Fall/Winter Timetable

POL354H1S L0101

Politics and Society in Russia

Themes

This course examines trajectories of Russian political development. We will start with an exploration of attempts to modernize Russia under the tsars, and then under Lenin and Stalin. Then we will examine Mikhail Gorbachev’s radical reforms and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The major part of the course will examine the transformations of political regime and state-society relations in post-Soviet Russia. We will focus on the political logic of economic reforms, influence of the oligarchs, center-periphery relations, and the rise of authoritarianism. We will also discuss nationalism, the politics of memory, organized crime, and the media. Finally, we will explore changes in Russian foreign policy and Russia’s involvement in conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.

Texts

Gel'man, Vladimir. Authoritarian Russia: Analyzing Post-Soviet Regime Changes. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015; Gessen, Masha The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. New York: Riverhead Books, 2017; Hendley, Kathryn. Everyday Law in Russia. Cornell University Press, 2017; Laruelle, Marlene. In the name of the nation: Nationalism and politics in contemporary Russia. Springer, 2009; Ledeneva, Alena V. Russia's economy of favours: Blat, networking and informal exchange. Cambridge University Press, 1998; Treisman, Daniel, ed. The New Autocracy: Information, Politics, and Policy in Putin's Russia. Brookings Institution Press, 2018; Volkov Vadim. Violent Entrepreneurs. Cornell University Press, 2002

Format and Requirements

One two-hour lecture per week; active, informed participation in class (10%); midterm exam (20%); final exam (30%); a term paper, about 12-15 pages, due at the end of term (40%)

Prerequisites

1.0 credit in POL/ JPA/ JPF/ JPI/ JPR/ JPS/ JRA courses

Exclusions
POL354Y5