Urban Regimes in Russia’s Northern Cities: Testing a Concept in a New Environment

At a time when urbanization represents a major trend in human history and when the majority of the world’s population lives in an urban environment, the urban regime theory, developed by Clarence Stone in the 1980s, offers an insightful framework for discussing how urban stakeholders are compelled to work together to achieve their goals. While research on urban regimes has historically focused mainly on democratic contexts, this article argues that it is time to use urban regime theory in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian countries in order to better understand how urban politics develop. With growing urban activism and huge territorial contrasts, Russia offers a good case study for testing the notion of “urban regime.” This article focuses on three cities in Russia’s Far North—Murmansk, Norilsk, and Yakutsk—that face common sustainability challenges in Arctic or subarctic conditions; it delves into the mechanisms of their urban regimes and categorizes them by type: instrumental, organic, and symbolic.À une époque où l’urbanisation représente une tendance majeure de l’histoire humaine et où la majorité de la population mondiale vit en milieu urbain, la théorie du régime urbain élaborée par Clarence Stone dans les années 1980 présente un cadre de discussion intéressant sur la façon dont les intervenants urbains sont incités à travailler ensemble pour atteindre leurs objectifs. Depuis longtemps, bien que la recherche sur les régimes urbains se concentre principalement sur les contextes démocratiques, le présent article soutient que le moment est venu d’utiliser la théorie du régime urbain dans les pays autoritaires ou semi-autoritaires afin de mieux comprendre comment se développe la politique urbaine. En raison de l’activisme urbain croissant et des énormes contrastes territoriaux, la Russie constitue une bonne étude de cas pour mettre à l’épreuve la notion de « régime urbain ». Cet article porte sur trois villes du grand nord de la Russie, Murmansk, Norilsk et Yakutsk, aux prises avec des défis communs en matière de durabilité dans des conditions arctiques ou subarctiques. Il explore les mécanismes de leurs régimes urbains et les place dans des catégories selon les types suivants : instrumental, organique et symbolique

Central Peripheries

Central Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. Although relative latecomers on the international scene, the Central Asian states see themselves as globalized, and yet in spite of – or perhaps precisely because of – this, they hold a very classical vision of the nation-state, rejecting the abolition of boundaries and the theory of the ‘death of the nation’. Their unabashed celebration of very classical nationhoods built on post-modern premises challenges the Western view of nationalism as a dying ideology that ought to have been transcended by post-national cosmopolitanism. Marlene Laruelle looks at how states in the region have been navigating the construction of a nation in a post-imperial context where Russia remains the dominant power and cultural reference. She takes into consideration the ways in which the Soviet past has influenced the construction of national storylines, as well as the diversity of each state’s narratives and use of symbolic politics. Exploring state discourses, academic narratives and different forms of popular nationalist storytelling allows Laruelle to depict the complex construction of the national pantheon in the three decades since independence. The second half of the book focuses on Kazakhstan as the most hybrid national construction and a unique case study of nationhood in Eurasia. Based on the principle that only multidisciplinarity can help us to untangle the puzzle of nationhood, Central Peripheries uses mixed methods, combining political science, intellectual history, sociology and cultural anthropology. It is inspired by two decades of fieldwork in the region and a deep knowledge of the region’s academia and political environment.Praise for Central Peripheries ‘Marlene Laruelle paves the way to the more focused and necessary outlook on Central Asia, a region that is not a periphery but a central space for emerging conceptual debates and complexities. Above all, the book is a product of Laruelle's trademark excellence in balancing empirical depth with vigorous theoretical advancements.’ –Diana T. Kudaibergenova, University of Cambridge ‘Using the concept of hybridity, Laruelle explores the multitude of historical, political and geopolitical factors that predetermine different ways of looking at nations and various configurations of nation-building in post-Soviet Central Asia. Those manifold contexts present a general picture of the transformation that the former southern periphery of the USSR has been going through in the past decades.’ – Sergey Abashin, European University at St Petersbur

Central Peripheries

Central Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. Although relative latecomers on the international scene, the Central Asian states see themselves as globalized, and yet in spite of – or perhaps precisely because of – this, they hold a very classical vision of the nation-state, rejecting the abolition of boundaries and the theory of the ‘death of the nation’. Their unabashed celebration of very classical nationhoods built on post-modern premises challenges the Western view of nationalism as a dying ideology that ought to have been transcended by post-national cosmopolitanism. Marlene Laruelle looks at how states in the region have been navigating the construction of a nation in a post-imperial context where Russia remains the dominant power and cultural reference. She takes into consideration the ways in which the Soviet past has influenced the construction of national storylines, as well as the diversity of each state’s narratives and use of symbolic politics. Exploring state discourses, academic narratives and different forms of popular nationalist storytelling allows Laruelle to depict the complex construction of the national pantheon in the three decades since independence. The second half of the book focuses on Kazakhstan as the most hybrid national construction and a unique case study of nationhood in Eurasia. Based on the principle that only multidisciplinarity can help us to untangle the puzzle of nationhood, Central Peripheries uses mixed methods, combining political science, intellectual history, sociology and cultural anthropology. It is inspired by two decades of fieldwork in the region and a deep knowledge of the region’s academia and political environment.Praise for Central Peripheries ‘Marlene Laruelle paves the way to the more focused and necessary outlook on Central Asia, a region that is not a periphery but a central space for emerging conceptual debates and complexities. Above all, the book is a product of Laruelle's trademark excellence in balancing empirical depth with vigorous theoretical advancements.’ –Diana T. Kudaibergenova, University of Cambridge ‘Using the concept of hybridity, Laruelle explores the multitude of historical, political and geopolitical factors that predetermine different ways of looking at nations and various configurations of nation-building in post-Soviet Central Asia. Those manifold contexts present a general picture of the transformation that the former southern periphery of the USSR has been going through in the past decades.’ – Sergey Abashin, European University at St Petersbur

Russland und die europäische extreme Rechte - eine seltsame Verbindung?

Aus Anlass von Wladimir Putins Reise nach Budapest im Februar 2015 und seinem Besuch beim neugewählten griechischen Ministerpräsidenten Alexis Tsipras im April ist viel Tinte verbraucht und sind bei den europäischen Führungspersönlichkeiten und Institutionen einige Befürchtungen ausgelöst worden. Diese Reisen sind nur die Spitze des Eisberges – von Russlands zunehmendem Einfluss in Europa und seiner Suche nach neuen Verbündeten innerhalb der EU. Im Gegensatz zur These vieler öffentlichkeitswirksamer Experten, dass Russland außerhalb Europas stehe, ist Russland über eine Vielzahl von Kanälen in Europa präsent. Einer dieser Kanäle besteht in – altem und neuem – Einfluss in bestimmten Ländern und Parteien

Migration and public trust in the commonwealth of independent states

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet space has seen regional integration in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS while moribund has affected migration in the post-Soviet space. Despite its persistence and effect on migration, few studies have sought to explore public perceptions towards the CIS. We address this limitation by developing several arguments, anchored on the literature on public opinion and European integration, to explain how perceptions towards migrants and employment status affect public trust in the CIS. Our analyses make use of the sixth wave of the World Values Survey that includes seven CIS member-states and finds strong support for our hypotheses. Our contribution lies in the investigation of public attitudes in a non-EU setting while applying arguments from EU literature and the wide coverage of our study compared to the extant literature on the CIS and public opinion

Book Review Roundtable: Alexander Cooley’s Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia

In this book review roundtable, seven experts discuss Alexander Cooley’s Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia, followed by a response essay from the author

Pandemic Politics in Eurasia:Roadmap for a New Research Subfield

The sudden onset of the coronavirus pandemic has challenged many scholars of the social sciences to proceed in the absence of a robust theoretical research foundation upon which to build. This article seeks to help scholars meet this challenge, particularly as it pertains to Eurasia, through bringing together a multinational group of scholars in order to develop the roadmap for a new pandemic politics research subfield. It begins with a discussion of how states are responding to COVID-19 before moving into an exploration of reciprocal interactions between the pandemic and society, political economy, regime type, center-periphery relations, and international security. Finally, it discusses the potential novel contributions of a theoretical foundation rooted in the Foucauldian concept of “biopolitics.” Ultimately, we hope to spark an ongoing conversation regarding how political science and the social sciences more broadly can be used to understand the impacts of the pandemic and inform policymaking amidst the current and potential future pandemics

Pandemic Politics in Eurasia:Roadmap for a New Research Subfield

© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. The sudden onset of COVID-19 has challenged many social scientists to proceed without a robust theoretical and empirical foundation upon which to build. Addressing this challenge, particularly as it pertains to Eurasia, our multinational group of scholars draws on past and ongoing research to suggest a roadmap for a new pandemic politics research subfield. Key research questions include not only how states are responding to the new coronavirus, but also reciprocal interactions between the pandemic and society, political economy, regime type, center-periphery relations, and international security. The Foucauldian concept of “biopolitics” holds out particular promise as a theoretical framework