Activism among Russian Migrants

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine precipitated an increase in repression inside Russia and further shrinking of civil society there. As a result, many Russian activists and opposition-minded individuals fled abroad. This panel explores Russian activists and activism in exile from different perspectives. Margarita Zavadskaya and Mikhail Turchenko look at patterns of activism and trace how individual agency, structural constraints, and transnational influences together shape migrants’ activism. Similarly, Gaukhar Baltabayeva explores variation among activism in exile, asking why some Russians with a long history of activism ceased their civic involvement while others became involved in activism for the first time. Maria Tysiachniouk explores how memories of activism in Russia influence migrants’ actions in the Caucasus and Central Asia; her work traces how political structures, transnational networks, and migration interact to dynamically shape environmental activism. Laura Innocenti continues this focus on memory by examining Russian activists from Memorial who seek to influence Russian collective memory from abroad, drawing on research in Germany. Together, these papers provide interdisciplinary insight into contemporary Russian activism in exile, and raise important questions about transnational, national, and individual factors that shape activists’ approaches.

Sub Unit

• Politics/Law

Chair

• Margaret Hanson, Middlebury College

Papers

• Exiled in Central Asia: Patterns of Activism and Disengagement of Russian Émigrés - Margarita Zavadskaya, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (Finland); Mikhail Turchenko, Northwestern U

• Exiled but Engaged: Civic and Political Activism Among Russian Migrants Post-Ukraine Invasion - Gaukhar Baltabayeva, Arizona State U

• From War to Waste: The Multifaceted Activism of Russian Migrants in Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan - Maria Tysiachniouk, U of Eastern Finland (Finland)

• War and Migration: Exiled Russian Activists and Memory Debates in Their Host Countries - Laura Innocenti, U of Mainz (Germany)

Discussant

• Irina Meyer Olimpieva, George Washington U