IGRec Guest lecture: Alexander Bikbov‍

Two years after Russia's mass invasion in Ukraine started, there is a need for a deeper regime diagnosis beyond the stinging relevance of military and repression reports. In his talk, sociologist Alexander Bikbov will explore the ongoing shift in Russian public administration leading from the neoliberal technologies of the 2000s to the new mercantilism of the late 2010s. Combining data from several fields, he will trace the consolidation of the current political course toward the war in three dimensions: economic, administrative, and cultural. The economic one is rooted in the inertial mechanisms of financial safety dating back to the 2008 global crisis. The administrative turn is embedded in the political backlash of 2012, which manifested itself in the permutations of top government officials and in the counter-reforms of the security apparatus. Cultural conservatism, which has been the main characteristic of the Russian regime for the last decade, is examined as a product of collaborations between far right niche experts and the state bureaucracy. The talk will be followed by a discussion open to all those interested. 

Alexander Bikbov, sociologist, associate fellow at the Centre for Russian, Caucasian and Central European Studies (Paris). His research focuses on citizen protest movements in Eastern and Western Europe, perception of social inequalities, institualization of social sciences and state expertise in post-war Europe and USSR, and transformation of public vocabulary.

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Date: 25 April, 19:30

Language: English

Venue: MiCT Roof, Brunnenstraße 9, 10119 (Doorbell: MiCT Roof, 5 floor)

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