The School of Public Policy at Central European University and the Political Economy Research Group cordially invites you to the SPP Research Seminar
Elizaveta Potapova:
Disciplinary dimension of academic freedom in Russia
Given certain patterns in the history of science in Russia, as well as taking into account its current political landscape, it could be expected that the experience of academic freedom varies among the people in different disciplinary fields. However, the interviews, that have been collected so far for my dissertation project, do not allow to confirm this expectation. I argue that the academic practices are common within a wider academic culture of the country, or even more so within institutions, i.e. on the organizational level rather than disciplinary. What creates the actual difference is the diversity of identities that people from different disciplines share. In other words, not the practices inside disciplinary borders vary, but rather the perception of these practices. While being regulated by the same legal frameworks and performing in the same political landscape, social scientists tend to connect themselves tighter with the political environment. This allows them to sense certain fears connected to the regime, even if they haven't been targeted by it in a direct way. What I want to show in my presentation is how do Russian academics in general make sense of academic freedom and where is the disciplinary borderline between different perceptions (if there is any).