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In this Concerning War and Conflict lecture, Olga Zeveleva (Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ) will discuss Russia’s state violence in two domains at once. In ‘Colonialism and authoritarian politics. Russia’s imperial ambitions abroad and repressive politics at home’, Zeveleva talks about the repressive domestic politics at home on one hand, and imperial ambitions abroad on the other hand.

Authoritarianism and imperialism

Authoritarianism and imperialism do not always go hand-in-hand, but they converge in the case of Russia’s war on Ukraine. In this talk, Zeveleva analyses how authoritarianism and imperialism co-constitute one another by tracing Russia’s war on Ukraine from 2014 to its current full-scale invasion.

First, she considers how the lenses of colonialism and imperialism help us make sense of this war, and how the logic of Russian politics abroad developed into territorial logics over time. Second, she addresses how domestic authoritarian politics set the stage for imperialist aggression, and are continuously shaped by this aggression.

Zeveleva focusus on Russian repressive politics within Russia and on the occupied territories, while drawing from original research. She also contextualises Russia’s war on Ukraine within the global context of authoritarianism today.