What are the economic and social foundations of the Russian authoritarian regime now? How does an idea of shaping “the proper subject” of the state emerge, and what are the parameters of a “desirable” citizen there? How much collective agency is behind the current political course of the country? Finally, how does the Russian regime compare with other authoritarian systems and dictatorships worldwide? 

 

This stimulating conversation between Professors Sergei Guriev and Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, an economist and political scientist, will unpack these complex questions which are essential for understanding Russia's possible future. Building on the innovative work of the Authoritarianism and Populism Research Group, led by Sharafutdinova, and Guriev's recent book Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century, they will discuss the methodological crisis affecting the research of political uncertainty and offer diverging views on the loci where we can search for hope in a complex world, where the word “permacrisis” (as a state of amalgamating, synergising existential challenges) was announced as a word of the year by The Collins Dictionary in 2022.