POSOR (Political and Societal Violence in Russia)
Post-Soviet Russia suffers from an enduring problem with violence. This manifests itself in various ways, from high homicide rates and widespread domestic violence to war crimes in military conflicts. When looking at various indices of violence, Russia scores significantly higher than most other countries with advanced economies. Why are the levels of violence in Russia so high, and how do they impact the country's political and economic development and its international relations? POSOR investigates these questions by studying the phenomenon on three levels: (1) the state's use of violence against internal and external actors, (2) the violence of non-state groups and organizations (focusing on far-right actors), and (3) domestic or gender-based violence. The project is interdisciplinary and employs a combination of approaches to answer these questions, including case studies, document and content analysis, and quantitative methods.
Why new knowledge about violence in Russia is needed?
There is a voluminous research literature addressing state-society relations in post-Soviet Russia, but violence has been a marginal topic. In fact, there are no systematic studies focusing on both the causes of high levels of violence and the implications for society at large. The POSOR project posits that violence can play a crucial role both in shaping political and economic developments and being shaped by them. Without analyzing the role of violence in Russia, we would be less equipped to understand the country's domestic, foreign, and economic development. Moreover, there is, unfortunately, reason to believe that the problem of violence may increase in the coming years. Regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, that conflict has generated a further normalization of violence which will likely plague Russian society for a long time.
