From Stalinism to Putinism: Overcoming the past in creating the future

Conference.

Defaced granite statue of Stalin in Muzeon, Moscow. Behind the statue is the memorial monument to victims of the gulag. Image by Garrett Ziegler. CC 4.0.
Defaced granite statue of Stalin in Muzeon, Moscow. Behind the statue is the memorial monument to victims of the gulag. Image by Garrett Ziegler. CC 4.0.

Since the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s rule in 2000, the Russian government has steadily tightened its grip on independent voices. What began as managed democracy – a system of soft control justified to restore order after the chaotic 1990s – has, over time, evolved into a far more restrictive and authoritarian regime. The mass demonstrations on Bolotnaya Square in 2012 marked a turning point. In response, Putin's policy shifted, embracing morality politics and portraying his opposition as a threat to Russian national values and unity.

Since then, pressure on independent civil society actors trying to come to terms with the past has only intensified:

  • In 2021, the Russian Supreme Court dissolved Memorial International and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, two organizations dedicated to documenting human rights abuses during the Stalinist era and in contemporary Russia.
  • In 2023, the Sakharov Centre – a cultural institution committed to preserving the memory of Gulag prisoners and promoting human rights – was forced to shut down under the so-called Foreign Agent Law.
  • In 2024, the Gulag History Museum was temporarily closed and placed under new leadership more aligned with Moscow’s political elite.

Civil society actors have drawn parallels between Stalinist repressions and the mechanisms of state control employed by Putin’s regime. This raises important questions: What historical traits from the Stalinist era can be identified in modern Russia? Can we meaningfully compare Stalin and Putin – and if so, in what ways? It is still a stigmatised topic in most countries of the countries constituting the former soviet bloc? Such issues as the mechanisms and intricacies of the state machinery and the nature of the political regime, the degree of the broader public society's involvement in state violence, the problems of guilt and responsibility, require complex and multifaceted analysis.

This analysis is impossible without the use of many historical sources (in particular, currently closed archival information), the collection of oral testimonies and other work on research, memorialization and education.

Though the war is still ongoing we should still not waste time and begin to work on shaping the future, What does justice look like? How do we prevent ending up in this situation in the future?

Language: English with simultaneous translation from Russian or Ukraine of individual speakers

Sign up for the conference.

 

 

 

9.00-9:30
Setting the scene
  • Annika Hvithamar, Head of Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
  • Serguey Parkhomenko, journalist and founder (or cofounder) of the movement “The last address”
9.30-10.45
How people in modern day Russia relate to the history of political repression
  • Elena Zhemkova Executive Director, "Memorial" Historical, Educational and Human Rights Society founder and head of the organisation, Memorial
  • Serguey Parkhomenko, among other  ”The Last address” dedicated to creating a collective memorial to the victims of political repression
  • Sergei Lukashevsky, is director of the Sakharov Museum and Public Centre
10.45-12.00
Stalinism experienced by people within the realm of the soviet bloc and the consequences for the societies in independent states
  • Georgia: Irakli Khvadagiani, historian, SovietLab
  • Belarus: Sasha Filipenko, author
  • Ukraine: Jevgeni Zakaharov, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection
12.00-13:00 Lunch
13.00-14.15
What is Neo-Stalinism or Putinism and how it influences the contemporary Russia?
  • Stepan Chernousjek: The Gulag camps in the former USSR in the context of current situation in Russia
  • Mikhail Suslov, historian at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies with specialisation in ideology, cultural history and Russia’s current affairs “The ideology of Putinism”
  • Mikhail Kaluzhsky, theatre researcher. Former head of the theatre program at the Sakharov Center: Stalinist practices in contemporary Russian cultural politics and its impacts on the performing arts. Focusing on the intersection of political ideology and artistic expression
14.15-14.45 Coffee
14.45-16.00
Concluding panel: Undoing Stalin’s Legacy: Russia’s Path Beyond
  • Tea Sindbæk, University of Copenhagen, with focus on Balkan Studies, Department of Cross-Cultural Regional Studies– about the political use of remembrance and concealment in a memory perspective
  • Serguey Parkhomenko, journalist and founder (or cofounder) of the movement “The last address”
  • Jelena Zjemkova, founder and head of the organisation, Memorial
  • Stepan Chernousjek Russian studies scholar, explorer, publicist, and election observer. In 2009, he established the Gulag.cz Association.
  • Irakli Khvadagiani, Journalist, PhD, SovietLab Tbilisi

 

 

  • Annika Hvithamar, head of the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
  • Serguey Parkhomenko, journalist and founder (or cofounder) of the movement “The last address”
  • Elena Zhemkova founder and head of the organisation, Memorial
  • Mikhail Suslov, historian at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
  • Sergei Lukashevsky , director of the Sakharov Museum and Public Center
  • Mikhail Kaluzhsky, Theater researcher. Former head of the theatre program at the Sakharov Center.
  • Sasha Filipenko, writer from Belarus
  • Evgeny Zakharov, Kharkiv Human Rights Group in Ukraine
  • Stepan Chernousek, Gulag.Cz  scholar of Russian studies from Czech Republic,
  • Irakli Khvadagiani, historian, SovietLab from Georgia
  • Tea Sindbæk, University of Copenhagen, with focus on Balkan Studies, Department of Cross- Cultural Regional Studies

 

Contact

If you have any practical questions about the conference, please contact Alexandra Antipova cht458@alumni.ku.dk.