Middle-Class Russians in Russia and Abroad: Political Attitudes, Migration Patterns, and Narratives of Success during the War

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The Russian attack on Ukraine provoked different responses in Russian society. The panel focuses on the class aspects of strategies regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war among different representatives of the Russian middle class, including forms of support and protest, strategies of adaptation and exit, migration patterns, and attitudes toward Russia and host communities among Russian war emigrants. Tamara Kusimova (Independent Scholar) examines how images of success and femininity are changing in contemporary Russia - and the role of the state's attempts to control these representations in public discourse - using the example of 'Moskvichka,' an import-substitution glossy magazine akin to 'Tatler' and 'Vogue.' Alexandra Prokopenko (Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center) analyzes socio-cultural dynamics within the Russian bureaucracy to explain the motivations driving bureaucratic behavior and decision-making processes in authoritarian regimes like Russia, with a particular focus on Russian bureaucratic Support for the war. Nica Kostenko, Emil Kamalov, and Ivetta Sergeeva (OutRush) focus on the distinctions between upper and upper-middle-class Russian emigrants from the broader emigrant population regarding emotions, integration, and trust. Finally, Natalia Savelyeva (UW-Madison, PS Lab) focuses on the experiences, attitudes toward the war, and strategies among Russian upper-middle-class emigrants in Dubai.

Sub Unit

• Sociology, Public Health, Education

Chair

• Ted Gerber, U of Wisconsin-Madison

Papers

• Upper Middle Class Russians in Exile in Comparison to Other Emigrants - Veronica Kostenko, Tel Aviv U (Israel); Ivetta Sergeeva, European U Institute (Italy); Emil Kamalov, European U Institute (Italy)

• Understanding the Russian Exodus to Dubai Following the Ukraine Invasion - Natalia Savelyeva, U of Wisconsin-Madison

• Russian Siloviki: 'New Nobility,' 'New Marginals' or Core of the Middle Class? - Kirill D. Titaev, Yale U

Discussant

• Ilia Matveev, UC Berkeley