In this episode, Ulrich Schmid, Professor of Russian Culture and Society at the University of St Gallen, talks to us about Russian nationalist ideology and its place in contemporary Eastern European and international politics. Prof Schmid discusses how popular understanding of the Russian nation has evolved since imperial times, and what being Russian means in today’s multi-ethnic and multi-confessional context. Central to this are questions regarding Russia’s status as a Eurasian empire, its dealing with the tsarist and Soviet past, as well as the Russian state’s attempts at rewriting history. Prof Schmid shows how contested issues of language and identity are being politicized to the point that they have become a legitimizing factor in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Eastern Europe's Minorities in a Century of Change", a podcast series on the history of minorities and minority experiences in twentieth-century Central and Eastern Europe prepared by the BASEES Study Group for Minority History to mark the Institute for Historical Research’s centenary. The co-conveners of the Study Group are Olena Palko (Birkbeck) and Samuel Foster (University of East Anglia)
