In 1965 the Anglo-Belarusian Society began publishing a yearbook - The Journal of Byelorussian Studies. Since 2013, the Journal of Belarusian Studies is published in London by the Ostrogorski Centre in cooperation with the Anglo-Belarusian Society. The 2018 issue of the Journal features articles on the cult of Joseph Stalin's personality in Belarus, the preservation of Pentecostals' faith in Soviet-era Belarus, the processes of Belarus's nation-building, and the history of Belarusian émigrés in interwar Czechoslovakia. The issue also features several book reviews. The Journal is the oldest English language double-blind peer-reviewed periodical on Belarusian studies.
In 2020, mass anti-government protests erupted across Belarus. The brutal crackdown that followed shocked the international community: the authorities arrested tens of thousands of citizens, shut down independent media and NGOs, and fomented a migrant crisis on the European Union’s border. But where many thought Belarus’s dictator, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, would fall, he instead turned to Moscow for support, intensifying repression. Many of his opponents fled the country. Then, in February 2022, Belarus provided a staging area for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, allowing troops and missile systems to be based on its territory as large-scale war returned to Eastern Europe once again. Many outsiders now view Belarus as little more than a Russian military district, rather than a sovereign country. Paul Hansbury offers a wide-ranging account of these two related crises. Exploring the domestic origins of Belarus’s political chaos and its international ramifications, he also assesses the effectiveness of western sanctions policy, as well as considering the history and prospects of Belarusian statehood. Does Belarus have a future as an independent polity? And how has Russia’s war with Ukraine affected Belarusians’ views of their dictatorship and the cause of democracy in their country?
In 1965 the Anglo-Belarusian Society began publishing a yearbook - The Journal of Byelorussian Studies. Since 2013, the Journal of Belarusian Studies is published in London by the Ostrogorski Centre in cooperation with the Anglo-Belarusian Society. The Journal is distributed annually to universities, libraries and private subscribers in the UK, the US, Belarus and other countries throughout the world. The 2017 issue of the Journal features articles on the Belarusian nation-building in the context of the First World War and the activities of Belarusian diaspora in the United States in the Cold War era. A particular attention is paid to the lifepath of Francis Skaryna, one of the fi rst East European book printers, who laid the groundwork for the development of the Belarusian language. The issue also features several book reviews. The Journal is the oldest English language double-blind peer-reviewed periodical on Belarusian studies.
Personalism and Personalist Regimes offers a systematic examination of the logic of personalism, or personalist rule, tackling comprehensively the study of personalist leaders and personalist regimes.
This book explains the complex relations and entanglements of Russia and its neighboring countries, an area that changed dramatically after the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War. The chapters discuss how the strategic cultures of different countries display common characteristics rooted in this special geopolitical space that has been subjected to simultaneous changes over a longer time. Shared historical experiences provide a common ground to interpret outside threats. The spatial context is relevant in this volume because the focus is on a geopolitical in-between-ness. The position in between two ideologically, politically or economically divergent entities affects the states’ security considerations, maneuvering space and policy perspectives. By cross-examining competing Russian and Western influences Miklossy and Smith create a persuasive context of regional political choices.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Belarus, an example of an authoritarian state, Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State presents over one hundred contemporary political jokes in the contexts of their performance. Throughout, Anastasiya Astapova demonstrates the salience of the joke genre, the multiplicity of humor manifestations, and the fundamental presence of intertextual links between jokes and another folk genre—rumor. Informed by real-life fieldwork in an authoritarian regime, Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State challenges many common theories of political humor, including the interpretation of political jokes as weapons of the weak. It illustrates how jokes and rumors remind communities of their fears, support paranoia, shape conformist behavior, and, consequently, reinforce the existing hegemony. In this rare study on everyday life in and reactions to repressive regimes, Astapova unveils political humor as it is lived.
Although authoritarian countries often repress independent citizen activity, lobbying by civil society organizations is actually a widespread phenomenon. Using case studies such as China, Russia, Belarus, Cambodia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Turkey, and Zimbabwe, Lobbying the Autocrat shows that citizen advocacy organizations carve out niches in the authoritarian policy process, even influencing policy outcomes. The cases cover a range of autocratic regime types (one-party, multi-party, personalist) on different continents, and encompass different systems of government to explore citizen advocacy ranging from issues such as social welfare, women’s rights, election reform, environmental protection, and land rights. They show how civil society has developed adaptive capacities to the changing levels of political repression and built resilience through ‘tactful contention’ strategies. Thus, within the bounds set by the authoritarian regimes, adaptive lobbying may still bring about localized responsiveness and representation. However, the challenging conditions of authoritarian advocacy systems identified throughout this volume present challenges for both advocates and autocrats alike. The former are pushed by an environment of constant threat and uncertainty into a precarious dance with the dictator: just the right amount of acquiescence and assertiveness, private persuasion and public pressure, and the flexibility to change quickly to suit different situations. An adaptive lobbyist survives and may even thrive in such conditions, while others often face dire consequences. For the autocrat on the other hand, the more they stifle the associational sphere in an effort to prevent mass mobilization, the less they will reap the informational benefits associated with it. This volume synthesizes the findings of the comparative cases to build a framework for understanding how civil society effectively lobbies inside authoritarian countries.
In recent years, the issue of space has sparked debates in the field of Holocaust Studies. The book demonstrates the transdisciplinary potential of space-related approaches. The editors suggest that “spatial thinking” can foster a dialogue on the history, aftermath, and memory of the Holocaust that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Artworks by Yael Atzmony serve as a prologue to the volume, inviting us to reflect on the complicated relation of the actual crime site of the Sobibor extermination camp to (family) memory, archival sources, and material traces. In the first part of the book, renowned scholars introduce readers to the relevance of space for key aspects of Holocaust Studies. In the second part, nine original case studies demonstrate how and to what ends spatial thinking in Holocaust research can be put into practice. In four introductory essays, the editors identify spatial configurations that transcend conventional disciplinary, chronological, or geographical systematizations: Fleeting Spaces; Institutionalized Spaces; Border/ing Spaces; Spatial Relations. Drawing on a host of theoretical concepts and addressing various historical contexts as well as different types of media, this book offers scholars and students valuable insights into cutting-edge, international scholarly debates.
This book examines Polish-Belarusian relations, which, according to the Polish historian Marcel Kosman, were 'very close, though not always idyllic' (Kosman, 1979, p. 6), or, as the Belarusian author Piotra Rudkouski puts it, 'Historically and culturally, Belarus and Poland are Siamese twins' (Rudkouski, 2007, p. 185). According to the author of this book, the nature of Polish-Belarusian relations is determined by their historical and cultural positions, identities and geopolitical situations. He underlines that Polish-Belarusian relations are subordinate to Polish-Russian relations and, to a significant extent, play a role in Belarusian-Russian relations. The author pays attention to historical and cultural determinants, Polish policy towards the East, political, economic and cultural relations, and 'difficult issues' such as historical dialogue, national minorities (Poles in Belarus and Belarusians in Poland) and border and visa traffic. He tries to understand the circumstances and international interests of both states, which undoubtedly adds to the book's value.
This book explores the nature of the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, and who is often characterized as "the last dictator in Europe". It discusses how Lukashenka came to power, providing a survey of politics in Belarus in early post-Soviet times, examines how power became personalized under his regime, and considers how he coerced opponents, whilst maintaining good popular support. The book discusses all aspects of politics, including presidential power, the ruling elites, elections, the opposition, and civil society. The author characterizes Lukashenka’s rule as "adaptive authoritarianism", and demonstrates how the regime’s avoidance of any ideology, even nationalism, permits great freedom of manoeuvre, enabling pragmatic adaptation to changing circumstances.
