Exogenous shock and Russian studies

ABSTRACT

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a major exogenous shock, which greatly affected the scholarly field of Russian studies. Not only did some previous theoretical lenses and analytic approaches become outdated, but the intellectual and institutional infrastructure of scholarship in Russian studies also faced major challenges. In a sense, these changes were similar to the effects of the exogenous shock of the Soviet collapse on scholarship, albeit in the opposite direction in political terms. The article focuses on the need to search for new scholarly solutions for research into Russian politics and society amid major political, economic, and social deterioration and a high level of uncertainty. It will also critically reconsider previous achievements and shortcomings of Russian studies as well as their relevance in a post-2022 world. Some suggestions for reframing of the research agenda in Russian studies in the wake of recent developments are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Russia
• Russian studies
• political science
• authoritarianism
• research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See the contributions by Smyth (2023) and by Zavadskaya and Gerber (2023) in this special issue.

2. See the contribution by Lankina (2023) in this special issue.

3. See the contribution by Libman (2023) in this special issue.

4. For a discussion, see contributions by Rosenfeld (2023) and by Reisinger, Zaloznaya, and Woo (2023) for this special issue.

5. The Center for Comparative History and Political Studies at Perm’ State University effectively conducted high-quality research in Russian and post-Soviet politics from 2012. In March 2022, when some of the Center’s scholars signed anti-military petitions, the university leadership immediately closed it. For a discussion, see the contribution by Zavadskaya and Gerber in this special issue.