Women's human rights in Russia: outmoded battlegrounds, or new sites of contentious politics?

This article draws on three pieces of qualitative research conducted with women in provincial Russia over the last 10 years. The first section analyses women's discussions of their everyday rights claims and their engagement in “consentful” forms of contention. The second section uses the Pussy Riot case as an example of women's human rights activism coded as “contentious”. Finally, the article highlights the blurred boundaries between contentious and consentful contention that can occur when women engage in online spaces. The article suggests a spectrum of contentious politics for women's rights claims that vary depending on the political opportunity structures available

Russia: decimation of women's human rights in the context of global misogyny

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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

Women's perceptions of human rights and rights-based approaches in everyday life: a case study from provincial Russia

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, neo-liberal models of governance have become dominant, and have increasingly been justified through the employment of human rights discourses. However, the increased use of human rights discourses has not resulted in the increased realisation of human rights, and feminists have highlighted how the gendered nature of transitions to democracy and the market have, in fact, limited women's access to rights. The profoundly negative impacts of marketisation, particularly for women, have been starkly illustrated in the social and economic transformations taking place in contemporary Russia. While the lack of realisation of human rights in Russia has been well-documented, much of this research has focused on macro-level analyses of Russia's consolidation of pre-defined human rights norms, or in highlighting examples of particular human rights violations. While the recognition and critique of human rights violations is an extremely important area of research, concentrating on pre-defined norms often fails to show the complexity of understandings and uses of human rights discourses in everyday life. Moreover, there is a lack of research that explores women's perceptions of human rights and rights based approaches, which is surprising given the international promotion of rights-based approaches as a means of women's empowerment. This thesis addresses this gap by critically evaluating the empowerment potential of human rights and rights-based approaches for women in the unique transitional context of post-Soviet Russia. The thesis draws on analysis of Russian press discourses and readers' letters to advice pages, and also from data generated in open-ended questionnaires, ethnographic in-depth interviews and interviews with local community and political elites in the provincial Russian city of Ul'ianovsk. The thesis shows the ways in which, both cultural norms and practical constraints impact on the perceived legitimacy of certain categories of rights, which in turn determine which issues are viewed as legitimate rights claims for women. Analysis of respondents' perceptions of rights indicate that, despite clearly identifiable examples of rights violations against women, the backlash to Soviet enforced equality has delegitimised claims for 'women's rights' protection. Moreover, respondents' also disassociate their claims from human rights, which are perceived to relate to specific examples of violations perpetrated by the state that predominantly affect men. Thus, women's rights claims have been re-privatised and re-conceptualised as personal problems to be resolved by women individually. While respondents did not perceive their everyday problems to be women's rights or human rights claims, respondents did talk about 'rights' and were attempting to access and claim rights. The thesis shows how the continued legitimacy of Soviet social and economic rights led respondents to employ rights discourses to express a sense of loss of previously held rights, and also to articulate their confusion and frustration over the shifting legitimacy of rights that has resulted in the need to 'claim' what was previously guaranteed. However, respondents' were attempting to negotiate these shifts in legitimacy and attempt to claim rights, but identified several practical constraints that make this a difficult process. I show that while respondents' are attempting to use rights-based approaches, this has not resulted in women's empowerment. Analysis of respondents' experiences of making a legal claim shows the profoundly negative and disempowering effects that legalistic approaches to claiming rights can have for women in transitional contexts. While the thesis highlights women's experience in transitional contexts, these findings can be used to reassess claims about the empowerment potential of human rights and rights based approaches for women globally. The thesis concludes by arguing that Russian women's lack of rights protection is not a result of women's lack of awareness of, or unwillingness to use rights-based approaches, but a result of their inability to access rights in a neo-liberal cultural and economic climate, which can be applied to the experiences of women globally

Effect of Flow Steering Angle Toward the Hydrokinetic Turbine Performance

The kinetic turbine is one of the solutions for use in low-speed river flows ranging from 0.01–2.8 m/s. This kinetic turbine is used as a conversion equipment to convert the water kinetic energy into an electrical energy. The working principle of a kinetic turbine is utilizing and relies on the water kinetic energy. Water flowing into the turbine area will produce a momentum on the turbine blades. This momentum change would then push the turbine blades and finally spin the turbine runner. The aim of research is thedetermination of the effect of water flow steering angle (a) and water flow rate variation in the kinetic turbine performance. This research uses vertical axis kinetic turbines with eight curve blade attached to the turbine runner. The variables used are two values of water flow steering angle, namely 25°and 35°. The water flow rate variation of 30 m3/h, 35 m3/h, 40 m3/h and 45 m3/h. The method used in this study uses a real experimental method. These two variations would then compare with the result of a hydrokinetic turbine performance done on the previous research.The results show that the water flow steering angle a affected the kinetic turbine performance (power, efficiency and torque). From these several water flow steering angle and water flow rate variations, the turbine performance with a 35° water flow steering angle get the highest performance compared with the use of 25° and 14° water flow steering angle. The greater the flow angle and the greater the water flow rate, the greater the torque, power and efficiency. The highest turbine power produced, P=17.5 W, occurs on the 35° water steering angle, and on a Q=45 m3/h water flow rate and on a 80 rpm turbine rotation. While the highest turbine efficiency, h=27 %, occurred on the Q=30 m3/h water flow rate, on a 60 rpm turbine rotation and on a water flow steering angle a=35°. The highest turbine torque, 3.1 Nm, occurs at Q=45 m3/h water flow rate at a maximum turbine braking and on a water steering angle a=35°

Dynamic modelling of wind turbine and power system for fault ride-through analysis

This paper presents a Simulink model of a wind power system for the holistic analysis of wind turbine and power grid during grid faults, aiming to investigate wind turbine Fault Ride-Through performance. The model comprises a highly detailed dynamic model of a 2MW wind turbine and a generic electrical network model. The simulation result shows the behaviour of both wind turbine and power grid when grid faults occurs. The impact that a grid fault has on wind turbine components and grid transients is illustrated and discussed

Turbine design review text

Three-volume publication covers theoretical, design, and performance aspects of turbines. Volumes cover thermodynamic and fluid-dynamic concepts, velocity diagram design, turbine blade aerodynamic design, turbine energy losses, supersonic turbines, radial-inflow turbines, turbine cooling, and aerodynamic performance testing

Design and Finite Element Analysis of Mixed Aerofoil Wind Turbine Blades

Wind turbine technology is one of the rapid growth sectors of renewable energy all over the world. As a core component of a wind turbine, it is a common view that the design and manufacturing of rotor blades represent about 20% of the total investment of the wind turbine [1]. Moreover, the performance of a wind turbine is highly dependent on the design of the rotor [2]. As well as rotor aerodynamic performance, the structure strength, stiffness and fatigue of the blade are also critical to the wind turbine system service life. This paper presents the design and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of a 10KW fixed-pitch variable-speed wind turbine blade with five different thickness of aerofoil shape along the span of the blade. The main parameters of the wind turbine rotor and the blade aerodynamic geometry shape are determined based on the principles of the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. Based on the FE method, deflections and strain distributions of the blade under extreme wind conditions are numerically predicted. The results indicate that the tip clearance is sufficient to prevent collision with the tower, and the blade material is linear and safe

A contra-rotating marine current turbine on a flexible mooring : development of a scaled prototype

The contra-rotating marine current turbine concept developed by the Energy Systems Research Unit at the University of Strathclyde is aimed at extracting energy in a wide range of water depths by 'flying' a neutrally-buoyant device from a flexible, tensioned mooring. After successful proof of concept turbine trials, the development programme has moved on to investigate the performance of a scaled prototype of the complete system incorporating the turbine, submersible contra-rotating generator and mooring. The turbine/generator assembly has been tested in a towing tank, and the entire system is now undergoing sea trials. An investigation into turbine wake development (an area in which it is hoped that the contra-rotating turbine will have uniquely beneficial properties) has recently begun. Small single-rotor model turbines have been deployed in a flume. Trends observed so far are in accordance with those observed by other researchers