Moldova

Modalities of Neoliberal Repression in Postsocialist Georgia
Konstantine Eristavi,  Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Georgia

GULAG 2.0.: Why Slavery Still Exists In Russian Prisons
Olga Podoplelova, presenting in individual capacity (online)

Life Imprisonment - Soviet Traditions and Modern Challenges:
the Experience of Ukraine

Mykhailo Romanov, Poltava University of Economic and Trading, Ukraine

PANEL 2B–9
ROOM TBC
Autocracy (Russian Case)

The End of Adaptive Autocracy in Russia
Stephen Hall, University of Bath, England

Nexus Between Authoritarian Values and Political Participation in Undemocratic Context – The Russian Case
Eemil Mitikka, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Indigenous Peoples Registry in Russia:
Return of Essentialism or “the Prison of Peoples”?

Andrian Vlakhov, presenting in individual capacity

PANEL 2B–10
ROOM TBC
New Theoretical and Methodological Approaches
to Europe-Russia Border Studies

Chair: Andrey Makarychev, University of Tartu, Estonia

The Cross-Border Karelia: a Story of Failed Anticipations
Gleb Yarovoy, University of Eastern Finland
co-author: Andrey Makarychev, University of Tartu, Estonia

From the Baltic to the Barents Sea: Re-visiting and Re-understanding
the Euro-Russian Borderland after February 24, 2022

Bjarge Schwenke Fors, The Arctic University of Norway

Analysis of Communities’ Resilience in the Latvian Eastern Borderland Regions
Sigita Struberga, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland

New Challenges and Threats for Security of Borderlands –
Experience of the Polish-Russian Border after February 24, 2022

Krzysztof Żęgota, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland

PANEL 2B–11
ROOM TBC
Arctic Anthropology at the Time of Uncertainty:
Shifting Frontiers, Disruption, and Continuity

Chair: Dmitry Oparin, University of Bordeaux, France

Discussant: Virginie Vaté-Klein, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France

On Borrowed Time in the Land of No Return:
Our Fieldwork in Chukotka Since Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Sveta Yamin-Pasternak, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA
co-author: Igor Pasternak, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA

The Legacy of the Past in Nenets Stories about the Contemporary Life on Yamal
Roza Laptander, Universität Hamburg, Germany (online)

Living with Frontiers, Transgressing Frontlines:
What Anthropologists Might Learn from Indigenous Tenacity

Stephan Dudeck, Arctic Studies Centre, University of Tartu, Estonia

Netnography and Beyond:
How to Continue Working with Arctic Russian Animal Husbanders when the Field is not Accessible

Florian Stammler, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Finland

PANEL 2B–12
ROOM TBC
Political Control, Mobilization and Deportations in the Soviet Union from the Baltic to Barents Sea

Chair: Ira Jänis-Isokangas, National Archives of Finland

Finnish Everyday Bolshevism in the Murman Coast, 1935-1938
Aappo Kähönen, National Archives of Finland

Red Finns as a Colonial Elite in Interwar Soviet Ingria
Jesse Hirvelä, National Archives of Finland

The Legal Framework of Release and Return of Special Settlers
in the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian SSR, 1953-1990

Elmar Gams, Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Estonia

PANEL 2B–13
ROOM TBC
Russia, the World, and the Road to War II:  Imagining Eurasia

Bringing Agency Back in:
Neighbourhood Countries’ Hegemonic Power Relations with Russia and the EU

Isabel Burmeister, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Russia's Geopolitical Imaginaries and the War against Ukraine
David Lewis, University of Exeter, England

Russia’s Eurasian (dis)connections and the Road to War
Jeremy Smith, University of Eastern Finland

PANEL 2B–14
ROOM TBC

16.00–16.30 | COFFEE & TEA

A short break with some light snacks and coffee and tea. 

16.30-17.30 | HALL 1, 1st floor
 
PLENARY SESSION IV: LEGAL CHOICES 

Chair Marianna Muravyeva, Professor
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Agnieszka Kubal, Associate Professor
School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, England

Jeff Kahn, Professor of Law
SMU Dedman School of Law, USA

17.30–18.30 | THE FOUNDATIONS OF RUSSIAN LAW:
                          BOOK LAUNCH & RECEPTION

The Foundations of Russian Law (2023, Bloomsbury) explains how Russian law works in all its principal areas. It elucidates the main concepts and frameworks behind Russian law, and uses original legal sources and case law to explain how it operates in practice. The contributors, all of whom are leading experts on Russian law, employ original research to further knowledge of the Russian legal profession, legal culture, judiciary and court systems, providing a scholarly and practical account of Russian law for students and scholars alike.

 

18.00–19.00 | ART WORKSHOP

Free Translation is a multi-disciplinary project showcasing international works by persons affected by imprisonment.

In this project we view works of art and letters received from prisons all over the world. Together we interpret the meaning of the works and create responses based on the translations. These are then sent to the original authors and added to the online exhibition. In this edition the special focus is on political prisoners in Russia. 

Workshop facilitators Arlene Tucker (in photo) and Anastasia Artemeva.

17.45–18.30 | FILM PANEL

Wardens' Gardens, a film by Dmitry Omelchenko.

Based on research by Costanza Curro and Vakhtang Kekoshvili.

19.00–20.30 | Helsinki City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13, Helsinki

The receptions are hosted by the City of Helsinki. All chairs, discussants and paper presenters are invited to attend the reception. The registration link will be sent separately to all registered on the first week of October. 

FRIDAY 27 OCT

9.00–11.00 | HALL 1, 1st floor
 
 PLENARY V: POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS

Chair Una Bergmane, Academy of Finland researcher,
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Epp Annus, Associate Professor
Institute of Humanities, Tallinn University, Estonia

Iwona Kaliszewska, Assistant Professor
Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw

Viacheslav Morozov, Professor of International Political Theory
University of Tartu, Estonia

Ben Noble, Associate Professor of Russian Politics
University College London, United Kingdom

11.00–11.30 | COFFEE & TEA

A short break with some light snacks and coffee and tea. 

Conceptualizing Informality and Corruption 

Informality and Formalisation in the Ukrainian War Economy
Taras Fedirko, University of Glasgow, Schotland

Carceral Practices in International Development:
How Liberal Peacebuilding Restricts Upward Socioeconomic Mobility in Kosovo

Paul Persuad, University of Toronto, Canada (online)

Informality Versus Shadow Economy:
Reflecting on the First Results of a Manager’s Survey in Kyrgyzstan

Abel Polese, University of Helsinki, Finland / Dublin City University, Ireland

PANEL 3A–1
ROOM TBC
Mobilizing Russian Media During the War on Ukraine:
Traditional Values, Nationalism, and Constructions of the Enemy

Russian Digital Nationalism during 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War:
Mapping Nationalist Mobilisation, Media Practices, and National Identity Discourses

Alexandra Brankova, Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden  

Russian in Contact with Other Languages.
An Investigation Into the Representation of Language as an Instrument of Power on the Website: Inosmi.ru

Katja Grupp, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Traditional Values and Propaganda of the “Holy War”: How pro-Kremlin TV Media Weaponizes Discourses of Gender and Sexuality in Representations of the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Valentyna Shapovalova, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

PANEL 3A–2
ROOM TBC
Mobilizing Women: Grassroots Activism Before and After February 2022

Organizer: Regina Smyth, Indiana University, USA

Gendered Responses to War:
Analyzing Patterns of Political Activism in Post-War Russian Emigrants, 2022-2023

Karolina Nugumanova, European University Institute, Italy

Coping in Emigration: Gender Differences in Attitudes, Emotions, and Action
Veronika Kostenko, Tel Aviv University, Israel
co-author: Karolina Nugumanova, European University Institute, Italy

The "Sratch" (Flamework) in Russian Digital Feminism:
Means of Communication or Survival Strategies?

Natalia Kovyliaeva, University of Tartu, Estonia
co-author: Valeriya Utkina, University of Helsinki, Finland

Intersectional Feminism and Ethnic Activism in an Anti-war Protest
Vlada Baranova, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced studies (online) 

PANEL 3A–3
ROOM TBC
Russia’s Development from Electoral to Closed Authoritarianism: Implications for Research

Chair: Sirke Mäkinen, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Discussant: Ben Noble, University College London, England

Illiberal Sovereignty: The Putin Regime and Legislative Authoritarian Empowerment
Geir Flikke, University of Oslo, Norway

Cracks and Margins. Researching the Political in a Closed Authoritarian System
Ingerid M. Opdahl, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Norway

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Lessons from Failed Conjectures of Russian Politics in the 2020s
Bo Petersson, Malmö University, Sweden

PANEL 3A–4
ROOM TBC
Known Unknowns: An Empirical Inquiry into Recent Shifts in Russia Studies, a Boris Nemtsov Foundation Report

Dmitri Kokorin, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom

Dmitry Dubrovsky, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Olga Zeveleva, Aleksanteri Institute

+TBC

 

ROUNDTABLE 3A–5
ROOM TBC

Russia’s Foreign and Security Policy and State-to-state Relations

Lost Friendship Revived? Decisions of Russia and Its Eastern Neighbours
Mihoko Kato, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University, Japan 

Relations Between Albania and Russia During and After Communism
Noela Mahmutaj, Institute of European Studies, University of Tirana, Albania (online)

Russia’s Warfare State: Economy, Social Policy and Traditional Values
Katharina Bluhm, East European Institute, Freie Universität, Germany 

PANEL 3A–6
ROOM TBC

The Russo-Ukrainian War and Decolonisation  of Memory

Image of the Great Victory in Independent Ukraine: Revising the Concept of Memory
Hanna Bazhenova, Institute of Central Europe, Poland

Decolonising Soviet Public Space:
Comparative Perspective, Genocide and Resistance

Rasa Čepaitienė, Research Centre of Lithuania, Lithuania

Ukraine’s Politics of Memory during the Russo-Ukrainian War: Decolonisation, Securitisation, and Weaponisation
Yurii Latysh, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
 

Is the Change of Toponyms and Monuments in Kharkiv during the Russian Invasion a Decolonising Practice?
Vadym Ilin, Kharkiv National University of Construction and Architecture, Ukraine

PANEL 3A–7
ROOM TBC
Gender Issues in Post-Soviet Russia in the Context of the Conservative Backlash

The Solidarity Ecosystem of Top Management:
How Women Can Help Each Other to Build a Career

Elena Rozhdestvenskaya, presenting in individual capacity

Study, Performance, Regret:
New Concepts of Motherhood in Russian Social Media in the 2020s

Olga Isupova, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

Revisiting Gender Challenges in Post-Soviet Russia: Public Administration Perspective
Valeriya Utkina, University of Helsinki, Finland 

PANEL 3A–8
ROOM TBC
Contemporary Balkan Scholarship

International Supervision and the Sovereignty Trap:
On the Fraught Politics of Making a Choice in North Macedonia

Andrew Graan, University of Helsinki, Finland 

From an Anti-System Movement to Kosovo's Ruling Party: The Evolution of Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE
Bardh Lipa, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland

Ironic Heritage and the Post-Imperial Uncanny in the Balkans
Jeremy Walton, University of Rijeka, Croatia

Does Ex-Yugoslavian Prison System Evolve in a Humane Direction?
Assessing the Quality of Prisoner Treatment in the Contemporary Western Balkans

Olga Kantokoski, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 3A–9
ROOM TBC
Spatial Imaginaries and Geopolitics

Production of the Authoritarian Spatial Imaginaries in Putin`s Russia
Sofia Gavrilova, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geogpraphy, Germany

Cartographic Legacies of In-Betweenness: Peace Cartography and Spatial Imaginaries of the Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mela Zuljevic, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany

New Russian Diasporas Outside the European Union:
Policy Implications for EU Member-States

Michael Gentile, University of Oslo, Norway
co-author: Martin Kragh, Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Sweden (online)

PANEL 3A–10
ROOM TBC
BOOK TALK
The Authoritarian International: Tracing how Authoritarian Regimes Learn in the Post-Soviet Space

Discussant: Vladimir Gelman, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Stephen G. F. Hall, University of Bath, England

DISCUSSION 3A–12
ROOM TBC
Decolonizing Linguistic Space:
Language Policy Transformations in the Former Communist Countries of the Global East

Chairs: Ekaterina Protassova, University of Helsinki, Finland and Kapitolina Fedorova, Tallinn University, Estonia

The Linguistic Situation in Georgia in 2005–2023
Kakha Gabunia, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia
co-author: Tekla Gabunia, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

From ‘Oppressors’ to ‘Oppressed’: Baltic Russian Post-Soviet Speakers in Search of a New Identity Through Social Networking
Kapitolina Fedorova, Tallinn University School of Humanities, Estonia
co author: Natalia Tshuikina, Tallinn University School of Humanities, Estonia

The Status of the Russian Language in Post-Soviet Armenia and in the De Facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)
Nona Shahnazarian, Armenian Academy of Sciences, Armenia (online)

Changes in the Online Use of the Russian Language in Ukraine: the Example of Odessa Inna Kabanen, University of Helsinki, Finland, co-author: Francesco Bressan, University of Verona, Italy (online)

PANEL 3A–12
ROOM TBC
Decolonisation (?) of Urban Material Culture in Eastern European Cities

Oleksandra Nenko, University of Turku

Guido Sechi, University of Latvia

Carola Neugebauer, RWTH Aachen University

Andrei Vazyanau, European Humanities University, Vilnius

Tauri Tuvikene, Tallinn University

Ruslan Baramidze, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (online)

ROUNDTABLE 3A–13
ROOM TBC
Empathy VS Empire. How (Not)Understanding of Imperialism Shapes Discourses and Decisions in and About Ukraine, Europe, and Beyond

Kateryna Boyko, Uppsala University, Sweden

Roman Horbyk, Örebro University, Sweden

Kateryna Zarembo, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine (online)

+ TBC

 

 

ROUNDTABLE 3A–14
ROOM TBC

13.00–14.00 | LUNCH BREAK

You can for instance visit the Unicafe canteen on the -1 floor at Metsätalo or in other university buildings, go to Kluuvi mall, Fennia Block or towards the city centre. 

14.00–15.30 | Think Corner,  Yliopistonkatu 4
  
PLENARY VI: ROUNDTABLE 

From Prisons to Organized Crime 

Chair Judith Pallot, Professor, Research Director,
Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Elena Racheva, Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Gavin Slade, Associate Professor of Sociology
Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

Rustam Urinboyev, Associate Professor
Department of Sociology of Law, Lund University
  
Federico Varese, Professor of Criminology
University of Oxford, United Kingdom

15.30–16.00 | COFFEE & TEA

A short break with some light snacks and coffee and tea. 

Sovereign or International:
Decolonizing State Sovereignties and International Legal Order

Beyond Human Rights 'Promotion':
European Union's Interventions and Decolonial Imaginations in the South Caucasus

Laura Luciani, Ghent University, Belgium

Occupation or Protectorate? State Sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus in 2023
Wojciech Łysek, Institute of Political Studies of Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

De-differentiation Tendencies and Human Rights Erosion in the Criminal Justice System:
The Case of Russia's Withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights,

Konstantin Skoblik, George Washington University, USA

PANEL 3B–1
ROOM TBC
Geopolitical Orientations and Dependencies After Russia´s Invasion of Ukraine in 2022

Post-Soviet Dependence with Benefits? Belarus’s and Tajikistan’s Elites Shaping Their Relations with Russia
Karolina Kluczewska, Ghent University, Belgium
co-author: Kristiina Silvan, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)

Gagauzia, a Pole of Influence of the Geopolitical Orientation of the Republic of Moldova?
Laurențiu Pleșca,  University of Bucharest, Romania

China's Evolving Multilateral Engagement with Central Asia: Strategies, Actors and Institutions
Elżbieta Proń, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland

Is Lukashenko Trying to Distance Himself from Russia?
Brief Notes on the Evolution of Belarusian Foreign Policy after the Outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Robert Gabriel Țicălău, University of Bucharest, Romania

PANEL 3B–2
ROOM TBC
Racial and Sexual Power Politics

Is It Possible to Decolonize the ‘Western’ (Queer) Theory While Studying the Russian Federation? 
Alexander Kondakov, University College Dublin, Ireland

The Enduring “Conspiracy of Silence”:
Queer Belarusian Self-Expression From Communism to Authoritarianism

Ioana Zamfir, University of Toronto, Canada

Politics of Queer Life Writing in Contemporary Poland
Błażej Warkocki, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland 

PANEL 3B–3
ROOM TBC
Resilience/Resistance/Compliance:
Russian Journalistic and Activist Communities in Exile and in the Country

Chair: Katja Lehtisaari, Tampere University, Finland

Silence in Russia at War:
What is Agentivity of "Foreign Agents" in the Face of Aggression in Ukraine?

Françoise Daucé, EHESS/CERCEC, France

Urban Activism in Russia Today
Ekaterina Kalinina, Stockholm University, Sweden

Only a Little Light Enters the Tunnel:
the Russian-Language Media is Divided into a Western and a Russian Version

Jarmo Koponen, University of Helsinki, Finland

“The Biggest Danger is to Lose Focus”: Journalistic Relevance of the Exiled Media
Elena Rodina, presenting in individual capacity
co-author: Olga Dovbysh, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 3B–4
ROOM TBC
Decolonizing Russian Academia:
War, Repression, and Academic Freedom

Chair: Viacheslav Morozov, Tartu University, Estonia

Discussant: Margarita Zavadskaya, Finnish Institute of International Affairs,  Finland

Problematizing “Academic Freedom” in Academic Boycotts: The Case of American Anthropological Association Referendums to boycott Israel’s academic Institutions
Yehuda Goodman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (online)

A Colonizer or a Subaltern:
Russian Academia Between Boycott and Exile

Gleb Yarovoy, University of Eastern Finland

Decolonizing of Academia at the Time of the War: Mission Impossible?
Dmitry Dubrovskiy, Charles University, Czech Republic

PANEL 3B–5
ROOM TBC
Russian Political Philosophy:
Ideas and Mechanisms Underlying the Russian Justification of War

Chair: Katri Pynnöniemi, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland / Finnish National Defence University, Finland

Belligerent and Benevolent Imperialism in Russian Political Philosophy
Evert van der Zweerde, Radboud University, Netherlands

Apocalypse and Warmongering in Russian Political Speech
Elina Kahla, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

Politicized Religion and Russia’s War Against Ukraine
Santeri Kytöneva, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 3B–6
ROOM TBC
What's in a Job? Rethinking Labour, Work, Employment and Migration in Central Asia

Chair: Anni Kangas, Tampere University, Finland

Rise of the Surplus Population? Land Decollectivization, Class Stratification, and Labor Precarization in Uzbekistan
Franco Galdini, University of Manchester,  England (online)

The Making of Unemployment in Central Asia:
Employment Policies in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Eugenia Pesci, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland

The Role of Labour Intermediaries in the Migration Corridor from Central Asia to Latvia
Giulio Benedetti, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia

Women and Bazaars: Gendering Entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan
Binazirbonu Yusupova, Dublin City University, Ireland

PANEL 3B–7
ROOM TBC
Boundary-work in Russophone Communities and the Politics of Language Beyond Russia’s Borders

The Effects of the War in Ukraine on the Russophone Minority’s Identity in Estonia
Aigerim Nurseitova, University of Tartu, Estonia

Union Formation in the Post-reproductive Phase of Life:
Age, Race, and Online Intimacy. Case of Russian-Speaking Women in Finland

Larisa Shpakovskaya, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
co-author: Anna Temkina, Ben Gurion University, Israel

Socio-Political Integration and Attitudes Towards Political Conflicts:
A Mixed-Method Study on Russian-Speaking Immigrants in Finland

Zea Szebeni, University of Helsinki, Finland

PANEL 3B–8
ROOM TBC
Diplomacy and Humanitarianism from Sweden to World War 2 Poland and Stalinist Soviet Union

Confronting the Holocaust. The Polish Government in Exile towards Jews 1939–1945
Piotr Długołęcki, The Polish Institute of International Affairs, Poland

Language in the Professional, Social, and Personal Communication
of Russian and Swedish Diplomats (1730s–1740s)

Sophie Holm, presenting in individual capacity

Rescued from Stalin’s Terror: The Unknown Swedish Operation in the 1930s
Torbjörn Nilsson, Södertörn University, Sweden

Knocking on the Vatican’s Gates. East European Refugees and the Holy See in the early Cold War
Katarzyna Nowak, University of Vienna, Austria

PANEL 3B–9
ROOM TBC
Politics, Identity, Repression in Post Soviet Context

Grassroots Activism from 2019 Political Transition in Kazakhstan 
Shugyla Kilybaeva, TalTech/Al-Farabi KazNU

Border Governance: Optimizing European Union Impact in the Eastern Region
Tatsiana Shaban, University of Victoria, Canada

Making Identity Count: Comparing Democratic Identity Construction in Estonia and Latvia in the post-Soviet Era
Lelde Luik, Södertörn University, Sweden/University of Tartu, Estonia

PANEL 3B–10
ROOM TBC
Discourse and Communication Technologies in the Context of War

Between Algorithmic Imperialism and Forced Countermediatization:
Ukrainian Resistance from the Technological Perspective

Roman Horbyk, Örebro University, Sweden

Public Communication Innovations in Ukraine's Hybrid Response to the Russian Invasion
Oleksii Kolesnykov, University of Tartu, Estonia

Narratives in Russian Media in the Context of the War Against Ukraine
Yuliya Krylova-Grek, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine

PANEL 3B–11
ROOM TBC
The Interaction of Languages in the Core of Decolonizing Efforts and Experiences

Chairs: Maria Yelenevskaya, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel and Christian Noack, University of Amsterdam

The Problem of Decolonization of Russian History and Its Language:
Controversies Over the Unified Russian History Textbook in Tatarstan (2010
2023)
Liaisan Şahin, Institute of Turkic Studies, Marmara University, Turkey

The Phenomenon of Decolonization in the Language Discourse of Kazakhstan and Russia
Dauren AbdrahmanovAbay Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Kazakhstan
co-author: Damina Shaibakova, Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Kazakhstan

Language Planning and Language Activism in Contemporary Russia:
Empowerment of Minority Languages’ Voice

Vlada Baranova, Das Nordost-Institut – IKGN, Germany

The Role of Multilingualism in Transnational Universities in the Uzbek HE system
Liliya Makovskaya, Westminster International University in Tashkent
co-author: Saida Radjabzade, Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

PANEL 3B–12
ROOM TBC
Politics in the Soviet Republics During Gorbachev’s Perestroika

Chair: Natasha Kuhrt, King’s College London, England

Discussant: Jeremy Smith, Karelia Research Institute, University of Eastern Finland

The Ambiguity of Independence: Tajikistan’s Approach to Sovereignty Across The Soviet Rupture (1989–1992)
Isaac M Scarborough, Leiden University, Netherlands

Communist Party of Ukraine in the Final Years of the Soviet Union:
From Institutional Transformation to Disintegration

Nataliya Kibita, University of Glasgow, Scotland

The Roots of Communist Secession from CPSU in Lithuania in 1989
Saulius Grybkauskas, Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania

PANEL 3B–13
ROOM TBC
Unresolved Trauma: Historical and Contemporary Experiences of Russia’s Ethnic Groups

Svetlana Edygarova, University of Helsinki, Finland

Anna Kuznetsova, PhD student, University of Tartu, Estonia

Maria Vyatchina, University of Tartu, Estonia / University of Helsinki, Finland

Gulnaz Galeeva, partaking in individual capacity (online)
 

ROUNDTABLE 3B–14
ROOM TBC

17.30–18.00 | CLOSING CEREMONY
3rd floor, Metsätalo

Announcing the Aleksanteri Conference 2024.