James H. Billington Seminar on Russian History and Culture
Recent mass protest rallies in Russia are often analyzed in terms of their economic and political ramifications. This panel will instead consider the historical context of protest activism in contemporary Russia. Participants will examine how different contemporary political activists and artists perpetuate, deconstruct, or subvert both the official line as well as dissent traditions in contesting state monopoly over the public space.
The Kennan Institute’s Billington Fellow Dmitry Kozlov considered the spatial dimension of public protests in the Soviet Union and Russia. He was joined by Professor Kevin Platt of the University of Pennsylvania, who examined anti-state aesthetics in the post-modern politics, and Mikhail Nemtsev, who discussed absurdist protest movements in Novosibirsk.
The seminar will be followed by a light reception.
The James H. Billington Seminar on Russian History and Culture is made possible through generous support for the Billington Initiative at the Kennan Institute.
Speakers:
Dmitry Kozlov - James Billington Fellow, Research fellow at Research and Information Centre "Memorial"
Kevin Platt - Short-Term Grant, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Humanities, East European and Russian Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Mikhail Nemtsev - Assistant Director, Jacques Rossi Memorial Fund for Gulag Research, Georgetown University
