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Sociology of Corruption: Patterns of Illegal Association in Hungary
Since 2010, Orbán’s government has induced a radical transformation of grand corruption patterns in Hungary: a shift from oligarchic or economic state capture toward political state capture, in which complex corrupt networks are professionally designed and managed by the very top of the political elite.
Excerpt from "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians between World Orders," Part III
Orbita’s activities are a concerted effort to deploy Russian language culture on the Latvian scene without reasserting the language of the occupier or reconstructing the official cultural geography of the Soviet era.
Excerpt from "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians between World Orders," Part II
The physical disposition of the books in the crowded space of the Russkaia biblioteka in Riga, Latvia corresponds to the relative relevance of its holdings for readers.
Excerpt from "Border Conditions: Russian-Speaking Latvians between World Orders," Part I
After 1991, Russians in the non-Russian republics, regardless of their stance toward Soviet power or its sudden vanishing, lost their privileged status of being “at home” everywhere in the USSR.
Excerpt from “Haunted Empire: Gothic and the Russian Imperial Uncanny”
Chaadaev interprets Russia’s imperial expansion as a compensation, or even a "cover-up," for a lack of autonomous identity.
Slavery, Adat, and Blood Revenge in the North Caucasus
Slavery was a deeply ingrained social institution in the North Caucasus.
“Noblemen”: Belarusians fighting for Ukraine
After February 2022, Belarusians played a decisive role in countering the Russian advance on Kyiv. The logic behind their mobilization was simple: “Without a free Ukraine, there won’t be a free Belarus.”
Orthodox activists as counter-publics in pre-war Russia
When Orthodox people in Russia go public, they often do it as though they belonged to a subaltern minority.
Redemption of Sold or Purchased Land in Muscovy during the Reign of Ivan IV (1533-1584) and the Russian Attitude toward Rule of Law
How Muscovites understood the right of redemption (re-acquisition) of sold land or land donated to monasteries shows that, under Ivan the Terrible, statutory law and case law did not always coincide.
How Oil Producers Promote Renewable Energy: Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan Compared
Why do some oil-producing countries choose to deploy renewable energy sources at a faster rate and more extensively than others?
Overcoming Deep Polarization: Motherhood, Care and Islamic Activism
By filling the gaps left by societal structures, women work to assist and empower the most vulnerable members of society.
Ambassadors of Social Progress or Obstacles to Integration?, Part II
Socialism “focused on political responses to disability, but with a specific ideological twist.”
Ambassadors of Social Progress or Obstacles to Integration?, Part I
It is precisely at the intersection of disability advocacy and its politicization in the face of the Cold War that we should trace the development of the international blind movement in the 1970s-1980s.
Pregnancy and Writing the Female Body in Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s "The Kukotsky Case”
In her 2001 novel, Ulitskaya uses the medical gaze to bring the pregnant woman closer to her child.
Russia and China: Strategic Comrades in Challenging the Existing World Order
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian and Chinese positioning vis-à-vis the West has only become more antagonistic.
The Second Great Patriotic War? Sacred Memory and Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
The cult of the Great Victory was transformed into the war cult of the Russian invasion.
Russian Liberals and the Kremlin: Racism and Colonialism as Common Ground, Part II
Despite their conflicting interests and ideologies, every political affiliation across post-Soviet Europe blamed Russian war crimes on the Asian “other.”
Russian Liberals and the Kremlin: Racism and Colonialism as Common Ground, Part I
Russian liberals present themselves as “civilized Europeans” who would like to fix the “backward Asianness” of Russia. By drawing such Orientalist distinctions, these figures justify the existing colonial economic relationship.
Are Sanctions on Russia Effective? How (Not) to Inform the Debate, Part II
The unprecedented nature of the current sanctions, both in terms of their scale and in terms of the economic size of the target state, makes it more challenging to extrapolate from prior experience.
Are Sanctions on Russia Effective? How (Not) to Inform the Debate, Part I
The Russian economy has bounced back from the initial hit of sanctions, thanks in large part to skillful financial policy and planning by the Russian central bank and finance ministry, as well as loopholes in the sanctions regime.