200 Years of Dissent: From the Decembrists to Navalny

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

December 2025 marks the bicentennial of the Decembrist Uprising, called “the first Russian revolution,” by some historians. This significant anniversary motivates us to examine how historical memory has commemorated and memorialized dissent in its various manifestations. This impetus is especially important now, when dissent has been suppressed in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and literally exterminated in February 2024 with the murder of Alexei Navalny, one of the few dissenting voices remaining in Russia. Our panel will feature presentations on the Decembrists, on the Ukrainian struggle against Russian dominance of the efforts to create a Ukrainian national cultural identity, and on Aleksey Navalny’s Patriot: A Memoir.

Sub Unit

• History: 1800-1900

Chair

• Catherine B. O'Neil, US Naval Academy

Papers

• The Decembrist Revolt as Resistance to Autocracy - Susanna Rabow-Edling, Uppsala U (Sweden)

• The Ukrainian Struggle against Russian Dominance - Susan E. Heuman

• Alexei Navalny, Patriot - Ludmilla A. Trigos, Independent Scholar

Discussant

• Benjamin I Nathans, U of Pennsylvania