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Raquel Greene explores construction of race in 1920s Soviet children's literature
The Soviets condemned American slavery and European colonialism as part of their civilizing mission, but their negative assessments of race and specifically Africanness was still informed by the West.
Diana Greene introduces her project on 19th-century Russian women's novels
Why are there no canonical 19th-century Russian women novelists?
Samuel Casper studies letters to Mikoyan to understand rehabilitation after the Great Terror
Once you’re stigmatized, castigated, reviled for social identity, how do you crawl your way back up?
Gesamtkunstwerk Putin?
In today's Russia, can we really speak of a new official art, constructed on the model of “Gesamtkunstwerk Stalin [Total Art of Stalinism]," whose legacy was still influential at the...
Margaret Samu on the reception of the female nude in Imperial Russia
What does the reception of the female nude tell us about Westernization, art criticism and taste in Imperial Russia?
More of the same: Why Russia’s equity market isn’t down by more
Critics of Putin’s recent tactics have suggested that this time, he has damaged investor confidence beyond repair.
A Rare Moment of Policy Transparency in Russia: Why the Government Just Ordered Companies not to Obey Laws
Sam Greene is the director of the Center for the Study of New Media & Society at the New Economic School in Moscow, Russia. This post originally appeared on The...
Guns for Lenin: A New Jersey Love Story
A family stands in a field. The woman has flowers in her hair and a revolver in her hand. The man stands proudly with a rifle beside him, while their...
New-Generation Warfare and the Fringe Right: How Russian Interference Impacts Right-Wing Extremism in the US, Part II
It is difficult to say whether anyone, Russia included, could purposely engineer another QAnon movement. However, QAnon is a masterclass in manipulating an audience by playing to its expectations and...
Pussy Riot: Good News and Bad News
Why does the first piece of good news in the Pussy Riot case feel like bad news?
Ksenia Sobchak, puzzled by sexism
Is it possible to be disappointed in Ksenia Sobchak?
Open Letter on the Termination of Russian Studies Faculty at Ohio University
Like you, we are wholeheartedly invested in the survival and recovery of higher education in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That recovery depends on the will of universities...
Scholars Share Ideas on 1821 Greek Revolution
A conference on “1821: What Made It Greek And Revolutionary?".
Babel and Black Bodies on the High Seas (Murder on the Leviathan Part II)
Akunin scatters living and dead black bodies at the scenes of avarice-driven crimes and follies.
Commercializing 1917: The Russian Revolution in Finnish Popular Songs
The Russian Revolution of 1917 left a deep imprint on popular culture across and beyond the collapsing empire. Popular songs, circulated in printed form, were among the first media to...
All or Nothing: The Literary Significance of Proper Names
The philosopher Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) had a habit of naming each object he owned. According to émigré theologian Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958), Soloviev’s satchel was named "Grigory" and his pencil "Andrey."
Where does Putin's support come from?
"Collective euphoria" may explain the surge in support for Putin that followed Russia's annexation of Crimea, said Graeme Robertson.
Pussy Riot: the telenovela?
The Pussy Riot case has already run the gamut of available genres, from performance art to legal drama to kangaroo court. Now it's taken a turn towards soap opera.
Penile Servitude and the Police State
Sunday before last, on the drizzly police holiday, Petersburg performance artist Petr Pavlensky (b. 1984) sat stark naked in Moscow's sacred center and nailed his scrotum to the cold cobblestones...
Running from the Reds: An Immigrant Story
This was my heritage: cultured, formerly wealthy Russians trying to make it in New York.