9:00 -10:00 | Lobby Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
We ask all participants to register upon arrival at the information desk. You will receive a lanyard with your name tag.
The registration and information desk will be located in the Metsätalo lobby before the opening ceremony. After the ceremony, it will remain in the same lobby.
Address Metsätalo building: Fabianinkatu 39
Registration / information desk will be open
9:00-9:45 | Slavonic Library Tour (Optional and need pre-registration)
Experience the Slavonic Library at the National Library of Finland through a guided tour. Participants will be introduced to one of the most significant Slavic and Eastern European collections in Northern Europe. The tour highlights treasures such as rare manuscripts, historical records, and a wide selection of literature. Library staff will also explain the library’s background, its role in advancing academic research, and the unique opportunities it provides for scholars interested in Slavic languages, cultures, and histories.
Information regarding signing up for the tour will be sent via email.
10:00 - 10:30 | Hall 1 Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Join us in Hall 1 in Metsätalo for the official opening of the 2025 Aleksanteri Conference. The opening ceremony will be recorded and livestreamed.
The Aleksanteri Conference 2025 will open with words of welcome from the Director of the Aleksanteri Institute, Markku Kangaspuro.
We are proud to present this year’s keynote address: “Researching Extremism in Today’s Europe”, delivered by Leena Malkki, Director of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Helsinki and lead of the RADIA Knowledge Centre for the Prevention of Violent Radicalisation and Extremism.
The keynote session will be chaired by Katalin Miklóssy, Head of Discipline in Eastern European and Balkan Studies
Associate Professor
Nazarbayev University
Chair of the Session: Sirke Mäkinen, University Lecturer in Russian and Eurasian Studies
11:45 - 13:15 | Lunch Break
There are several dining options near the venue. Within the Metsätalo building there is a University Cafe (UniCafe) serving lunch. A short 5 minute walk away there is the Kluuvi mall which also has several restaurants. 2 minutes away from Metsätalo there is also the Fennia Block which has several restaurants.
12:15 - 13:15 | Walking Tour (Optional and needs pre-registration)
Discover Helsinki through a guided walking tour that brings the city’s academic and cultural heritage to life. The tour introduces participants to landmarks connected with the growth of Finnish intellectual life, the evolution of the city’s architecture, and the social and political changes that have shaped Helsinki over time.
A sign up link will be provided via email
| 13:15 - 14:45 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Kristina Kovalskaya (Paris 8 University, France)
Dmitry Dubrovskiy (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Alexander Verkhovsky (Independent Reasearcher)
Natalia Yudina (Independent Reasearcher)
Chair: TBA
Anastasiya Pshenychnykh (Loughborough University, UK)
Digital nationalism and its reception by the public: the case of Russia-Ukraine memory wars
Angelina Maria Ferreira Martins Cheang (Oxford School of Global Area Studies / St Antony's College, University of Oxford, UK)
Competing for Memory: Contested Narratives and Grassroots Resistance in Post-War Višegrad
Sofia Silfvast (University of Eastern Finland / Finnish Literature Society, Finland)
‘We were not Russified nor Fennicized’- Remembrances from the border villages of Salmi municipality after Finnish independence
Chair: Elizaveta Gaufman (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
Jess Fowler & Bharath Ganesh (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Cultural Geometries of Victimhood: Analysing Gender Discourse in the Reddit Manosphere
Rasa Navickaitė (Vilnius University, Institute of International Relations and Political Science (IIRPS), Lithuania)
Tracing the Anti-gender Mobilization in Lithuania: Actors, Networks and Narratives
Jonáš Syrovátka & Julia Gottstein (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Gender-Related Disinformation in Czech Populist Politicians’ Social Media Communication During the 2025 Election Campaign
Crystal Whetstone (Bilkent University, Türkiye)
Tradwives: Making Social Reproduction Great Again? How Male Supremacist Women Strengthen Far-Right Extremism
Chair: Santeri Kytöneva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Piotr Kulas (University of Warsaw, Poland)
The Long March Through Cultural Institutions. The Policy of The United Right and Elites’ Replacement in The State’s New Cultural Order
Anna Glew (University of Liverpool, UK)
Ukrainian popular music after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion: narrating citizenship and agency in times of war
Alla Roylance (New York University, USA)
Fictional worlds, real Influence: anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the pre-war Russian fiction
Miglena Dikova-Milanova (Ghent University, Belgium)
Political Protests and Culture Wars in Eastern Europe
Chair: TBA
Abel Polese (Dublin City University, Ireland / Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland) & Gulnara Nassimova (Al Farabi National Kazakh University, Kazakhstan)
Alternative forms of political participations in Kazakhstan after January 2022: the limits (and opportunities) of e-participation
Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford, UK) & David Karpa (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Algorithmic Governance Solutions, Institutional Gaps and Political Control in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan
Oliver Reschreiter (Centre for European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Poland)
Green Narratives, Black Gold: Renewable Energy and Authoritarian Resilience in Kazakhstan’s Petrostate Governance
Mykhailo Romanov (Аcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute, Ukraine / University of Helsinki, Aleksanteri Institute, Finland)
Are conspiracy theories so ridiculous? Result of global policies as a consequence of concerted actions or their failure
Chair/Discussant: Mariëlle Wijermars (Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Andrey Makarychev (University of Tartu, Estonia)
(Pro)Russian Biopolitical Propaganda During the Ukraine War: Visual Analysis
Jānis Juzefovičs & Vineta Kleinberga & Una Aleksandra
Bērziņa Čerenkova (Riga Stradins University, Latvia)
Exploring Baltic Russophone population encounters with and perceptions of Russia’s information suppression activities
Maxim Alyukov (University of Manchester, UK)
Whose ‘Fakes’? Disinformation discourse and motivated reasoning in wartime Russia
Chair/Discussant: Margarita Zavadskaya (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Regina Smyth (Indiana University Bloomington, USA)
New post-Soviet Russians? The effect of crisis and disinformation on societal values
Aleksei Gilev (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Foundations of Regime Support and Opposition in Russia: The Role of Family Memory. Evidence from a Survey Experiment
Veronika Kostenko (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Too Soft or Too Extreme? Feminist Antiwar Resistance and the Politics of Action in Exile
Chair: TBA
A poster session showcasing thesis projects by second-year students in the University of Helsinki's International Master’s Program in Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies.
Presenters: TBA
14:45 - 15:15 | 3rd Floor, Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
Professor of European Studies | Jean Monnet Chair
University of Latvia
Chair of the Session: Vladimir Gel'man, Professor of Russian and Eurasian Politics
16:30 - 16:45 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Short pause before the next session
| 16:45-18:15 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Eugenia Pesci (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Luca Anceschi (University of Glasgow, Scotland)
Asel Doolotkeldieva (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Julie Chen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sirke Mäkinen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kristiina Silvan (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Chair: Marianna Muravyeva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Ann-Mari Sätre (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Marina Khmelnitskaya (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Chair: TBA
Raymond Taras (Tulane University, USA)
The erosion of trust in institutions and democratic practices in Europe
Karina-Beatrice Cretu (University of Bucharest, Romania)
From Fusion to Fracture: The Rise of Illiberalism in the U.S. Intellectual Right
Sándor Földvári (Debrecen University, Hungary)
Hungary’s Case: Extremism as The Cradle of The Evolution of Authoritarianism
Chair: TBA
Piotr Szlaużys (The University of Białystok, Poland)
Democratic Advocacy in a Divided World — The Joint Struggle of the Lithuanian Mission and Lithuanian Americans for U.S. Recognition of Lithuania, 1918–1922
Vytautas Petronis (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Against Inhumanity: Moral Aspects Behind the Assassination of the Vilnius’ Governor Viktor von Wahl (1902)
Dritero Ferri (University of Helsinki, Finland)
In Pursuit of the Truth? J.J. Sederholm and the League of Nations Commission of Enquiry in Albania (1921-23)
Iuliia Gataulina (Tampere University, Finland)
Political materialities of status-making and unmaking: Universities in the imperial cityscape of St. Petersburg
Chair: Brendan Humphreys (University of Helsinki, Aleksanteri Institute, Finland)
Discussant: Haris Dajc (University of Belgrade, Serbia)
Katharina Tyran (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Extremism in the Public Space: Ideological Frames and Contested Voices in the Linguistic Landscape
Miranda Jakisa (University of Vienna, Austria)
Reconciliating Post-genocidal Society with Art
Zeljana Tunic (University of Halle, Germany)
Shooting by a sniper. Slobodan Milošević’s Regime and Its Theatre of Intimidation
Chair: TBA
Dumitru Minzarari (Baltic Defence College, Estonia)
Extremism in Alliance Policies: The Strategic Impact and Implications of Trump's Pressure on NATO
Bo Petersson (Malmö University, Sweden)
The End of the Collective West? Russian Master Myths and the US Reorientation under the Trump Administration
Shana Recken (University of Muenster, Germany)
Geopolitical imaginations and strategic narrative formation: Russian identity and risk discourses as an instrument of propagandistic influence on German and international debates
Chair: Helge Blakkisrud (University of Oslo, Norway)
Jules Sergei Fediunin (University of Oslo, Norway)
"As Mendeleev said”: Demographic Anxiety in Wartime Russia
Matthew Blackburn (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
All for the front, all for the victory: The role of regime ideology in grassroots politicisation and pro-war mobilisations in Russia
Natalia Moen-Larsen (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
Pronatalism in Popular Culture post 2022: The Soft Power Dimensions of Biopolitics in Russia
Maxim Alyukov (University of Manchester, UK) & Kristian Lundby Gjerde (Norwegian Institute of International Affair, Norway)
War on Fakes: How Russian Propaganda Constructs and Deploys the Language of Disinformation
Chair: Nadir Kinossian (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany)
Gergely Olt (HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary)
State and market capture by political power – neopatrimonialism and urban development in post-socialist Hungary
Armagan Gozkaman (Istanbul Beykent University, Türkiye)
Reframing the past, governing the present: Strategic framing of memory in Hungary
Erika Nagy & Gábor Nagy (HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary)
Is centrally controlled industrialisation (only) a state socialist scheme for regional development and political control? The entanglement of peripheral industrialisation and the rise of the authoritarian regime in post-2010 Hungary
Péter Bagoly-Simó (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)
(Not) Letting Go: School Geography and (Post-)Socialism
Chair: Mariia Vasilevskaia (OVD-Info, Russia/Lithuania / The Hannah Arendt Research Center, Germany)
Marina Iaroslavtseva (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen / The Hannah Arendt Research Center, Germany)
Culture under the Label
Vlada Baranova (University of Hamburg / The Hannah Arendt Research Center, Germany) & Marina Vyushkova (Batani Foundation)
Reframing ethnic activism under repression: Indigenous rights and anti-war solidarity
Daria Rud (The Hannah Arendt Research Center, Germany) & Vitaly Servetnik (Environmental Crisis Group)
Extremism and solidarity in eco-activism
Mariia Vasilevskaia (OVD-Info, Russia/Lithuania / The Hannah Arendt Research Center, Germany)
Radical anti-war resistance: what is considered terrorism by human rights defenders and by the Russian state
18:30 - 20:00 | Helsinki City Hall (Pohjoisesplanadi 11-13)
(Only for pre-registered participants)
The City of Helsinki warmly welcomes conference participants to an evening reception at City Hall. This event offers a relaxed setting to connect with fellow attendees, enjoy refreshments, and appreciate the historic surroundings of one of Helsinki’s landmark buildings. It is a perfect opportunity to continue the day’s conversations in an informal atmosphere.
Please have your registration confirmation QR code ready at the entrance.
| 9:00 - 10:30 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Iuliia Gataulina (Tampere University, Finland)
Asel Doolotkeldieva (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Mirkka Ollila (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Elena Holmgren (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Alexandra Barmina (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anni Kangas (Tampere University)
Chair: Yulia Gradskova (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Sofia Malysheva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Soheyla Yazdanpanah (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Yulia Gradskova (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Liliya Makovskaya (Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan)
Chair: Alexander Kondakov (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Giulia Panfilo (University of Helsinki, Finland)
A Feminist Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan after 2020
Agata Dziuban (Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland)
An unexpected alliance? Right-wing moralism, carceral feminism, and the threat of “prostitution” in contemporary Poland
Maryna Shevtsova (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Resisting Progress, Reinventing Alliances: The Rise of New Anti-Gender Actors in Wartime Ukraine
Marianna Muravyeva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
"We are not like them": queer and non-queer alliances on the frontline of family autonomy
Chair: Kristiina Silvan (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Discussant: Margarita Zavadskaya (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Geir Flikke (University of Oslo, Norway)
Autocratic Legalism: The Evolution of the Extremist Legal Term in Russian Legislation (2012–2024)
Johannes Due Enstad (Institute for Social Research, Norway)
Why is extreme-right violence surging in today’s Russia, and what are the potential ramifications?
Jussi Lassila (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Russiaʼs new elite and hotbed of social problems? The veteran issue and the war in Ukraine
Chair: TBA
Igor Mikeshin (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Peace-loving extremists: Anti-extremist legislation as a tool for the persecution of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses
Daria Kuznetsova (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Between the Sacred and the State: Shamanism, Gender and Indigenous Rights in Southern Siberia
Inara Yagubova (ADA University, Azerbaijan)
Extremism in the South Caucasus: Historical Context and the Azerbaijani Case
Chair: TBA
Mikel Gaztañaga Cinto (University of Deusto, Spain)
Fragmentation, Polarization, and the Role of Think Tanks in the Age of Extremisms: Lessons from the Basque Country, Spain
Mintae Hwang (University of Bristol, UK)
Mediating the extremes: Institut Iliade as an inter-field hub of European far-right movements
Aleksei Titkov (University of Manchester, UK)
Knowledge production in polarized social media: the contested memory of the Odesa fire 2014
Chair: TBA
Marta Haiduchok (Central European University, Austria)
Fighting the Parents, Fighting the State: Croatian Émigré Terrorism in the 1960s-1970s
Pauli Heikkilä (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Uniting Europe from afar. European dimension within Anti-bolshevik Bloc of Nations 1950-1992
Kaarel Piirimäe (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Multilateral Diplomacy of the West and the Baltic states’ re-entry into the International Society of States in the 1990s
José Luis Estévez (University of Helsinki, Finland) & Stoyan V. Sgourev (EM Normandie Business School, France)
Durable Dissidence at the Core: Analyzing Self-Published Journals in the Soviet Union (1956-1990)
Chair: Yuliia Kurnyshova (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Ivan Gomza (Kyiv School of Economics, Ukraine)
Andrey Makarychev (University of Tartu, Estonia)
The Logic of Normative Bordering: Experiences of the
Baltic states
Katalin Miklóssy (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Knowledge Production in Crisis: Constraints on Academic Freedom in Finland, Hungary, and Poland
Vladimir Gel'man (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Against the Grain: Research on Russian Domestic Politics after February 2022
Chair: Jouni Järvinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sara Harju (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Cultural festival banned: Serbia-Kosovo tensions, far-right protests, and feminist resistance
Emmi Kujanpää (University of Helsinki, Finland)
From National Symbol to Transnational Artivism: Contemporary Bulgarian Folk Singing, Gender and Forms of Agency
Vassa Yakymets (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
The nation’s spiritual armor…and queer craftivism? The vyshyvanka’s role in Ukraine’s ongoing queer rights movement
Pauliina Lukinmaa (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Approaching drag art scene as part of LGBTIQ+ activism in the Baltic states: Negotiating identities, power, and solidarity
10:30 - 10:45 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Short pause before the next session
| 10:45 - 12:15 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Riku Savonen (Finland-Russia Society, Finland)
Evgeniya Chirikova (Activatica, Estonia)
Aleksei Karikh (Russians Against War, Sweden)
Ivan Philippov (Independent Researcher, Germany)
Ksenia Thorström (Parus ry, Finland)
Chair: Vladimir Gel'man (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kaarina Aitamurto (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Renat Bekkin (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Rinat Mukhametov (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Chair: TBA
Zinaida Bechná (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), Vladimir Geľman & Katalin Miklóssy (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland), Pavel Baev (Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway)
The Clash of Diffusions: The Interplay of Domestic and International Factors in Political Changes of Eastern Partnership Countries
Tyyne Karjalainen (Finnish Institute of International Affairs / University of Turku, Finland)
Can postcolonial theory help to understand (the problems of) EU enlargement to the East?
Sergii Pakhomenko (Mariupol State University, Ukraine)
The Dilemma of Ukrainian Decolonisation: Anticolonialism versus Ambivalence
Chair: TBA
Stefan Janjic & Sabina Mihelj (Loughborough University, UK)
Generational differencies in response to divisive misinformation: Focus group evidence from Serbia, Poland and Romania
Akhlaq Ahmad & Muhammad Rizwan Safdar (University of the Punjab, Pakistan)
Islamic Seminary Students' Engagement with Social Media and Formation of their Religiopolitical Worldviews
Nur Mawaddah (Independent Researcher, Indonesia)
Disinformation as Moral Governance in Jakarta’s Urban Politics
Chair: Mikhail Ilchenko (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Germany)
Discussant: Nadir Kinossian (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig, Germany)
Mikhail Ilchenko (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Germany)
New Symbols and Narratives of the Soviet-Era Urban Legacy
Peter Szalay (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia)
The Modernist Ideal of Socialist Mass Housing Reconsidered: The Revival of Petržalka
Haykuhi Muradyan & Tigran Simyan (Yerevan State University, Armenia)
Soviet and Post-Soviet Charentsavan: City Mythology and Symbolic Transformations of the Mass Housing in Armenia
Chair: Heli Simola (Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland)
Discussant: Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna Korppoo (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway)
Russian Coal Sector under Sanctions: the Crucial Role of China
Tatiana Lanshina (Indepedent expert, Germany)
Russian Oil Pivot to China
Yue Wang (University of Tampere, Finland)
Sino-Russian Energy Trade and Cooperation in the Natural Gas Sector
Erdem Lamazhapov (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway)
Critical Minerals: Russian discussions of supply chain sovereignty
Chair: TBA
Elizaveta Gaufman (University of Groningen, Netherlands) & Bharath Ganesh (Unversity of Amsterdam)
Race, Power and Order in Russian Anti-Tajik Discourse on Social Media
Satu Semberg & Tabea Böing & Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Global conservative turn, Europe's energy transition and Russia
12:15 - 13:30 | Lunch Break
There are several dining options near the venue. Within the Metsätalo building there is a University Cafe (UniCafe) serving lunch. A short 5 minute walk away there is the Kluuvi mall which also has several restaurants. 2 minutes away from Metsätalo there is also the Fennia Block which has several restaurants.
Historian and Writer | Director of the Ukrainian Institute London
Author of The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister (2022)
Chair of the Session: Brendan Humphreys, Visiting Researcher, Docent
14:45 - 15:15 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Short pause before the next session
Historian and Sociologist | Professor
Charles University in Prague | Free University in Riga
Chair of the Session: Kaarina Aitamurto, Grant-funded researcher
16:30 - 17:00 | 3rd Floor, Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
| 17:00 - 18:30 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Anna-Liisa Heusala (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sherzod Eraliev (Lund University, Sweden)
Katalin Miklóssy (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kaarina Aitamurto (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Chair: Saara Ratilainen (Tampere University, Finland)
Saara Ratilainen (Tampere University, Finland)
Galina Miazhevich (Cardiff University, UK)
Daniil Zhaivoronok (Tampere University, Finland)
Chair: Marianna Muravyeva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Giulia Panfilo (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sigita Cerneviciute (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Constructing Family Violence in 19th to Early 20th Century Lithuania within the Russian Empire: from household norms to crimes
Valentina Frolova (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Making Law Where None Exists: The Role of Russian Civil Society in Shaping Domestic Violence Jurisprudence
Yuliya Brin (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Framing Crime and Punishment in Times of War: A Comparative Analysis of Media and Legal Responses to Domestic Violence in the Soviet-Afghan, Chechen, and Ukrainian Wars
Chair: Mari Puurunen (The Finnish National Defence University, Finland)
Eemil Mitikka (University of Helsinki / Finnish Defence Research Agency, Finland)
Impacts of Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion on Russia’s Regions – Detecting High and Low Impact Areas, and Their Implications for Separatism in Russia
Jonna Emilia Alava (University of Helsinki / The Finnish National Defence University, Finland)
Military-Patriotic Education in Russia — Legitimation, Gender and Power relations
Teemu Oivo (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Russia's Extraterritorial Citizenship and Bordering
Chair: TBA
Eszter Borissza (Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary)
Framing the Enemy – Ideological Networks and the Architecture of Extremism at russophob.ru
Vikror Lambin (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Dehumanization and Enemization of Other in Z-telegram
Laura Kääntee & Daniel Talv (University of Helsinki, Finland)
The Default “Ryssä” and Indiscriminate Discrimination; The Development of Finnish Extremist Russophobic Narratives In the Context of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Social Media
Michelle Verbitskaya (Ohio State University, USA)
Framing Dissent as Extremism: The Paranoid Style of Russian Pseudo-Documentaries
Chair: TBA
Ryan Reed (University of Helsinki, Finland)
The Deproblematization of History: A Dispositive Analysis of the Chechen Prison Service's Commemorative and Mnemonic Activity
Olga Kantokoski (University of Helsinki, Finland)
The ‘Last Resort’ Principle and Alternative Punishment in the Western Balkans: Explaining the Tenacity of Retributivism
Natalia Khmelevska (Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law, Ukraine)
Restoration and Development of the Juvenile Justice System in Post-War Ukraine
Aymen Aulaiwi (University of Oxford, UK)
Contracting Coercion: Private Security, State-Building, and the Ambiguities of Violence in Putin's Russia
Chair: TBA
Dr. Attaullah Jan (Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology, Pakistan)
Countering Youth Radicalization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Challenges and Community-Based Approaches
Kylie Harrington & Zhenrong Su & Jon Phillips & Kelsi Carolan & Gio Iacono (University of Connecticut, USA)
United States Social Worker Preparedness to Work with Far-Right Clients
Louise Burté (University of Lorraine, France)
Is this a fair story? Using alternative narratives to remediate extremist attitudes with a young audience
Chair: Mykhailo Romanov (Аcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute, Ukraine / Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Judith Pallot (University of Oxford, UK)
Prison Jihad in Russia: Myth or Propaganda?
Mikhail Nakonechnyi (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Repertoire of Surveillance and Disruption: Operative Departments, Ethnic Gangs, and Population Management in the Soviet Penal System, 1953–1991
Brendan Humphreys (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Radicalization or Repression? Comparing the Experiences of Political Prisoners from Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland
Chair: TBA
Eva Gaigalniece (University of Latvia, Latvia)
Radicalization Threat to the National Security of the Baltic States: Lessons from Latvia on Extremism Against Immigrants
Larisa Shpakovskaya (University of Helsinki, Finland) & Anna Temkina (Ben Gurion University, Israel)
Imagined egalitarian West and patriarchal Post-Sovietness: construction of intimate preferences of aging migrant women in Finland and Israel
Hilary Pilkington (University of Manchester, UK)
What can we learn about extremism from listening to ‘right-wing extremists’?
Chair: TBA
Tuomas Forsberg (University of Tampere, Finland)
European Perceptions of Russia as a Great Power in the 1990s
Katri Pynnöniemi (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki / Finnish National Defence University, Finland)
Russian Security Dilemma in Makhmut Gareev's analysis of military threats (1999-2019)
18:15 - 19:00 | Hall 1 Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
We are delighted to announce a special guest lecture as part of the Aleksanteri Conference’s side programme organised by the Discipline of Russian Language and Literature at the University of Helsinki. The renowned Russian writer and dissident Viktor Yerofejev will give a lecture titled Цензура и русская литература (Censorship and Russian Literature).
Censorship has long been one of the defining features of Russian culture, particularly in literature. Capricious, despotic, at times comical and at times absurd, censorship has shaped Russian cultural life for centuries. In this lecture, Yerofejev explores the cultural history of censorship in Russia across different epochs.
The lecture will be delivered in Russian.
About the speaker:
Viktor Yerofejev (b. 1947) is one of Russia’s most prominent dissident writers. Born into a Moscow diplomatic family, he spent part of his childhood in Paris and began to test the boundaries of censorship already in the early 1970s. He was expelled from the Soviet Writers’ Union in 1979 after publishing the independent literary almanac MetrOpol. His works have been translated into numerous languages, and burned by pro-Kremlin youth groups. Today, Yerofejev lives in exile in Germany and remains a sharp, uncompromising voice in Russian literature.
9:00-9:45 | Slavonic Library Tour (Optional and need pre-registration)
Experience the Slavonic Library at the National Library of Finland through a guided tour. Participants will be introduced to one of the most significant Slavic and Eastern European collections in Northern Europe. The tour highlights treasures such as rare manuscripts, historical records, and a wide selection of literature. Library staff will also explain the library’s background, its role in advancing academic research, and the unique opportunities it provides for scholars interested in Slavic languages, cultures, and histories.
Information regarding signing up for the tour will be sent via email.
| 9:00 - 10:30 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Saija Benjamin (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Leena Malkki (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Tommi Kotonen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Emilia Lounela (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Chair: Marianna Muravyeva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Olga Andreevskikh (Tampere University, Finland)
'I'm an extremist, now what are you going to do about it?' Strategies of subversion and resistance in Russophone LGBTQ+ communities
Evgeny Shtorn (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Strategic Ambivalence Before the Law: LGBTIQ+ Activism, Anti-Gender Ideology, and the Queer Archive in Russia (The Case of Elena Kostyuchenko)
Alexander Kondakov (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Religious Extremism in Criminal Court Hearings on Violence against Queer People in Russia
John Kaye (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Popular geopolitics of “morality refugees” in wartime Russia: projecting moral rebirth, purpose and national self-image
Chair: Zuzana Fungáčová (Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland)
Discussant: Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford, UK)
Heli Simola & Iikka Korhonen (Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland)
From sanctions to surges: The dynamics of Russia’s import prices
Laura Solanko (Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland) & Denis Davydov (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)
War, sanctions and business strategy: European firms in Russia
Benjamin Hilgenstock (Kyiv School of Economics Institute, Ukraine)
Role of extraterritorial measures in the enforcement of non-global sanctions regime
Chair: TBA
Sabina Długosz (Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland)
Extremism in Norwegian and Swedish political sphere - the example of populist right-wing parties
Romāns Gagunovs (Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia)
Political Security and Party Sustainability in Latvia: Between Fragmentation and Resilience
Richard Donnelly (Kingston University London, UK)
Crafting competitive conspiracisms after England’s racist riots: ambiguity, inter-group rivalry and the skill of conspiracy theorising in the British extreme right
Chair: TBA
Alamgir Khan & Kaunert Christian (Dublin City University, Ireland)
TTP’s Resurgence and the State–Society Trust Gap in Pakistan’s Newly Merged Districts (NMDs): Escalating Domestic and Regional Security Threats
Emmanuel Karagiannis (King's College London, UK)
The dynamics of group radicalisation in Yemen: The case of the Houthi movement
Jessica Hamdan (AARMENA Institute of Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany)
The Delegitimization of Palestinian Resistance
Theo Neethling (University of the Free State, South Africa)
The Pursuit of Extremist Islamic States in North-Eastern Nigeria and Northern Mozambique: Reflections on State Fragility and Its Challenge
Chair/Discussant: Jānis Juzefovičs (Stradiņš University, Latvia)
Ekaterina Kamenskaya (University of Manchester, UK)
Soviet approaches to the concept of “disinformation” and international broadcasting in the late 1960s
Vera Tolz-Zilitinkevic & Stephen Hutchings (University of Manchester, UK)
Disinformation as Process: Modelling the Lifecycle of Deceit’
Elizaveta Gaufman (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
Big Phat(ic) Trolls: Longitudinal Study on Russian IRA Narrative and Semantic Strategies on Twitter
Mariëlle Wijermars (Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Russian transnational information suppression: A platform governance perspective
Chair/Discussant: Gwenaëlle Bauvois (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Olena Siden (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Polarizing the Nation: French Far-Right Discourse on the Russo-Ukrainian War
Alexander Alekseev (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Towards a European new right? Exploring the tenets of the emerging identity
Ilana Hartikainen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
A Pseudohistorical brotherhood: Pro-Russian sentiment in Czech political rhetoric during Russia’s war in Ukraine
Zea Szebeni (University of Helsinki, Finland)
When 'Our Land' Meets 'Our Welfare': Collective Psychological Ownership and Double Standards in Finnish Immigration Attitudes
Chair: TBA
Ana Filipa Joaquim (IPRI - Universidade NOVA / ISLA Santarém, Portugal)
Digital Populism and the Politics of Disinformation: A Case Study of CHEGA’s Strategic Communication in Portugal
Bethany McGowan (Purdue University, USA)
Information Diplomacy Between Soft and Sharp Power: Legitimacy and Vulnerability in Finland’s Infodemic Management Response
Yue Han (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Russia's digital public diplomacy with the U.S. and China
Olga Vlasova (King's College London, UK)
The Role of Bank Scams and State-Controlled Narratives in Dividing Russian Society During the War in Ukraine
Chair: TBA
Valeryia Chyzh (University of Oslo, Norway) & Anastasiya Bekarava (Norwegian University of Life Sciences)
Closing the policy gap: feminist security frameworks to counter radical right mobilization
Birte Kohtz (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Germany)
Back to the (Soviet) future? (Dis)continuities of reproductive politics between the USSR and the Russian Federation
Bianca Andrianu (Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania)
Anti-Gender Movement in Central Eastern Europe and its Nurturing in Post-Communist Countries. An analysis on Romania
David Rypel (Independent researcher, UK)
“You need to have a feel for that line”: Surviving discipline as a queer person in Georgia (Sakartvelo)
10:30 - 11:00 | 3rd Floor, Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
| 11:00 - 12:30 | Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
Chair: Markku Kivinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna-Liisa Heusala (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Daniel Kashnitsky (Université Paris Cité, CERMES3, France)
Elena Bogdanova (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Katalin Miklóssy (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Linda Cook (Brown University, USA)
Chair/Discussant: Mariëlle Wijermars (Maastricht University, Netherlands)
Ekaterina Kalinina (Stockholm University, Sweden)
"They are our voices": the perceptions of the role of exile media among civic activists in Russia
Iliia Kiriia (Université Grenoble Alpes, France)
Discoverability of Russian media in exile: between exploitation and resistance of the algorithms
Olga Dovbysh & Elena Rodina (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Advanced technologies for vulnerable journalism: rethinking the impact in the conditions of exile
Chair: Matthew Blackburn (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
Helge Blakkisrud (University of Oslo, Norway)
Patronage in Peril: the Ukraine War and Patron-Client Relations in Post-Soviet De Facto State Conflicts
Kristin Fjæstad (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
Riding the waves? Kazakhstan’s navigation of Caspian Sea cooperation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Julie Wilhelmsen (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
Resistance in the North Caucasus: from “separatist” to “Islamist” and back again
Guri Tyldum (Fafo, Norway)
Exit as Resistance? Russian Draft Evasion and the Quiet Rejection of War
Chair: Nadir Kinossian (The Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany)
Nadir Kinossian (The Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany)
Unbounding post-socialism: continuity and change in Russia’s spatial governance
Marina Khmelnitskaya (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Continuity and change in policymaking in post-socialist Eurasia: an overview of a forthcoming edited volume
Hanxi Wang (University College London, UK) & Carmen Rafanell (Aix-Marseille University, France)
Agriculture in the City: Changes and Contradictions of the Rural-Urban Divide from State Socialism to Market Economy through Case Studies in China and Romania
Chair: TBA
Dilafza Haydaraliyeva (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Timurid Echoes and Global Scripts: Evolving Heritage Narratives and Circulation in Uzbekistan's Reform Era
Ana Yara Postigo Fuentes (Heinrich-Heine Universität, Germany)
From Structure to Circulation: A Framework for the Analysis of Extremist Narratives
David Puertas & Elena Yeste & Jaume Suau (Ramon Llull University, Spain)
Narratives of Extremism: Far Right content in YouTubre accounts
Chair: TBA
Natalia Leskina & Sirke Mäkinen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Regime Complexity and EU-China (EHEA-BRI) knowledge policies in Kazakhstan
Violette Mens (Philipps Universität Marburg, Germany)
Knowledge in Urgency: Translating Radicalization Research into Policy and Practice
Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford, UK) & Gwendolyn Sasse (ZOiS / Humboldt-Universität of Berlin, Germany)
How Does Foreign Pressure Affect the Work of Scientific Organizations? Evidence from Russia’s Listing of the German Association of Eastern European Studies as ‘Extremist’
Iuliia Gataulina (Tampere University, Finland)
State formation of neoliberal authoritarianism
Chair: TBA
Jani Korhonen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
False-flag separatism? Vojvodinian separatism as a strategical tool in Serbian political discourse
Murat Yılmaz (Kastamonu University, Türkiye)
Deconstructing China's Discourse: Framing Extremism and the Uyghur Identity"
Santeri Kytöneva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Patriarch Kirill’s References to Apocalypse: Managing or Crafting Extremism?
Chair: Marina Vyrskaia (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Laura Solanko (The Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland)
Sinikka Parviainen (The Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), Finland) & Will Pyle (Middlebury College, USA)
Drivers of Individual Well-being under Sanctions: Insights from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey
Margarita Zavadskaya (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland) & Alexei Zakharov (Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, USA) & Aleksandra Rumiantseva
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
How Local Economic Infrastructure Affects Military Casualties in Russia: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment
Andrei Semenov & Kamila Kovyazina & Aigerim Aibassova & Aizat Inussova (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan)
Who is Responsible for Disaster Preparedness and Relief? Evidence from Survey in Kazakhstan
12:30 - 13:45 | Lunch Break
There are several dining options near the venue. Within the Metsätalo building there is a University Cafe (UniCafe) serving lunch. A short 5 minute walk away there is the Kluuvi mall which also has several restaurants. 2 minutes away from Metsätalo there is also the Fennia Block which has several restaurants.
12:45 - 13:45 | Walking Tour (Optional and needs pre-registration)
Discover Helsinki through a guided walking tour that brings the city’s academic and cultural heritage to life. The tour introduces participants to landmarks connected with the growth of Finnish intellectual life, the evolution of the city’s architecture, and the social and political changes that have shaped Helsinki over time.
A sign up link will be provided via email
Professor in the Department of Gender Studies
Central European University
Chair of the Session: Elena Bogdanova, Researcher
15:00 - 15:45 | Hall 1 Metsätalo (Fabianinkatu 39)
The closing session of the 24th Aleksanteri Conference at Hall 1 will bring together participants for final reflections on the key themes discussed and for the announcement of next year’s milestone event — the 25th Aleksanteri Conference.
The ceremony will also feature a performance by the Kolhoosiorkesteri, an ensemble affiliated with Rupla ry, the student organization for Slavic and Baltic languages and cultures at the University of Helsinki.