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In the shadow of collapse
Imperial legacies, failed democratization, civil society and nationalism in the post-Soviet space
The collapse of the Soviet Union fueled hopes for democratization in the former republics and for the emergence of a peaceful post-Cold War international order. The war in Ukraine of 2022 has definitely shown how fragile both expectations were. National and international factors have played a role in such outcomes.
The domestic dynamics have often led to a regime change that was the result of a combination of pressures from below and elite pacts, seemingly following the patterns of state-building and democratic change in Central Eastern Europe since 1989. However, only the Baltic republics succeeded in achieving at the same time independence and democratization, with the eventual integration in the EU. A more turbulent dynamic of ‘failed revolutions’ characterized the other former Soviet republics, moving towards hybrid regimes characterized by oligarchic power, political instability, weak rule of law, widespread corruption and nationalism as an instrument of legitimacy.
The expectations that “coloured” revolutions could bring about democratic developments as well as peaceful mobilization for fair elections were not really met.
Putin’s ascendancy in Russia created the model of a “sovereign democracy” with authoritarian rule, repression of any independent actor and a return to imperial forms of influence in the post-Soviet space. Russian nationalism grew in parallel to the enlargement of NATO and the Eastern expansion of the EU. Tensions between Russia and the West concentrated over Ukraine, since the pressure from below towards the Europeanization of the country was seen as a geopolitical threat in Moscow. The conflict of 2014 created a fracture between Russia and Ukraine that was not really sealed by the Minsk agreements.
The conference aims at investigating the international and domestic developments in the post-Soviet space, in light of the war launched by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022. Presentations and papers at the conference will address the broad historical paths of these areas, the emergence of nationalisms and ethnic politics, the mobilisation for democracy and the activism of civil societies, the relevance of economic structures, the evolution of political and military power, the international and domestic conflicts, and the possible ways of peaceful resolution in a stable international order.
Opening
Luigi Ambrosio
Rethinking democratization
Mark Beissinger
Civil society and social movements in the post-soviet space
- Donatella della Porta
- Volodymyr Ishchenko
- Oleg Zhuravlev
- Samuel Greene
- Phil Ayoub
- Kristina Stoeckl
- Maria Chiara Franceschelli
- Andriy Maliuk
Russia and the post-soviet space
- Silvio Pons
- Alberto Masoero
- Riccardo Cucciolla
- Carolina De Stefano
- Adriano Roccucci
- Vanessa Voisin
Roundtable
- Mark Beissinger
- Andrea Graziosi
- Guglielmo Meardi
- Mario Pianta
- Angela Romano
- Francesco Strazzari
Conclusions
- Donatella della Porta
- Silvio Pons
Programme
May 11, 2023
14:00-14:30
Welcome addresses
Luigi Ambrosio, Mario Pianta, Donatella della Porta, Silvio Pons, Scuola Normale Superiore
14:30-15:30
Keynote lecture
Rethinking Regime Trajectories in Light of the War in Ukraine
Mark Beissinger, Princeton University
16:00-19:00
Civil society and social movements in the post-Soviet space
Where did the Revolution go? Some notes on (the failure of) ‘electoral democratization’
Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore,
Resolving or reproducing the post-Soviet hegemony crisis? Case of the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine
Volodymyr Ishchenko, Freie Universitaet, Berlin,
The protests and movements in Russia 2011-2022: democratization and political crisis
Oleg Zhuravlev, Scuola Normale Superiore,
Vernaculars of Power and Powerlessness in Wartime Russia
Samuel Greene, King’s College London
The Double-Helix Entanglements of Transnational Advocacy: Moral Conservative Resistance to LGBT Rights
Phil Ayoub, University College London, and Kristina Stoeckl, LUISS
Discussants
Maria Chiara Franceschelli, Andriy Maliuk, Scuola Normale Superiore
May 12, 2022
10:00-13:00
Russia and the post-Soviet space
Putin’s visions of world order
Silvio Pons, Scuola Normale Superiore
‘Territorial Integrity’: Post–Soviet Unification as a Geographic Ideology
Alberto Masoero, University of Turin
The failure of liberal democracy in Russia
Riccardo Cucciolla, University of Naples L’Orientale
The policies of the Russian Federation towards Russian-speaking communities in the post-Soviet space
Carolina De Stefano, LUISS
Discussants
Adriano Roccucci, Università Roma Tre, Vanessa Voisin, Università di Bologna
15:00-17:00
Roundtable
- Mark Beissinger, Princeton University,
- Andrea Graziosi, Università di Napoli Federico II,
- Guglielmo Meardi, Scuola Normale Superiore
- Mario Pianta, Scuola Normale Superiore
- Angela Romano, Università di Bologna
- Francesco Strazzari, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa
17:30-18:00
Conclusions
Donatella della Porta, Silvio Pons, Scuola Normale Superiore
Entrance will be allowed up to the maximum capacity of the room
Organizers
- Donatella Della Porta – Scuola Normale Superiore
- Silvio Pons – Scuola Normale Superiore