- I completed my PhD at King’s College, Cambridge in November 2004. My doctoral thesis, ‘Implications of Putin’s federa... moreI completed my PhD at King’s College, Cambridge in November 2004. My doctoral thesis, ‘Implications of Putin’s federal reforms on centre-regional relations’, examined the restructuring of Russia’s federal system under Vladimir Putin. Following the completion of my PhD, I was a superviser for a course on Russian politics and society at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge. In October 2006, I took up a Junior Research Fellowship at Linacre College, Oxford and in October 2007 moved to a Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, Cambridge, where I also held a Wiener-Anspach Research Fellowship at the University of Brussels during the academic year 2009-2010.edit
This article provides an analysis of the institutional mechanisms that are required to ensure the effective functioning of federalism in Russian politics. A common contention in the literature on federalism is that, in addition to... more
This article provides an analysis of the institutional mechanisms that are required to ensure the effective functioning of federalism in Russian politics. A common contention in the literature on federalism is that, in addition to fundamental requirements such as the constitutionally defined division of powers between the federation and its constituent units, and the supremacy of the federal constitution, some
Research Interests: Russian Studies, Economics, Comparative Politics, Public Administration, Political Science, and 9 morePolitics, Russian Politics, Federalism, Comparative Federalism, Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations, Constitution, Historical Studies, Public Administration and Policy, and Europe-Asia Studies
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ABSTRACT A political scientist examines contemporary Russian debates about multiculturalism. A categorization of procedural and substantive approaches in Western theory and practice is presented. Russian approaches are contrasted with... more
ABSTRACT A political scientist examines contemporary Russian debates about multiculturalism. A categorization of procedural and substantive approaches in Western theory and practice is presented. Russian approaches are contrasted with Western ones along both procedural and substantive dimensions. Special attention is paid to discussions of the concept of "tolerance." Evidence is drawn largely from debates among contemporary Russian academics, journalists, and politicians.
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The current world order is undergoing a profound change in its structure, in the composition of the leading participants, and in the socio-cultural discourse that buttresses the political evolution of international relations. Two factors... more
The current world order is undergoing a profound change in its structure, in the composition of the leading participants, and in the socio-cultural discourse that buttresses the political evolution of international relations. Two factors are essential to understand this process. First, several new states, or groups of states, entered the league of the leading world powers and began to exert a significant influence over global politics. Analysts often consider these players as civilizations, in that many such states aspire to proposing an alternative spiritual, cultural, political, and even economic developmental model. Second, the West and its followers began to experience a significant civilizational transformation at the socio-political and socio-cultural levels, placing such countries at a crossroad that could determine their existential future. Contextual transformations of this magnitude must always deploy ideology to legitimize ongoing political change, because ideology can question the prevailing conventions of the age to reflect fundamental shifts in society. From this point of view, the arrival of civilizations in the contemporary narrative of international relations invariably involves ideological doctrines that legitimize this process. This paper examines the emergent ideology of civilizational discourse, focusing on its central tenets, and discusses the political shifts that such an ideology seeks to justify.
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The ongoing turbulence in global politics has been accompanied by calls to shift the current order of international relations from a rules-based world towards a multipolar system rooted in international law. Political leaders and... more
The ongoing turbulence in global politics has been accompanied by calls to shift the current order of international relations from a rules-based world towards a multipolar system rooted in international law. Political leaders and commentators, primarily of Russian origin, have often referred to those initiatives as a moral revolution in the current world order. This paper examines the theological and philosophical background behind the ideas that support such a change. The discussion argues that these proposals, though they sound revolutionary, echo the Abrahamic principles of international dialogue drafted by medieval Christian theologians, Reformation thinkers, and Jewish and Islamic religious philosophers. The account stresses that contemporary adherents of the replacement of the rules-based world do not openly refer to religious doctrines. However, the core tenets of the suggested reforms align well with those earlier ethical principles. This conclusion is purely scholarly and contributes to the history of ideas.
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The volume discusses the eight years of Russia's federal reforms conducted by Vladimir Putin.
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This paper examines the origins, nature, and potential outcomes of the global crisis induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors argue that the crisis has been animated by the two most important groups of factors that have been... more
This paper examines the origins, nature, and potential outcomes of the global crisis induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors argue that the crisis has been animated by the two most important groups of factors that have been simmering in the world‘s economic and political system during the past six decades and have been accelerated by the pandemic. First, the dynamic of the Covid-19 crisis illuminated the existing challenges of the contemporary capitalist system, which is generally legitimated via the instruments of moral panic and media manipulation. Each consecutive crisis of capitalism ends with the redistribution of power resources to some groups of participants. Second, the Covid-19 crisis has been taking place within the conditions of a systemic and ideological struggle between two global elite factions that harbour drastically different approaches to the changing world order and have different politico-economic goals and intentions. The authors will argue that the crisis will not change the world drastically, yet it will amplify these ongoing tensions, illuminate them to many general observers, and deepen the already-existing systemic instability.
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Which theoretical paradigm should we use to discuss the relationship between the state and civil society in Russia? Academic literature distinguishes two principal approaches to this problem: the East European political tradition, which... more
Which theoretical paradigm should we use to discuss the relationship between the state and civil society in Russia? Academic literature distinguishes two principal approaches to this problem: the East European political tradition, which treats the state and civil society in antagonistic terms; and the West European and Anglo-American strand, which focuses on co-operation between the two entities. A nuanced study of modern Russia indicates that there are areas of successful state–civil society co-operation, as well as intense struggles between the two entities for political and cultural hegemony. Thus, both of these approaches are reasonable, and one should not be deployed at the expense of the other.
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... These shocks result in disillusionment with the public activity that triggered the change. So the public retrieves the most conservative values from its political toolkit and a private reaction sets in (Alexander, 2000, pp. 4243; see... more
... These shocks result in disillusionment with the public activity that triggered the change. So the public retrieves the most conservative values from its political toolkit and a private reaction sets in (Alexander, 2000, pp. 4243; see also Swidler, 1998). ...
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Page 1. The Unintended Consequences of Gubernatorial Appointments in Russia, 20056 ELENA CHEBANKOVA The cancellation of gubernatorial elections in Russia was aimed at tightening the central grip over the regions ...
Research Interests: Russian Studies, Economics, Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Political Parties, and 10 morePolitical Theory, Political Science, Politics, Russian Politics, Federalism, Parliamentary Studies, Comparative Federalism, Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations, Unintended Consequences, and Accession
On 13 September 2004 Russia's second president, Vladimir Putin, declared the Kremlin's intention of recasting the existing regional system by the introduction of an initiative to cancel gubernatori...
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A UK-based political scientist presents a systematic analysis of the basic philosophical arguments and intellectual origins of fundamental conservative thought in Russia. Positing that fundamental conservatism seeks to displace... more
A UK-based political scientist presents a systematic analysis of the basic philosophical arguments and intellectual origins of fundamental conservative thought in Russia. Positing that fundamental conservatism seeks to displace interpretations of Western modernity in Russia with a culturally specific Russian version, she then probes more deeply into the methods and tasks of fundamental conservatism, before examining its main theoretical arguments. The fact that such thinking is increasingly prominent in Russia, including within political circles, is noted as a basis for the need to better understand it as a search for new forms of rationality and new forms of citizenship rooted in the Russian sociohistoric context.
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This article discusses the evolution of Russia's civil society during the presidency of Vladimir Putin. The paper utilises a complex definitional prism that views civil society in terms of three independent but... more
This article discusses the evolution of Russia's civil society during the presidency of Vladimir Putin. The paper utilises a complex definitional prism that views civil society in terms of three independent but inextricably interconnected pillars. It examines civil society as a kind of society, a part of society, and as a distinct public sphere as seen in the set of
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The article examines debates on problems of ethnic separatism and ethnic minority extremism that take place in Russia and beyond. The author argues that modern paradigms are not capable to provide us with an exhaustive framework that... more
The article examines debates on problems of ethnic separatism and ethnic minority extremism that take place in Russia and beyond. The author argues that modern paradigms are not capable to provide us with an exhaustive framework that could tackle minority nationalism successfully. Instead of «eliminating» or «neglecting» the problem of ethnic minority nationalism we should think of new concepts that could help to integrate it into modern politics.
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The volume discusses the eight years of Russia's federal reforms conducted by Vladimir Putin.
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... He later demanded the State Duma relax the existing legal code ... the Interior, which is a priori engaged in tackling crime.33 Thus, such an institutional structure creates ... First, existing academic literature suggests that... more
... He later demanded the State Duma relax the existing legal code ... the Interior, which is a priori engaged in tackling crime.33 Thus, such an institutional structure creates ... First, existing academic literature suggests that ethno-federal states are more likely to collapse if they contain a ...
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Unlike other books on civil society in Russia which argue that Russia’s civil society is relatively weak, and that democratisation in Russia went into reverse following Vladimir Putin’s coming to power, this book contends that civil... more
Unlike other books on civil society in Russia which argue that Russia’s civil society is relatively weak, and that democratisation in Russia went into reverse following Vladimir Putin’s coming to power, this book contends that civil society in Russia is developing in a distinctive way. It shows that government and elite-led drives to encourage civil society have indeed been limited, and that the impact of external promotion of civil society has also not been very successful. It demonstrates, however, that independent domestic grassroots movements are beginning to flourish, despite difficulties and adverse circumstances, and that this development fits well into the changing nature of contemporary Russian society.
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Great Debate Paper for the Cicero Foundation, independent pro-EU and pro-Atlantic think tank specialising in international relations analysis for diplomatic structures of the EU and EU member states.
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The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the twentieth century ended the pre-existing bipolar Cold War system and resulted in a unipolar moment in which the United States enjoyed a position of almost unchallenged global and... more
The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the twentieth century ended the pre-existing bipolar Cold War system and resulted in a unipolar moment in which the United States enjoyed a position of almost unchallenged global and civilizational leadership [Krauthammer 1991; Waltz 1993; Wohlforth 1999]. However, despite the initial elation of some Western politicians and analysts [Fukuyama 1992; Brooks, Wohlforth 2008; Kagan 2008], who hoped to see the triumph of the Western idea universally, this situation was relatively short-lived. Global dialogue soon moved beyond this moment of unipolarity toward its more conventional form, in which states struggle for power and influence and search for areas of mutually beneficial co-operation. At the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century, we see a qualitatively different world. There have been profound political changes since the post-Cold War unipolarity. In this world, the idea of civilization has become a virtual currency of international relations and global dialogue. Many analysts [Coker 2019; Acharya 2020; Stuenkel 2016; Higgott 2019] discuss the rise of civilizations in world affairs as the new sociopolitical reality. Countries such as Russia, China, India, Turkey, and Brazil are often considered civilizational states – challengers to the West. Historically, philosophers have oscillated between the idea of multiple civilizations, with the West being one civilization of many (Spengler, Huntington, Danilevsky), and a single and universal Western civilization (Hayek, Kant). The former approach became a cardinal frame of reference of the global discourse during the past decade.
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The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the twentieth century ended the pre-existing bipolar Cold War system and resulted in a unipolar moment in which the United States enjoyed a position of almost unchallenged global and... more
The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the twentieth century ended the pre-existing bipolar Cold War system and resulted in a unipolar moment in which the United States enjoyed a position of almost unchallenged global and civilizational leadership [Krauthammer 1991; Waltz 1993; Wohlforth 1999]. However, despite the initial elation of some Western politicians and analysts [Fukuyama 1992; Brooks, Wohlforth 2008; Kagan 2008], who hoped to see the triumph of the Western idea universally, this situation was relatively short-lived. Global dialogue soon moved beyond this moment of unipolarity toward its more conventional form, in which states struggle for power and influence and search for areas of mutually beneficial co-operation. At the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century, we see a qualitatively different world. There have been profound political changes since the post-Cold War unipolarity. In this world, the idea of civilization has become a virtual currenc...
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A UK-based political scientist presents a systematic analysis of the basic philosophical arguments and intellectual origins of fundamental conservative thought in Russia. Positing that fundamental conservatism seeks to displace... more
A UK-based political scientist presents a systematic analysis of the basic philosophical arguments and intellectual origins of fundamental conservative thought in Russia. Positing that fundamental conservatism seeks to displace interpretations of Western modernity in Russia with a culturally specific Russian version, she then probes more deeply into the methods and tasks of fundamental conservatism, before examining its main theoretical arguments. The fact that such thinking is increasingly prominent in Russia, including within political circles, is noted as a basis for the need to better understand it as a search for new forms of rationality and new forms of citizenship rooted in the Russian sociohistoric context.