What does the Pussy Riot case tell us about women's human rights in Russia?

The winter of 2011 and spring of 2012 in Russia bore witness to a series of anti-regime protest actions against the fraudulent conduct of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections that resulted in the re-election of Putin as President for a third term. Within the context of opposition activity, one act of protest has arguably been the international headline grabber, namely, the ‘Punk Prayer’ performed by members of the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot in Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral in Moscow in February 2012. It is perhaps unsurprising that a group of young women clad in bright balaclavas and tights, proclaiming a radical feminist agenda and performing riotous punk in Russia’s main Orthodox Cathedral captivated international audiences. On the positive side, the case has renewed international attention on human rights in Russia. Yet, while their feminism is often mentioned in international coverage, it is rarely the subject of serious analysis and further consideration of how it can be viewed as particularly radical and oppositional in the context of contemporary Russian gender politics, where hostility to feminism and a regression of women’s human is evident (Johnson & Saarinen, 2012; Elder, 2013a). This is a worrying omission as any analysis of the reaction to Pussy Riot from the Russian authorities and general public shows that their punishment not only represents a silencing of opposition activists engaging in freedom of artistic expression, but that the reaction to and punishment of the members can be used as a lens through which to view the wider gender climate, where women engaging in political activism in public are seen as deviant and transgressive. This threatens not only women engaged in activism, but poses significant barriers to women’s realisation of their human rights in all aspects of life (Racioppi & O’Sullivan See, 2009).  Thus, discussions of Pussy Riot as human rights activists should not be gender blind and this article is intended to situate this case in the wider gender politics of contemporary Russia

Exergetic performance and comparative assessment of bottoming power cycles operating with carbon dioxide–based binary mixture as working fluid

This paper presents CO2-toluene (CO2-C7H8) binary mixture as working fluid to enhance the energetic and exergetic performance of CO2 bottoming power cycles in warm ambient conditions. A criterion for selection of CO2-based binary mixture is defined, and 0.9 CO2/0.1 C7H8 composition is decided based on the required minimum cycle temperature compatible with ambient conditions. Bottoming simple regenerative cycle (BSRC) and bottoming preheating cycle (BPHC) configurations are selected, and their realistic operating conditions are determined based on sensitivity analysis. The performance of bottoming cycles using CO2-C7H8 binary mixture is compared with the bottoming cycles using pure CO2 as working fluid at different ambient temperatures. It is observed that the cycles operating with pure CO2 can only perform better at lower ambient temperature conditions, whereas, at the increased ambient temperatures, bottoming cycles with CO2-C7H8 binary mixture outperform and produce significant gains in exergetic and energetic performance compared with pure CO2 bottoming cycles. A maximum gain of exergetic efficiency for BSRC and BPHC observed is 26.83% and 18.71%, respectively, at an operating ambient temperature of 313 K, whereas an overall gain in energetic efficiencies for BSRC and BPHC observed is 28.92% and 10.12%, respectively. Taking into consideration thermodynamic performance, overall UA (product of overall heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer area for the heat exchanger) and specific investment cost, BPHC configuration is suggested as reasonable choice for higher ambient temperature conditions

Locating women's human rights in post-Soviet provincial Russia

This essay provides insights into studies on citizens' engagement with human rights in Russia through its focus on a relatively under-researched area, namely, the ways in which women perceive the role of human rights in daily life contexts. This essay argues for the importance of analysing how women's perceptions of human rights are formed in situ in order to understand the ways in which location and gender create particular constraints for women in terms of their perceived and actual access to rights protection and ability to use rights to resolve their problems. Drawing on data generated during in-depth interviews conducted with women living in the provincial Russian city of Ul'yanovsk in 2005, this essay reveals women's complex engagements with the meaning and role of human rights in their daily lives. In particular, this analysis shows how women's perceptions of their positionalities in a post-Soviet provincial city informs how they think about where, when and why human rights apply to women

Women's Political Activism in contemporary Russia: some reflections from the online sphere

Women’s political activism in Russia has come under renewed focus as a result of the high profile ‘Punk Prayer’ protest against the politics of the third Putin Presidency performed in Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral in Moscow in February 2012 by the self-proclaimed radical feminist collective ‘Pussy Riot’. While this protest gained widespread international attention as an example of human rights activism, until the recent activism against the violations of LGBTQ citizens rights in Russia, there has been little in-depth discussion of the wider gender politics that shape the context in which women can engage politically in Russia

Review of Frances Nethercott (2007) 'Russian Legal Culture Before and After Communism: Criminal Justice, Politics, and the Public Sphere'

Book review of 'Local Governance in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing Performance in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia' by Tomila V. Lankina