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The paper proposes a new interpretation of the evolution of legitimacy in Russia based on two pillars: the sociological tradition of legitimacy research, and David Easton's typology. In this regard, the political process in Russia can be perceived as a conflicting coexistence of various legitimacies. The very conflicting variations begin to prevail in the public consciousness at certain stages of modern Russia existence, not forcing out each other completely. The trends that prevailed in the definition of Russian statehood allow us to distinguish three stages in the legitimacy evolution, which conditionally correspond to each decade of the existence of modern Russia: the "ideological" stage (90s-00s) and the "structural" one (00s-2012). We define the contemporary period as "personal" that emerged after 2012. The current political crisis in Russia is interpreted as a conflict of "structural" and "personal" legitimacy, that is unfolding against the backdrop of attempts by the authorities to compensate for the lack of trust, with technologies of "quick" self-legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The role of geopolitics in European Union (EU) foreign policy has been the focus of much media, political, and scholarly commentary. This literature has interrogated the topic from a number of perspectives, critically exploring, for example, the construction and embodiment of EU foreign policy, the geopolitics of regional cooperation within the EU, and the role of geopolitical imaginations in the creation of the EU. Far less literature, by contrast, has explored how the EU is viewed as a geopolitical actor by other entities. This paper begins to do this, by exploring how ideas of the EU have become an enduring geopolitical conception in post-Soviet Russia. It traces their evolution from the early 2000s, when Russia sought to emulate EU norms and values as part of a broader Westernising tendency in its foreign policy. Narratives about the EU were reworked in the context of the so-called 'colour revolutions' between 2003 and 2005, and have subsequently been revitalised since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. In these contexts, this paper critically scrutinises the evolution of the EU's role within Russian practical geopolitical discourse and this role's relations to other claims and visions of what it means for Russia to be a great power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International sport is inherently political. Its governance structures are complex involving a multiplicity of actors. Its foundation is traditional, centred on ideas about self-governance and autonomy while simultaneously challenged by the contradictory requirements to promote and regulate sport. The politics of international sport can be seen in the authoritative allocation of values, the collective action necessary to determine who gets what, when and how, and ultimately being clear about who cares about what, where and why. It is in this setting where the concept of power and the ability of agents to exercise power is particularly insightful in garnering a more nuanced understanding of the systemic governance of international sport. To this end, this study examines power relations in international sport by applying Bergsgard's analytical framework, which adapts Lukes' three faces of power and Bourdieu's ideas about symbolic power, to the Russian Doping Scandal. Documentary analysis is used as the primary method of exploration. Our analysis illustrates how the deep structures of the Russian state and the structural conditions of the international sport governance field permitted the case to evolve to scandalous proportions. The paper also reveals the power dynamics between various stakeholders involved in the scandal and how these power dynamics led to failings in the governance of international sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims at analyzing the cultural dialogue in the post-Cold War era, the Cold War being perceived as a security dilemma. The study makes a clear-cut distinction between the political differences regarding the United States of America and Russia laying emphasis upon concepts, such as: security and risk. This work tries to highlight if the cultural dialogue between the United States and Russia is a failure or a success. Another important issue is diplomacy related to the Soviet ideology and the American response. The concept of power is of paramount importance being viewed as a cultural device in the post-Cold War era. Politics is presented as an instrument of power. Both the United States and Russia fought to be the most powerful nations having the power to rule the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores is the property of Dilemas Contemporaneos: Educacion, Politica y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Self-help has become a booming business over the past decades and an increasingly visible part of popular media culture worldwide. The paper analyzes the arrival and effects of this cultural technology in post- Soviet Russia after more than seventy years of socialism. It examines how Russians are engaging with popular psychology self-help as a technology of the self and how they are making it meaningful in their lives. Drawing on a set of one-to-one and focus group interviews conducted with self-help readers, it examines how these individuals negotiate the new ethics and the normative models of personhood put forward by the self-help genre. It argues that popular psychology has offered a new language for making sense of the self and the social world, and highlights how the readers critically engage with the normalizing power of popular psychology by drawing on a number of local historically sedimented discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The institutional environment of science differs across countries. Its particularities have an impact on productivity of scientific enterprise in terms of both research and teaching. Reform of the system of higher education occupies an important place in programs of catch-up modernization. Attempts to replicate Western institutional arrangements and organizational designs in this area have been undertaken in Russia since the very beginning of economic and political reforms of the 1990s. This paper considers a particular transplant, the Higher School of Economics (HSE) established in 1992, and its subsequent evolution. A structural analysis shows its divergence from the organizational patterns that served as a model. The HSE case is compared with several "representative" Western universities as well as other Russian universities. When explaining divergent patterns between the HSE and the Western counterparts, special attention is paid to the issue of power relationships and their role in the functioning of the scientific organization. The paper aims to contribute to the discussion of "cultural entrepreneurs" and their motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Navigating the governance of macroscopic changes presents an inherently multifaceted challenge. Analogous to the resistance encountered during organizational transformations by employees, every societal shift -- be it a technological revolution or alterations in technical and cultural landscapes -- elicits significant skepticism and distrust among the populace. Recent global upheavals, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have polarized societies, particularly affecting nations with a lesser degree of cultural preparedness and minimal levels of mutual trust. The advent of the digital revolution, transforming modes of work and consumption, alongside historically significant events like wars and pandemics, invariably triggers a resurgence of nostalgic nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the European Union's (EU) energy relations with Russia through new institutionalist concepts that understand ideas to be powerful within policymaking processes, in conferring credibility on certain governance norms as well as in contesting existing institutions. Explanations of the deterioration in EU–Russia energy relations have emphasized divergence in perspectives on energy, and how it should be governed, between these actors. Here it is argued that the proliferation of different ideas about energy within EU institutions has significant implications for this relationship. The paper analyses EU energy policy as a whole, including climate policy, and outlines what ideas have been influential over policymaking processes and with what consequences. Internal ideological differences challenge the dominance and credibility of market liberal ideas and policies, the EU's ability to speak with one voice in energy and attest to an increasingly complex and contradictory EU energy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper will be to determine whether the conditions that exist in present-day Russia are congruent with Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control, which go beyond the state and its apparatuses, and that law plays an increasingly subordinate role within contemporary disciplinary society. I will also see what conclusions can be drawn from the Russian-Soviet case that are relevant to evaluating the paradigms supplied by Foucault in deciphering the modalities of power in the modern world. In what sense can he help us understand how discipline and law in Imperial and Soviet Russia created the necessary conditions for the emergence of the Russian Mafia? Law has been transformed in the hands of the Russian Mafia and has expanded its spheres of influence rather than being displaced. The conditions that exist in present-day Russia can be applied to Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control which go beyond the state and its apparatuses. But it is not the case that law plays an increasingly subordinate role in present-day Russia. Rather, it is no longer controlled by the sovereign power of the monarchy or by the Soviet state and its apparatuses, but is now predominately controlled by the Russian Mafia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attractiveness of Africa today is undeniable. All areas and sectors of activity are coveted by all of its partners, as evidenced by the proliferation of international investments and the multiplication of diplomatic actions on the continent. Considered as a continent of all opportunities, Africa represents a new center of the world with regard to the diversity of the areas at stake: the economy, education, the environment, security and many others. Partnership relations between Africa and external powers are very old. But they will intensify at the end of the cold war from the 1990s. However, the situation seems to be balanced with the rise of Russia in Africa, which have longstanding relations. They have recently taken a new turn, with several bilateral initiatives and the rise of the BRICS multilateral forum where Russia is very active. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's military invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the Kremlin's imperial ambitions. The invasion was not only a shocking event, but also a process of geopolitical transformation. Russia, which has a long history of imperialism, in the 21st century is trying to break the established global world order and propose an alternative one. But the tools it uses are tools of violence, domination, blackmail, and intimidation. This is particularly important to explore in the context of the Russian leadership's construction of imperial sovereignty, a form of political power used to expand and consolidate the empire's influence in a particular geopolitical space: the post-Soviet space. This article aims to show the nature of Russian imperial sovereignty as well as the mechanisms of its dissemination, which are modus operandi – dynamic structures of reproduction of the system of power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article criticizes from philosophical perspective arguments put forward by supporters of international anarchism. According to the international law sceptics conflict between equality and freedom can be resolved only within the state to a satisfactory executive level. In this approach, citizenship is defined as a warrant of rights and liberties guarded by coercive state institutions. Thus, the duties of justice apply exclusively to compatriots. Concurrently, I present how problematic this perspective can be especially if we take into consideration contemporary Russia's war on Ukraine which affects many economic and political aspects of people's lives in different parts of the globalized world. At the end of the article, I argue that the position of anarchism is overly reductive in its assumptions, as it precludes convincing explanations of many important aspects of international relations--such as the state's adherence to the principles of international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of the role of power by introducing an organizational perspective to the study of environmental assessment (EA) procedures. By analysing the transboundary environmental assessment (TEA) for the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, we show that Nord Stream used some of the sentiments imbedded in the institutionalization of TEA and the Espoo convention's formal rules to legitimate its interests. The acts of organizing and organizational relations, however, are what can explain agency and power between organizations and hence the relative power of EA as a governance tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how popular culture products – digital greeting cards – interact with hegemonic historical narratives in the context of war remembrance. It employs the Foucauldian concept of counter-memory to analyse how user-generated mnemonic content interacts with historical power relations. Using content analysis to examine a sample of amateur greeting cards, the authors investigate how these cultural products engage with official and counter-official memory practices in Russia related to the Soviet victory in the Second World War. Specifically, the article explores how different visual elements are employed to (de)construct specific narratives about the Soviet victory and it discusses how the use of computer graphics, in particular animation, influences the potential role of greeting cards as a means of resurrecting the subjugated past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyse the role of political youth movements in contemporary Russia. The Russian political youth movements can be broadly divided into two categories: ''Pro-Kremlin'' and ''Opposition groups''. Moreover, most of the political parties in the Duma have youth wings. Recent studies show that most of the young people in Russia do not participate in elections. On the other hand, over the past decade, some of the youth movements start to use nonviolent methods of resistance against autocratic regime. Thousands of young people demand political change and take part of the demonstrations. This paper will focus on the implications of current political processes for youth politics in contemporary Russian political culture. It will try to figure out the main ''strengths and weakness'' of these groups in the democratisation process of the contemporary Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ÖZP - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft is the property of Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The author describes the development of geopolitical studies in Russia after the Soviet breakup. He identifies two main schools of geopolitical analysis, Traditionalist and Revisionist. Traditionalism is inspired by old European and Russian geopolitical theories and views the world through the lenses of confrontation over power and resources. The revisionist school, on the other hand, adopts a considerably broader definition of what constitutes geopolitics by proposing to study various forms of organizing space on a global scale. According to the paper’s central argument, the Russian geopolitics, while having emerged as a vocation, it is yet to turn into a full-fledged academic discipline. It continues to lack coherent and scientifically testable theoretical propositions and needs a broad discussion of its issues with the participation of both traditionalists and revisionists. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined cross-cultural similarities and differences in antecedents and appraisals of triumph. Participants in the U.S., Serbia, Russia, and Japan provided open-ended descriptions of previous antecedent events that elicited experiences of triumph, and completed a standard appraisal questionnaire about those events. Events that elicited pride were also included for comparison. The open-ended responses were coded using a framework that delineated theoretical characteristics of triumph based on previous research. Findings indicated cross-cultural similarities in the antecedents and appraisals of triumph-eliciting events. Cultural variations were also found, especially between Japan and the other cultural groups and with regard to self-evaluations, which suggested the role of culture in triggering and appraising emotion-eliciting events. These findings extended empirical evidence about these important components of triumph, further contributing to its possibility as a discrete emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the lack of an effective, coherent and progressive EU grand strategy that is able to streamline efforts and produce collective goods, both at home and in the world, is culpable for the EU's gradual decline until 2030. The lack of European-wide strategic thinking creates the conditions for an existential crisis of the EU. The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy/Common Security and Defence Policy is the most striking example: it fails to manage the EU27 expectations, build up sufficient military and civilian capabilities, deliver tangible results and, consequently, lacks credibility. This has repercussions for the EU's level of ambition. Until 2030, more and more states drop out of EU initiatives and search for alternative fora to make their voices heard in international politics. The powerlessness of the EU also weakens its most important allies: the United States and NATO. This creates a power vacuum to be filled by more ambitious players, such as China or Russia, which seek to diffuse their view of global (dis)order. To avoid this future, we argue that the EU should (1) embrace an alternative vision of power, (2) strengthen the legitimacy of its internal and external policymaking and (3) engage strategically in global affairs on the basis of a firm commitment to NATO-EU cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Annals-XXI / Ekonomìčnij Časopis-XXI is the property of Institute of Society Transformation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article examines how people in post-Soviet Russia learn to interpret Soviet political genealogies as implicated in their own family histories. Based on long-term fieldwork in a large provincial city in Russia, it focuses on a particular form of amateur genealogy called Rodologia ( rodstvo = kinship). Informed by a burgeoning self-help culture, Rodologia's followers argue that psychological 'self-realization' can be achieved by identifying the effects of state violence on family histories. Using a Lamarckian-like idea of heredity, Rodologia argues that social and political upheavals, such as gulags, collectivization, and wars, 'scar' people's genes and shape the behavior, self, and history of their descendants. The article demonstrates how popular attempts to attribute meanings to Soviet state violence are mediated by a surprising alliance of two cultural logics for articulating the self emerging in post-Soviet Russia-a thriving therapeutic 'self-help' culture and a form of recollection inspired by genealogical imagination. A flourishing therapeutic culture and amateur genealogy, I show, emerge as a means to both organize one's relation to the Soviet past and to make sense of fundamental changes occurring in meanings of political order in post-Soviet Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embodying a state vision of how civil society ought to function and be designed by the authorities, Public Chambers in Russia have been criticized as means of state control. This state dominance is the starting point in this article, which asks what room to manoeuvre a regional Public Chamber has. Drawing upon fieldwork this article examines how members and local observers of the Public Chamber give meaning to this activity. The analysis assesses the role of state dominance, discussion of routines and responses to local demands, and concludes that these incremental developments form civil society in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every EU enlargement signified a step towards Central and Eastern Europe, therefore, the 2004 "big bang enlargement", followed by the one in 2007, modified the geopolitical context within the "old continent" and also increased the importance of the European Union regionally, as well as globally. Integrating the ex-soviet countries into the EU meant taking them out of the Russian sphere of influence, as well as attempting to super size the EU territory in order to increase the European power on a long term. Despite the weakening of Russia after the Cold War, the federation still represents a challenge regarding "pax europea", as Russia still has an amazing military capacity, as well as important natural resources. The entrance into the Russian sphere of influence, the European energetic dependency on Russia, the conflicts within the separatist regions situated at the EU eastern borders are just few of the many challenges regarding the relations between the European Union and Russia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]