Happy to have contributed to this BBC story examining patriotic education in Russia, following on the success of Talankin's Oscar-winning documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin." Linking to the more substantial Russian version (English version is linked in the next post):
www.bbc.com/russian/arti...
Indeed, I chocked on my coffee when I heard this moderate/reformer narrative on BBC World Service this morning
Diana Fu, Rich Nielson, and I argue that ethnography and an ethnographic sensibility remain essential to understanding the political world, even (or maybe especially) in an era of digitization and AI.
Think we're Luddites? Have a look bsky.app/profile/annu....
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
It was good to see this Spotlight on #Belarus in main programme of #MSC2026. We discussed the different US and EU approaches to sanctions & (non-)engagement with Lukashenka, the link betweeen democratic Belarus & #Ukraine and strategies of the Belarusian opposition in exile. See link ⬇️
Check out our easy-to-use dashboard, which allows you to draw maps, time trends, and other vizualisations on governments and cabinet ministers from across the world 👇
AUCD Ad Astra Doctoral Scholarship: Authoritarian Politics #ECPRMemberJobs
🎓 Minimum grade of 2.1 (GPA: 3.6) in a relevant Master's degree
🇮🇪 @ucddublin.bsky.social
⌛ Friday 6 February
buff.ly/ETcFg6G
#PolSciJobs #PoliSky #AcademicSky
You and the team have done such a fantastic job! It was such a pleasure to read this newsletter and explore so many interesting topics. I hope the new year will bring some other exciting opportunities. I, for sure, will keep reading and supporting your work!
#Belarus: RSF reveals the existence of a previously unknown spyware tool, used since at least 2021 by the KGB against journalists. Installed after the physical confiscation of phones, #ResidentBat constitutes a grave violation of press freedom. RSF calls for a ban on these surveillance technologies.
How important it was to see familiar names, while we are still waiting for the confirmation of each name among those who were freed today.
BYSOL is organising an emergency fundraising campaign to support Belarusian political prisoners. If it’s safe for you, please donate bysol.org/en/bs/sro4na...
❗️123 people, including political prisoners, were pardoned in Belarus on December 13.
Almost of them were forcibly deported to the territory of #Ukraine.
spring96.org/en/news/119263
Here’s how Maria Kalesnikava is meeting Viktar Babaryka and Maksim Znak after they unjustly spent more than five years behind bars.
I am crying from happiness. Such a relief to see them and others free!
Trump’s Special Representative for Belarus John Coale announced after meeting Lukashenko that Washington will lift sanctions on Belarusian Potash. It’s the second step in the Trump Admin’s easing strategy after sanctions on the airline Belavia were lifted. zerkalo-access.space/news/economi...
Congratulations, what an exciting new chapter for your research!
We have a new author interview up on Peripheral Histories? This time, we spoke with Aleksandra Pomiecko about her fascinating new book 'Bound By Exclusion and Violence: A History of Belarusian Armed Struggle in the Twentieth Century' www.peripheralhistories.co.uk/post/bound-b...
It is also on my list, though for writing I preferred the recomposed version by Max Richter with Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin
Must read FT piece today on neutral Ireland, the soft underbelly of European defence
By @judewebber.bsky.social and @helenwarrell.bsky.social
Now on FirstView ft. Alixandra Yanus & Phillip Ardoin!
"We analyze referencing patterns from 1990-2024 and uncover a decline in book references and a rise in journal article references. This has implications for students, the discipline, and libraries."
Read more: doi.org/10.1017/S104... #polisky
Smuggling, circumventing sanctions and trafficking - these strategies have been instrumentalised by the autocratic government, furthering Russia's ambitions of destabilisation. However, the costs of EU border closures shift to ordinary Belarusians, who have to bear the increased costs of EU mobility
Data from the #AcademicFreedomIndex reveals declining levels of #academicfreedom across authoritarian and democratic contexts. Over the past decade, in fact, global academic freedom levels have shrunk at an accelerating pace. Read why in #Free2Think2025:
www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/fr...
I wrote for Eurozine on the lingering imperial geographies that define our understandings of Ukraine and eastern Europe.
Public Service Announcement: if what's happening in Alaska makes you sick, a donation to Ukraine would improve your health
My first publication is now online at @jeas-journal.bsky.social !
@alexdukalskis.bsky.social and I apply quantitative text analysis to Xinhua articles containing the terms "so-called" & "所谓" to explore the ideas the Chinese govt wishes to discredit for different audiences doi.org/10.1017/jea....
The European Political Science Society is now accepting paper & panel proposals for its annual conference!
📢 Call for Papers: EPSS 2026 – Belfast
🗓️ June 18–20, 2026
📍 ICC Belfast
📬 Deadline: Nov 7, 2025
🧵
Congratulations, so well deserved!
Warum Belarus und die belarussische Gesellschaft einen festen Platz in geopolitischen Überlegungen haben sollten - für Die Presse durfte ich einen Gastkommentar schreiben.
www.diepresse.com/19887613/das...
🇵🇱⚖️🗳️ The rule of law repair process in Poland just got incredibly more difficult. I expect President Nawrocki to be even less cooperative than Duda, as Nawrocki will work hard for a PiS parliamentary election victory. Tough times ahead. 1/
Excited to announce the FirstView (and Open Access) publication of my latest article in Nationalities Papers @nationalitiesp.bsky.social:
Russian Propaganda from V to Z: Projecting Banal and Everyday Nationalism in Unsettled Times
A brief intro 🧵(1/6)
doi.org/10.1017/nps....
How the Kremlin’s ‘soft power’ agency supporting expats overseas skirts sanctions
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...
Don't forget to submit your fieldwork photos to the annual @nationalitiesp.bsky.social Photo Contest by May 15!
The photo submissions should be accompanied by a brief description (300-400 words)
Email them to our Managing Editor: np.managingeditor@gmail.com
