Wartime Russia
The war invites us to favor more granular and grassroots approaches for a thicker conceptual knowledge of Russia and its society.

ABOUT
Wartime Russia
This project aims to delve deep into Russian society to understand the sociological, psychological, and cultural mechanisms that generate support for the regime’s endeavors, as well as the niches from which resistance emerges.

To this end, we point the cursor to more local, provincial, and grassroots movements, behaviors, and mindsets to capture the segments of the Russian population that typically fly under the radar of mainstream Western scholarship to decipher the Russian population’s “defensive consolidation” as framed by Jeremy Morris, as well as civil society’s resilience.
WHAT WE DO
Read our latest publications

It’s Not Only Soldiers Making Money off the War

by

Tatyana Rybakova

Tatyana Rybakova writes that there are more and more beneficiaries and thus supporters of the war, because each of them – even if they do not support the war itself, even if they are against Putin – will lose money, a career or status when it ends.

Can music help Russians unite against the regime?

by

Anatoly Reshetnikov, Lisa Gaufman and Viacheslav Morozov

On how opposition-minded Russian musicians navigate the minefield laid by the regime and offer a tentative basis for broader social solidarity against repression.

Between Intentionality and Inevitability: Uncovering the Enablers of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine

by

Sarah Fainberg and Celine Marange

Sarah Fainberg and Celine Marange argue that Russia's wartime violence toward Ukrainian civilians has been multidimensional, deriving from both top-down and grassroots enablers.

What Does Popular Culture Reveal About Russians' Feelings?

by

Mikhail Zygar

The unprecedented success of the film Cheburashka reveals how Russian viewers withdraw into a children’s fairy tale movie in order to avoid the war.

Why Do Russians Still Want to Fight?

by

Marlene Laruelle and Ivan Grek

Mistrust of the rich, belief that sanctions actually strengthen the economy and for émigrés all attest to a class-based experience of the conflict for average soldiers.

Russia’s ideological puzzle

by

Ilya Venyavkin

On the debates about the ideology of today’s Russia and the phenomenon of bottom-up 'ideological production' – how Russians are incorporating the war into their picture of reality.
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Contact
Feel free to write or call us
+1 (202) 9946340
russiaprogram@gwu.edu

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