We ask all participants to register upon arrival at the information desk. You will receive a lanyard with your name and city hall reception invitation for the week.
Registration/information desk will be in the lobby of the University of Helsinki main building prior to the opening ceremony. Following the opening ceremony the registration/information desk will be located in the lobby of the Metsätalo building for the remainder of the conference.
Address Main Building: Fabianinkatu 33
Address Metsätalo building: Unioninkatu 40 / Fabianinkatu 39
Registration / information desk will be open
Join us for an exclusive guided tour of the Slavonic Library at the National Library of Finland. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the extensive collections, which include rare manuscripts, historical documents, and a vast array of Slavic and Eastern European literature. The library staff will offer insights into the library's history, its role in supporting academic research, and the unique resources available for scholars studying Slavic languages, cultures, and histories.
Information regarding signing up for the tour will be sent via email.
The Aleksanteri Institute's student organization, Sasha Ry will be selling print editions of the latest edition of their magazine Gazeta under the theme of Resistance at the information desk.
Has Poland truly set itself back on the path towards functioning liberal democracy? Why is Belarusian considered an endangered language despite having 3.6 million speakers? How did the Baltics 'Sing' their way to reclaiming their sovereignty? These stories and more in Gazeta Sasha Issue 3: Resistance.
Card will be accepted but cash is preferred.
Please join us in Hall F4050 for the official opening of the 2024 Aleksanteri Conference. Please note the opening ceremony will be recorded and livestreamed.
The welcoming ceremony opening speech Fighting back the erosion of human rights and rule of law will be presented by
Speaker: Frank Johansson, Executive Director Amnesty International Finland
Chair: Markku Kangaspuro, Director of the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki
Professor of Political Science
Yale University
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.
Are you interested in learning more about the historical and intellectual development of Helsinki? Join us for a guided walking tour that explores the city's academic and cultural landmarks. This tour will highlight key sites tied to Helsinki's role in shaping Finnish intellectual life, its architectural evolution, and the broader socio-political changes that have influenced the region.
A sign up link will be provided via email
Chair: Olena Babakova (WOT Foundation, Poland)
Riku Savonen (Suomi-Venäjä-seura ry/Finland-Russia Society, Finland)
Nikita Makarov (Initiative for Resistance and Dialogues, Finland)
Ksenia Torström (Deputies of Peaceful Russia, Finland)
Natalia Zviagina (Civil Society Forum, Germany)
Chair: Yuliya Bidenko (V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine)
Vladimir Gel’man (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Reassessing Russian Politics in the 1990s: Political and Institutional Foundations of Authoritarian Regime Building under the Guise of Democratization
Robert Gabriel Ticalau (Romanian Centre for Russian Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania)
Back to Soviet Totalitarianism? The Evolution of the Belarusian Regime after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections
Sarah Sokhey (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) & Paula Ganga (Duke Kunshan University, China)
Political Competition & Governance in Ukraine: Evidence from Original Survey Data on Public Goods Provision
Chair: Maili Vilson (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Eleanor Bindman (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
Belarusian civil society in exile in the context of the war in Ukraine
Giorgia Cacciotti (European University Institute/Università di Bologna, Italy)
Russian activists beyond borders - a new transnational network
Oula Kadhum (SOAS, University of London, UK)
Migration as Protest: Diasporic Resistance to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Chair: Eemil Mitikka (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Olga Khabibulina (Institute of Slavic Studies Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)
To speak or not to speak. Georgian migrants in Poland building and articulating their language practices
Emil Chról (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Crisis of identity or renaissance of identity: investigating identity challenges among Ukrainians, using the example of Ukrainian war migrants in Poland after 2022
Sergei Tikhonov & Elizaveta Vlasova (Independent Researchers)
Research on Dual Media Consumption and Value Sets of Russian-speaking Residents in Europe
Chair: Lassi Heininen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford, UK)
The Economic Consequences of Brain Drain: How the Exodus of IT Specialists Affects Russia's Economic Competitiveness
Kacper Wańczyk (Kozminski University/Warsaw University, Poland)
Robustness of authoritarian economies - a case of Belarus
Fatemeh Shayan (University of Isfahan, Iran)
Russia Authoritarianism with Ukraine for Gas Transit Issues
Chair: Elena Nikiforova (Aleksanteri Insitute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
National bodies at national borders: transformation of border/body regimes in the conditions of war
Discussant: Laura Kemppainen (Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna Tarasenko (Aleksanteri Insitute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Legal consciousness and travel of knowledge: Finnish welfare in narratives of Ukrainian forced migrants, healthcare brokers and care workers
Elena Bogdanova (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Affected subjectivity and materiality: adaptation of displaced people with chronic illnesses to the new environment
Luca De Magistris (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki)
The Creation of Deaf Spaces: Place-Making Practices in the Wake of Displacement from Ukraine
Chair: Ekaterina Protassova (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kapitolina Fedorova & Natalia Tšuikina (Tallinn University, Estonia)
Language ideology and debates around linguistic norms: the case of Estonian Russian
Mihail Kopotev (University of Helsinki, Finland)
The Literary Language (литературный язык): toward the history of the concept
Alexander Piperski (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Whose time is it now? The delicate issue of time zones for Russian-speaking online meetings
Chair: Anna Sokolova (University of Ostrava, Czechia)
Iuliia Gataulina (Tampere University, Finland)
Tracing hydro-ontologies across colonial-extractivist assemblages of the Aral Sea (and beyond)
Nicola Belli (University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy)
Lithuania 1988: The Žemyna environmental club
Istvan Santha (Hun-Ren Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungary)
Attempts for Resistance of Indigenous Mining Company in East Russia (2004-2013)
Chair: Jesse Hirvelä (The National Archives of Finland/University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna Laakkonen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
The Finnish War Deposit Archive – Robbery or Rescue? The Journey of Archival Materials from the Occupied Soviet Karelia to Finland during the WWII
Lauri Partanen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Cooperation between Finnish and Soviet Archival Institutions during the Cold War: Resisting Authoritarianism or Supporting the Status Quo?
Maryna Paliienko (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine)
The Role of Archives in Preserving National History and Identity during Russia’s War against Ukraine
Justyna Avci (The KARTA Center, Poland)
The KARTA Center. The Memory Strategies: The Importance of Individual Memories Being Rescued in Face of Totalitarian Regime and the Practices of Popularizing Them in the Presence
Chair: Igor Mikeshin (University of Helsinki, Finland)
"Jehovah's Witnesses as a litmus test of democracy": Jehovah's Witnesses and Russian religious policy
Discussant: Katharina Kunter (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Elina Kahla (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Legacy of Bloodlands (Pogroms, Holocaust) — A Long Path Towards Reconciliation?
Maija Penttilä (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Persecutions and survival strategies among Evangelical minority churches in Russia
Chair: Sari Autio-Sarasmo (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
A poster session showcasing thesis projects by second-year students in the University of Helsinki's International Master’s Programme in Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
Lecturer in Central Asian Politics and Society | Assistant Professor in Political Sociology
University College London | University of Cambridge
Chair: Jouko Nikula (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Elena Bogdanova (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Marina Khmelnitskaya (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Jussi Lassila (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Ann-Mari Sätre (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Leo Granberg (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Chair: Anatoly Pinsky (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Vesa Oittinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Revolutionary Democrats - a Stalinist Construction only?
Liisa Bourgeot (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Asmus' "Logic" (1947): a turning-point in Soviet philosophy?
Elina Viljanen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
"Loss of melody" - Soviet musicological contribution to Voprosy filosofii (1948)
Karoliina Pulkkinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Bonifatii Kedrov's methodological essays on Marxist histories of chemistry, science, and technology
Chair: Mika Perkiömäki (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sanna Turoma (University of Tampere, Finland)
Colonial hierarchies of Soviet space in Nikolai N. Mikhailov's popular geographies
Eeva Kuikka (Tampere University, Finland)
Environmental awareness as part of decolonial resistance in the Russian context
Daria Kuznetsova (Tampere University, Finland)
Guardians of the Taiga: Shamanic traditions, environmental injustice, and Indigenous resistance in Southern Siberia
Chair: Yuliya Brin (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Varsha Prasad & Binitha V Thampi (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India)
The gender dynamics of grassroots women’s organizations and minority community politics in contemporary Kerala, India
Vita Zeyliger (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Authoritarianism in Eurasia: Russian-led Regional Organizations, State of Values, and Gender Patterns
Caroline Hill (Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden)
Framing of Abortion and Church-State Relations in Russian Orthodox Online Portals
Artur Lipiński (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland)
From weapons of the weak to social activism? The case of LGBTQ community and women in populist-governed Poland.
Chair: Julia Lerner (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel/The Center for Research on Eastern European, Balkan and Median Cultures and Societies, Lettres Sorbonne-Université, CNRS, France)
Olga Dovbysh & Elena Rodina (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Creative strategies of resilience of Russian exiled journalism
Olga Orlova (T-Invariant, Israel)
Academic Notes from Underground: How Russian scientists are experiencing the war
Svetlana Chachashvili-Bolotin (Ruppin Academic Center, Israel) & Anna Temkina (Ruppin Academic Center/Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Doctors' Migration from Russia due to the invasion to Ukraine: Transnational and Local Re-professionalization in Israel
Tanya Voinova (The Institute for Immigration and Social Integration, Ruppin Academic Center/Bar-Ilan University, Israel) & Svetlana Chachashvili-Bolotin (Ruppin Academic Center, Israel)
“From one war to another”: Ukraine-born immigrant-interpreters in Israel
Chair: Marianna Poberezhskaya (Nottingham Trent University, UK)
Discussant: Ellie Martus (Griffith University, Australia)
Tatiana Lanshina (Independent Expert, Germany)
Improving Western energy sanctions
Anna Korppoo (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway) & Georgy Safanov (Independent Expert)
Scenarios for Russian coal sector under Western sanctions
Oleg Pluzhnikov (Independent Expert)
Russia under western sanctions in UN climate negotiations and global climate politics
Chair: Dmitri Frolov (Independent Researcher)
Discussant: Una Bergmane (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Markku Kangaspuro (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Struggle for autonomy in the Autonomous Republic of Karelia in the 1920s and the 30s
Ira Jänis-Isokangas (National Archives, Finland)
Kotkin’s Magnetic Mountain Revisited: Finnish Workers in the Ural Region in the 1930s
Jesse Hirvelä (National Archives, Finland)
Ingrian Intelligentsia from the Perspective of Finnish Communists in Leningrad 1923–1938
Chair: Vladimir Gel'man (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Stephen Crowley (Oberlin College, USA)
Russia’s War: Challenges on the Home Front
Ingerid Maria Opdahl (Institute for Defence Studies/ Norwegian Defence University College, Norway)
Business elites, patriotic unity and authoritarian resilience in Russia under Putin
Fatemeh Shayan (University of Isfahan, Iran)
Transformation of Regional Gas Landscape between Russia, Ukraine and Europe
Chair: Brendan Humphreys (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sofia Malysheva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Gender, Collectivity and Emotions in Soviet Women’s Responses to Natalya Baranskaya’s Novella “A Week Like Any Other”
Milena Methodieva (University of Toronto, Canada)
Between Liberalism and Solidarism: Finland as Utopia in the Balkans and Turkey (1920s-1930s)
Mikhail Trunin (Tallinn University, Estonia)
Semiotic Dialogues Across the Iron Curtain: The Intellectual Exchanges of Juri Lotman and Maria Renata Mayenowa
Chair: Maili Vilson (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Csilla Horváth (University of Helsinki, Finland/University of Tromsø, Norway)
Dove or flower? The Ob-Ugric internet users’ strategies to express resistance towards propaganda on social media platforms
Alla Roylance (New York University, USA)
Russian book publishing industry as a tool of propaganda machinery
Helge Blakkisrud (University of Oslo, Norway), Kristian Lundby & Natalia Moen-Larsen (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway)
“Conversations about Important Things”: Mobilizing the Education System in Times of War
Chair: Kaarina Aitamurto (Aleksanteir Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Maria Vyatchina (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Silenced Inequalities: State-Run Expert Knowledge Production in Contemporary Russia
Anonymous Researcher
Coloniality of Knowledge and Representation of Indigenous Peoples by Russian Independent Media
Kristina Kovalskaya (Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laicités, France)
Expertise of Religion in a "Subaltern Empire": Who is Subaltern and Who is Imperial?
Dmitry Dubrovskiy (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Experts as defenders of the Russian nationalism: court cases on the closure of ethnonational organizations in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan
Join us for an evening of refreshments and socialising as we look back on the conclusion of the first day of the conference. This is a great opportunity to connect with fellow attendees, share insights from the day's sessions, and foster new collaborations.
Chair: Anna Tarasenko (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Elena Bogdanova (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Elena Nikiforova (Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki University, Finland)
Susan Simolin (Åland Island Peace Institute)
Julia Lerner (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel & The Center for Research on Eastern European, Balkan and Median Cultures and Societies (Eur’ORBEM), Lettres Sorbonne-Université, CNRS, France)
Chair: Patrick O’ Meara (Durham University, UK)
Ludmilla Trigos (Independent Scholar)
Resistance to Authoritarianism among the Decembrists’ Wives
Susanna Rabow-Edling (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Liberalism and Republicanism in Decembrist Political Thought
Yurii Latysh (State University of Londrina, Brazil)
Decembrists in Ukraine's politics of memory
Stanislav Tarasov (Independent scholar)
‘Rebellious Passions’: The Role of Enthusiasm in the Decembrist Movements
Chair: Brendan Humphreys (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
John Cox (North Dakota State University, USA)
"From Democracy to Peace and Back: The Principles and Tactics of the Activism of Biljana Jovanović in Serbia, 1986-1996"9
Veljko Vujacic (Oberlin College, USA)
Nationalist Mobilization as a Response to Political Decay: From Milošević to Putin
Haris Dajč (University of Belgrade, Serbia)
Contemporary Historical Revisionism in Serbia: new myths of friends and foes
Chair: TBA
Anna Kozlova (Carleton University, Canada)
From korenizatsiya to Russification: The case study of ethnic Germans in the Soviet Union
Lev Pavlenko (University of Toronto, Canada)
Prisoners in Their Homeland: Systemic Mistreatment of Crimean Tatars and Russian Imperialism
Delia Popescu (Le Moyne College, USA)
Uncivic values: an archival lens on the continuity of Romani exclusion
Maria Grigoryeva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Cultural appropriation and independence. The representation of Mari culture in film by Mari and Russian filmmakers, with the example of works by Denis Shabliy and Aleksei Fedorchenko
Chair: Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Alexandra Barmina (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Dynamics of environmental justice movement in Russia: how more-than-humans shape contentious action’
Mariel Kieval (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Voices from Kokzhide: Media Discourse and Environmental Activism in Kazakhstan
Nadir Kinossian (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Germany)
Developmental state, spatial planning, and mass protests
Chair: Eugenia Pesci (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Sarah Dorr (University of Connecticut, USA)
The limits and potential of authoritarian adaptiveness in volatile political orders: Elite learning in Kyrgyzstan
Aksana Ismailbekova (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Germany)
Japarov and Tashiev in Tandem: the Pursuit of Money and Power
Mieszko Kaznowski (Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland)
Relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the energy domain of Kyrgyzstan
Chair: Rustamjon Urinboyev (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland &
Lund University, Sweden)
Dzeneta Karabegovich (University of Salzburg, Austria)
Navigating Transnational Activism and Repression: The Complex Dynamics of Diaspora Influence
Caress Schenk (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan)
Uncertainty in Theory and Lived Experience
Sherzod Eraliev (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland &
Lund University, Sweden)
Post-Soviet Immigration and Changing Migration Policies in Finland
Joni Virkkunen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Negotiating Identities, Symbolisms, and Securities in Estonia: Russian Speakers and the State during Russia’s War in Ukraine
Chair: Liisa Bourgeot (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Elina Viljanen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Meri Herrala (University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland)
David Oistrakh amid the Question of Soviet Jewry and Superpower Cultural Relations
Susan Ikonen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Moral Resilience and Resistance towards (Re-)Stalinization within Soviet Russian Literary Life
Chair: Geir Flikke (University of Oslo, Norway)
Tor Bukkvoll (Norwegian Defence Research establishment (FFI), Norway)
Violent Governance in Russia – Post-Soviet Normative Changes in the Kremlin’s Domestic Exercise of Violence
Johannes Due Enstad (Institute of Social Research, Norway) & Marianna Muravyeva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Understanding violent masculinities in post-Soviet Russia
Yuliya Brin (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
How Does War Change the State of Domestic Violence against Women in Russia?
Chair: Ekaterina Kalinina (Södertörn University / Stockholm University, Sweden)
Publicity vs Security: Challenges and solutions of urban and eco-activists in Russia after 2022
Discussant: Anna Zhelnina (Utrecht University, Netherlands)
Oleg Pachenkov (Humbolt University of Berlin, Germany) & Liliia Voronkova (CISR Berlin, Germany)
Urban and environment activism after the full scale invasion: Strategies of coping
Valeria Rumiantseva (CISR Berlin / Technical University of Berlin, Germany)
(Un)Sustainable greening policies: Resistance and cooperation strategies of environmental urban movements in Russia after 2022
Chair: Katri Pynnöniemi (University of Helsinki/National Defense University, Finland)
Yuliya Bidenko (Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine)
The Role of the Civil Society in the Ukrainian Reconstruction: viewpoints and modes of participation from the East and South of Ukraine
Ielizaveta Rekhtman (University of Glasgow, UK)
Is ‘never again’ possible? Justice claims among Ukrainians at the time of war
Natalia Khmelevska (Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law)
The impact of war on juvenile justice in Ukraine
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
Director | Einstein Professor for the Comparative Study of Democracy and Authoritarianism
Centre for East European and International Studies | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
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.
Chair: Margarita Zavadskaya (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Ivan Fomin (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Dmitry Dubrovskiy (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Chair: Judith Pallot (Alexanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Matthias Uhl & Esther Meier (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Max Weber Foundation, Germany)
Soviet Prisoners of War: An International Documentation Project
Anna Mazanik (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Max Weber Foundation, Germany)
Encephalitis and Japanese Prisoners of War in the Soviet Union: How Historical Research Can Inform Biomedicine
Mate Rigo (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany)
'The Men Who Weren't There': East European Mercenaries in Vietnamese and Chinese Captivity During the Indochina War
Marcel Berni (Military Academy, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Behind Enemy Lines: The Treatment of Communist Captives During the Vietnam War
Chair: Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsink, Finland)
Anna Korppoo (The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway) & Oleg Pluzhnikov (Independent Expert)
Climate Obstructionist Features in the Russian and Belarusian Polities
Marianna Poberezhskaya (Nottingham Trent University, UK), Ellie Martus (Griffith University, Australia), Marat Karatayev (Universität Graz, Austria) & Elena Novikova (Independent Researcher)
National Oil Companies and Climate Discourses in Authoritarian States: a comparison of Russia and Kazakhstan
Oleg Pluzhnikov (Independent Researcher) & Arild Moe (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway)
ESG in Russian export companies under Western sanctions: have low-carbon policies been abandoned as Asian markets gain importance?
Morenna Skalamera (Leiden University, Netherlands)
The Distributional Effects of the EU’s Climate Policy in Central Asia
Chair: Aleksei Gilev (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Foundations of Political Conformity in Russia: Evidence from the Online Panel Survey
Marina Vyrskaia (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Taking Surveys as Political Participation in Russia: Evidence from Online and CATI Surveys
Vladimir Zvonovsky (Independent Researcher)
Respondent’s Cooperation in surveys during the military conflict
Chair: Amelie Tolvin (University of Toronto, Canada)
Iryna Kovalchuk (University College Dublin, Ireland)
War Narratives: Thematic and Emotive Resistance in Essays on the Russo-Ukrainian War
Yahor Azarkevich (University of Warwick, UK)
Brave New Joke: Meta-Humour as a political action in Russia, Belarus, and the US
Aneta Strzemżalska (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Nationalism in Contemporary Azerbaijani Meykhana
Aleksa Filipović (Institute of European Studies, Serbia)
"Patriotisation" of the Russian Mass Culture post-2022: How the War in Ukraine Impacts the Russian Cinema, Music and Societal Attitudes and Values
Chair: Marianna Muravyeva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
John Kaye (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
LGBT enemy images and geopolitical confrontation: Russia’s ‘sovereign morality’ and the war against Ukraine
Kirill Polkov (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Queering Images of Russia in Sweden 1991–2019: Theoretical frontiers and empirical realities in a case study of "Western" counter-hegemonic resistance
Karolina Nugumanova (Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy)
Feminism in Action: Unveiling the Transformative Power of the Feminist Antiwar Resistance (FAR)
Natasha Bluth (University of California, USA)
Gendered Violence, Genderless Frames: Discourses of Domestic Violence in Russia and Ukraine, 2011–21
Chair: Jarkyn Shadymanova (American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan)
Guzalkhon Zakhidova (Bukhara State Medical Institute, Uzbekistan)
Civil society organizations and drug policy in Uzbekistan
Medet Qudabekov & Dalida Mukasheva (Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan)
The role of civil society in the development of opioid substitution treatment and HIV/AIDS prevention in Kazakhstan
Sandugash Ismagulova (Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan)
Promoting professional social work in civil society organizations for providing social support to people with substance use disorders
Ulla Pape (Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany)
Community organizations in the drug policy field in Central Asia
Chair: Sherzod Eraliev (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland &
Lund University, Sweden)
Anna Jordanova (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Who is to Blame, Who is to Act? Framing Anti-Corruption in Central Asian Regimes
Nonna Kushnirovich (Ruppin Academic Center, Israel)
The interplay between identity, immigration, and legitimation of tax evasion
Chair: Sirke Mäkinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Ekaterina Mikhailova (Barents Institute, University of Tromso, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)
(Br)otherhood of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with(out) Their Shared Borderland
Nadja Douglas (Centre for East European and International Studies, Germany)
Conflict Mediation and Trust-Building in the South Caucasus
Pleșca Laurențiu (Romanian Centre for Russian Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania)
How does Moldova intend to reintegrate the Transnistrian region?
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
Chair: Asel Doolotkeldieva (George Washington University, USA)
Aksana Ismailbekova (Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient, Germany)
Anna Jordanova (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Diana T. Kudaibergen (University of Cambridge, UK)
Chair: Anatoly Pinsky (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Anna Mazanik (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Germany)
Anna Sokolova (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Wild Crop Socialism: Consumer Cooperation and Food Accumulation on the Margins of the Soviet Union
Viktor Pál (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)
How to include the voices of local communities and activists through the environmental history of rivers in Eastern Europe
Adelina Stefan (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Tourism and Environment in Socialist Romania: Landscape Transformations on the Romanian Black Sea Coast, 1950s-1980s
Chair: Margarita Zavadskaya (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki/Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland)
Andrey Tkachenko (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan) & David Karpa (University of Bremen, Germany)
Language Proficiency, Export of Propaganda and Media
Margarita Zavadskaya (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki/Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland) & Aleksei Gilev (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Supporting the War vs. Supporting the Regime: Evidence from the List Experiment
David Karpa (University of Bremen, Germany) & Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford, UK)
Harmony, but at what cost? Public perceptions of algorithmic governance and pre-emptive repression in Central Asia
Chair: Ryan Reed (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Ekaterina Gonchar (CERES, University of Toronto, Canada)
Manipulated History: the Use of Imperial Narratives in Russia's Justifications pertaining to its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Valentyna Kharkhun (Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University, Ukraine/Tallinn University, Estonia)
Warring Memory: Representing the Russo-Ukrainian War in Ukraine’s Museums
Malgorzata Abassy (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
The Ideas of the Polish "Solidarity" Movement in the Thought of Russian Oppositionist Alexei Navalny: Social, Political and Cultural Contexts - A Comparative Perspective
Chair: Elina Kahla (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Santeri Kytöneva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Examining the idea of Russia as the Katechon in the “SVO” among neoconservatives
Mira Ruokolainen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Categorizing Islam Between the Sacred and the Profane: Russia’s Use of Force Beyond the ‘Holy War’
Precious Chatterje-Doody (The Open University, UK)
Authoritarianism, religion and resistance: Identities, information and war
Chair: Anna Tarasenko (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna Glyants (Centre Max Weber, ENS de Lyon, France)
Conceptualising loyalty and resistance in authoritarian regimes via the studies of Russian trade unions after 2022
Aleksandra Vaisberg (University of Bergen, Norway)
“Please sentence this person to a fine”: Legal Mobilization in the Repertoires of Contention of Human Rights Organizations in Contemporary Russia
Ekaterina Khodzhaeva (Nantes Institute for Advanced Studies, France)
Provincial Lawyering: Professional Rights and Limitations in Criminal Defense
Chair: Yulia Gradskova (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Discussant: Saara Ratilainen (Tampere University, Finland)
Galina Miazhevich (Cardiff University, UK)
Russian high-profile celebrities and (diasporic) feminist antiwar resistance
Alisa Virtanen (Tampere University, Finland)
Queer (in)visibility in Russian liberal media: the role of media under authoritarian Russian regime
Pauliina Lukinmaa (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Micropolitics of identity/difference during the belligerent times: Russian-speaking LGBTIQ+ activists in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Daniil Zhaivoronok (Tampere University, Finland)
Activist-Influencers and Feminist Collective Action in Russia: Power Dynamics in the Feminist Anti-War Resistance
Chair: Giles Favarel-Garrigues (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CERI/Sciences Po, France)
Daniil Beilinson (OVD Info, Russia)
Transforming the role of CSOs in the context of advancing Authoritarianism: the case of OVD-Info
Françoise Dauce (CERCEC/EHESS, France)
How to network authoritarianism ? CSOs facing online repressions in Russia
Anne Le Huerou (Université Paris Nanterre, France)
Opposing torture in today’s Russia : exploring the room left for csos activism by means of law in post-2022 Russia
Polina Kurakina (OVD-Info, Russia)
Analysing anti-war repression in the closing information space: case-study of OVD-Info
Chair: Mika Perkiömäki (University of Helsinki, Finland)
John Nelson (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland) & Maia Sigua (Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Georgia)
The influence of authoritarianism on music and how Georgia survived
Aspen Brinton (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)
Art, Civil Society, Subversion: resistance and existential transformation in authoritarian cultures
Natalia Skorokhod (Gorge Washington University, USA)
Contemporary drama as a tool for social protest: the case of Esther Bol
Chair: Yuliya Brin (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Dalida Mukasheva (Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan)
Impact of incarceration on the health of women with substance use disorders in Kazakhstan
Sarah Sokhey (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
Crisis Control: Navigating Covid-19 across Wartime Ukraine
The City of Helsinki will be hosting us in the City Hall for an evening reception. Join us for a chance to network with fellow attendees, enjoy refreshments, and experience the historic ambiance of one of Helsinki's most iconic buildings. This reception provides an excellent opportunity to unwind after the day's sessions and engage in informal discussions in a beautiful setting.
Chair: Elena Bogdanova (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Anna Tarasenko (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Maija Jäppinen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Vitalii Lebediuk (National University of Ostroh Academy, Ukraine)
Lotta Carlsson (Center for Psychotraumatology of the Deaconess Institute/Council of Europe’s Committee against Torture, Finland)
Chair: Julie Yu-Wen Chen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Natasha Kuhrt (King's College, UK) & Valentina Feklyunina (Newcastle University, UK)
Russia, China and the "Global South
Zeming Zhang (Tsinghua University, China)
Exploring Democracy and Authoritarianism: Chinese-style Democracy and International Relations
Taru Salmenkari (University of Helsinki, Finland)
NGOization, Authoritarian Resilience, and the New Climate Consensus in China
Chair: Elena Holmgren (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Maxim Krupskiy (The Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, USA)
'"Foreign Agents" Legislation: Between Democratic Resilience and Weaponized Transparency
Ivan Serbin (Tampere University, Finland)
Discourses of Suspicion in Actor Designations: Articulation of Legal Subjects in Foreign Agent Law
Daniella Slabinski (University of Oslo, Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages, Norway)
Illiberal laws and the quest for agency in the Russian State Duma
Chair: Andrew Graan (Helsinki Collegium of Advanced Studies, Finland)
Discussant: Haris Dajc (University of Belgrade, Serbia)
Miranda Jakisa (University of Vienna, Austria)
Resistance on Screen: Partisan songs and choirs in Yugoslav film
Jani Korhonen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
The census as a site of silent resistance: non-ethnic responses in Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav censuses
Helena Stolnik Trenkić (Cambridge University, UK)
Self-determination as resistance discourse in Kosovo, 1967-8'
Brendan Humphreys (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Brothers against Unity: armed resistance to Tito’s Yugoslavia
Chair: Andrei Rogatchevski(UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)
Svetlana Stephenson (London Metropolitan University, UK)
The carnival of death: Transgression, enjoyment and violence in Putin’s Russia
Emma Rimpiläinen (IRES Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden)
“It’s very hard to convey any arguments or facts to them:” Claims of zombification in the Donbas war
Thomas Drew (University of Manchester, UK)
Necro-Icons: Memorials, Martyrdom and the "Special Military Operation
Chair: Santeri Kytöneva (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kenzie Burchell (University of Toronto, Canada)
Autocratic Imagery & Individualized Solidarity: Social Media Reporting and Exploitability of the Liberal Democratic Order
Yahor Azarkevich (University of Warwick, UK)
Challenging Russian state on its own ideological field: The Wagner Group’s domestic political PR
Johnny Amundson (University of Toronto, Canada)
As Seen on TV: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Russia and America
Chair: Yuliya Bidenko (V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine)
Lia Tsuladze (Tbilisi State University/Center for Social Sciences, Georgia)
Backstage Decisions, Frontstage Agenda, and the Return of Political Activism in Georgia
Łukasz Jureńczyk (Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland)
Resisting authoritarianism and restoring liberal democracy in Poland
Sergei Mudrov (Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, Poland))
The 2020 Protests in Belarus: Why the Failure Was Almost Inevitable
Chair: Sirke Mäkinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Discussant: Emilia Palonen (University of Helsinki)
Asel Doolotkeldieva (George Washington University, USA)
Spatial and temporal disruptions of authoritarian status quo in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan beyond civil society and rival elites
Iuliia Gataulina (Tampere University, Finland)
Porous boundaries of resistance: Translating an authoritarian-neoliberal university
Anni Kangas (Tampere University, Finland)
Authoritarianism and political risk in critical raw material resource imaginaries of Central Asia
Chair: Elena Bogdanova (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Ilkka Pietilä (Helsinki University, Finland)
Intersectionality in experiencing discrimination under under challenging conditions
Tatiana Glushkova (Helsinki University, Finland)
Older migrants' belonging in a time of change: population based study on older Russian speaking migrants in Finland
Larisa Shpakovskaya (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Broken ties: negotiations of friendships by older Russian speaking men in Finland
Chair: Jouni Järvinen (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Aleksandra Oczkowicz (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
Role of independent trade unions in Belarus: suppressed influence on democratic progress
Tatiana Shchyttsova (European Humanities University, Lithuania)
To the Structural Conditions of the Belarusian Revolution 2020: disruption, antagonism, solidarity
Amelie Tolvin (University of Toronto, Canada)
Echoes of Dissent: The Legacy of Protest on Repression
Roman Urbanowicz (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Social reproduction, politics of care, and futural antagonisms in pre-2020 Belarusian countryside
Chair: Anna-Liisa Heusala (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Arina Dmitrenko (University of Toronto, Canada)
Labour Shocks and Resistance: how changes in the labour market shape anti Ukraine-Russia war sentiments in Kazakhstan
Liudmila Listrovaya (University of Michigan, USA)
Family, Fear, and Precarity as The Drivers of Silence. The New Russian Migrants’ Political Remittances and Emotional Extraterritoriality of Authoritarianism.
Eemil Mitikka (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Relationship between authoritarian disposition and political participation in cross-country perspective
Chair: Tom Røseth (Norwegian Defence University College, Norway)
Andrew Wilson (University College London, UK)
Ukraine after Oligarchy? The Decline of Rent-Seeking in Ukraine
Olena Bogdan (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine)
Religious Freedom and Security: Are There Any Dilemmas for Ukraine and the EU?
Geir Flikke (University of Oslo, Norway)
Treaty Nesting for Sovereignty: Ukraine’s Struggle for International Legality
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.
Chair: Asel Doolotkeldieva (George Washington University, USA)
Aksana Ismailbekova (Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient, Germany)
Anna Jordanova (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Diana T. Kudaibergen (University of Cambridge, UK)
Chair: Emma Rimpiläinen (IRES Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden)
Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway)
Dying for Donbass: Reports from the frontlines (the hybrid phase)
Lars Kristensen (University of Skövde, Sweden)
From necrorealism to necroaesthetics: The cinema of high Putinism
Teemu Oivo (University of Eastern Finland, Finland) & Niko Väistö (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Non-verbal utilization of death in Russian TV propaganda
Chair: Mika Perkiömäki (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kirill Filimonov (Uppsala University, Sweden)
Reimagining Russian identity: Resistance and conflict transformation by media in exile
Anton Dinerstein (Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) & Todd Sandel (University of Macau, Macao SAR, China)
Constructing “power” as a form identity in Russian-language political discourse: The case of Belarus
Alar Kilp (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Moral Conservatism and Strongman Rule in Estonian Mass and Elite Identity Discourses from 1990 until 2020
Chair: Amelie Tolvin (University of Toronto, Canada)
Ilya Fominykh (Utrecht University, Netherlands), Albert Ahalian (University of Bonn, Germany), Kirill Petrov (Independent Researcher), Arseniy Krasnikov (Independent Researcher) & Matvey Bakshuk (Independent Researcher)
Rise of Tech Illiberalism in Russia. E-Voting and New Dimensions of Securitization
Stephen Hall (University of Bath, UK)
Old Wine in New(ish) Bottles: The Problem of Co-optation in Russia's Non-Adaptive Autocracy
Martin Dimitrov (Tulane University, USA)
Seeing Like a Party: How Expanding Party Size Improves Societal Legibility in Communist Regimes
Chair: Andreas Renner (LMU Munich, Germany)
Almira Sharafeeva (LMU Munich, Germany)
The Health of Working Women: The Female Body as a Labor Resource in the Era of Forced Industrialization
Matthias Uhl (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Germany)
Female Soldiers in the Red Army during the Second World War and the Origins of Military Gynecology
Elena Vishlenkova (LMU Munich, Germany)
Data on the Reproductive Health of the Nation as a Form of Political Protest in the USSR (1964-1982)
Birte Kohtz (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Germany)
“The Economic Efficiency of this Kind of Prophylaxis is Tenfold” – Prenatal Diagnostics and Women's Health as a Resource during the Last Decade of the USSR
Chair: Geir Flikke (University of Oslo, Norway)
Discussant: Tetiana Kostiushchenko (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine)
Tor Bukkvoll (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, Norway)
Social and Regional Dimensions of the Ukrainian Willingness to Resist and Fight
Cynthia Buckley (University of Illinois, USA)
Returns and Reconstructions: The Salience of Ukraine's Identity at War
Tobias Sæther (Norwegian Command and Staff College, Norway)
Why Does Civil Society Continue to Matter? Civil-military Relations as crisis management in Ukraine´s War of Defense, 2022 and Onwards
Chair: Mariia Vasilevskaia (OVD-Info)
Daria Kololenko (OVD-Info) & Daria Rud (Independent Researcher)
Data analysis, transitional justice or life prohibition: different optics for seeing political repressions in (non)experts
Oleksandra Pozhivotko & Daria Korolenko (OVD-Info)
Killing it softly. Everyday repression and soft political violence
Ekaterina Golenkova (LMU Munich, Germany/OVD-Info)
Media in wartime: Persecution & response
Anna Kalinina (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany) & Mariia Vasilevskaia (OVD-Info)
Defying the Acts of Naming: the Zone of (Non-)Compliance in Critical Civil Engagement in Russia
Chair: Olga Kantokoski (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Elisabeth Anstett (CNRS, France)
The invisible corpses of State violence: elements of post-Soviet necropolitics
Ryan Reed (Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland)
Entangling Russia’s Penitentiary Pasts: Identity in Official Memories of the Gulag
Marius Diaconescu (Romanian Center for Russian Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania)
Why is Putin the most popular foreign leader in the Republic of Moldova?
Diana Rafailova (Centre for East European and International Studies, Germany)
Support for Ukraine as a Historical Necessity? Experimental Evidence from Germany
Chair: Katalin Miklossy (Aleksanteri Institute University of Helsinki, Finland)
Tatyjana Szafonova (Comenius University, Slovak Republic)
The Big Kurultaj Festival in Hungary: A Surprising Display of Right-Wing Solidarity and Resistance To Pro-Russian Politics
Tatiana Golova (Centre for East European and International Studies, Germany) & Liliia Sablina (Central European University, Austria)
Reframing the Past: Memory Contestation Among Post-Soviet Migrants Amid the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Ivan Fomin (Charles University, Czech Republic)
Ideological Patterns of Putin’s Statism: From Patriotic Proclamations to Wartime Mobilization
Eszter Borissza (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
Aspects of the Russian Commemorative Practice of the Victory Day Military Parade in the Context of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War
Chair: Daniil Zhaivoronok (Tampere University, Finland)
Yuliya Gradskova (Södertörn University, Sweden)
Authoritarian management of the demographic anxiety and patriotism (on the example of GONGO Women's Union of Russia)
Polina Kislitsyna (Independent Researcher) & Mariya Levitanus (University of Edinburgh, UK)
“I never thought I would live here”: Russian queer emigration after February 2022
Pauliina Lukinmaa (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Transnational technospheres of LGBTIQ+ activism and Putinite biopolitics
Dimitrii Dorogov (Södertörn University, Sweden)
"Traditional values" as a cure: securitization of HIV/AIDS in Russia
Chair: Keith Brown (Arizona State University, USA)
Autonomism and Mutuality: Why villages matter
Discussant: Sarah Green (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Tone Bringa (University of Bergen, Norway)
Repurposing old political and cultural allegiances in the service of future state orders: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eastern Europe writ small
Elina Troscenko (University of Bergen, Norway)
Embattled Nations and Uncertain Futures
Please join us for some coffee, tea, and light snacks
Associate Professor of History
University of Pennsylvania
Join us in the Main Building for the closing session of the 23rd Aleksanteri Conference. This final gathering will include reflections on the conference's key themes and an announcement for next year's 24th Annual Aleksanteri Conference.
We are also pleased to feature a musical performance by Kukuvitsa, a Helsinki-based choir. Kukuvitsa specializes in traditional vocal music from Eastern Europe, performing pieces from White Karelia and the Baltic region down to Bulgaria and the Balkans.