Four years into the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine and the wider geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West, academic knowledge production about Russia has changed profoundly. Some methods have become unavailable, others continue to be used, but while similar methods continue to be used, the conditions under which insights can be generated are fundamentally different. This one-day conference is open to policymakers, journalists, and scholars and aims to take stock of what we know about Russia. It will also look critically at the different methods used to understand its politics and society.

The focus will be on four ways to approach Russian society and politics today. We look at qualitative and quantitative methods, discussing the utility of distant ethnography, surveys, digital methods and combinations of these approaches. What do these methods tell us about what remains of politics in the country? Can they help us to assess the state of Russian public opinion? We will also look at the political and ideological dynamics at play in the country and at how Russia exports strategic narratives abroad. Last, we will examine the state of the Russian economy, with an eye to the contested indicators available to researchers and policymakers.

1. What political discourses coexist in today’s Russia? Ideology, strategic narratives and visions of the country’s future

09:00 - 10:45

• Irina Busygina (ZOiS)
• Juliette Faure (University of Lille)
• Ian Garner (Pilecki Institute)
• Marlène Laruelle (George Washington University)
• Moderator: Maxime Audinet (IRSEM)

2. What can Russian public opinion measure? Surveys and their utility today

11:15 - 12:45

• Maxim Alyukov (University of Manchester)
• Samuel Greene (King’s College London)
• Marina Vyrskaya (University of Helsinki)
• Moderator: Félix Krawatzek (ZOiS)

3. Meaningful fieldwork to understand Russian society: qualitative and digital methods

14:00 - 15:30

• Svetlana Erpyleva (University of Bremen)
• Kevin Limonier (Paris 8 University)
• Jeremy Morris (Aarhus University)
• Moderator: Gwendolyn Sasse (ZOiS)

4. Forever on the verge of collapse? Deciphering the Russian economy

16:00 - 17:30

• Sebastian Hoppe (ZOiS)
• Alexandra Prokopenko (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
• Nick Trickett (S&P Global)
• Moderator: Michael Rochlitz (University of Oxford)

This conference is jointly organised by the Paris-based CORUSCANT research collective (Collectif de recherche sur la Russie Contemporaine pour l’Analyse de ses Nouvelles Trajectoires) and ZOiS (Centre for East European and International Studies). It aims to foster a closer dialogue between French and German experts on Russian politics and society and connect them with colleagues from further afield.

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