Networks

National Identity in Russia from 1961: Traditions & Deterritorialisation (2007-2011)

This collaborative project examines the development of Russian national identity in the post-Stalin and transition years. The project focuses on views of the nation and Russianness among ordinary Russians, and explores how far these may be traced back to the late Soviet era. The central themes are ‘tradition’, by which is meant cultural memory, a self-consciously recognised relationship with the past, and ‘deterritorialisation’, which refers to the stresses placed on national and personal identity by migrancy, travel, and emigration. The structure of the project involves a network of 40 scholars, including a core group of 4 Russian and 5 British academics, each of whom works on a particular aspect of the general theme. The broader research network exchanges views in order to place Russian nationalism of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries in national and international context, investigating similarities and differences between Russian views of the nation and those in other countries that till recently had a large peasant population and have a history of authoritarian rule, such as Ireland, Hungary, Greece, and Italy, as well as comparing the situation in the Russian Federation with that in other parts of the former Soviet Union. For the project website click here.

Anglo-French Workshops in Russian Studies (2003-2008)

Anglo-French workshops in Russian Studies seek to enhance the internationalisation of research into Russian history, society and culture within the European Union. This idea has brought together researchers in Russian history and culture from the University of Oxford, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London), and the Centre d’Études sur la Russie, le Caucase et l’Europe Centrale (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales). The principal theme of these workshops is the exploration of 'Solidarities and Loyalties in Russian Society, History and Culture'. The first workshop took place in Oxford at the Maison Française on 4 Oct 2003. The second workshop took place in Paris at the Maison des Sciences de L’Homme on 27-29 Oct 2005. The third workshop took place at SSEES-UCL in London on 18-20 May 2007. The fourth workshop took place in Paris at CERCEC, EHESS, CNRS on 24-26 Oct 2008. For the project website click here.