Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CEERES) – Master’s Theses

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Browsing Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CEERES) – Master’s Theses by Subject "autoritaarsed režiimid"

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    Climate change politics in Putin’s Russia: a civil society perspective
    (Tartu Ülikool, 2023) Mohr, Rachel; Cheskin, Ammon, juhendaja; Darchiashvili, David, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
    The Russian Federation is one of the world’s largest exporters of hydrocarbon energy, and its economy is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. However, in the late 2010s the Putin regime began signaling concern about climate change and joined the Paris Agreement. At the same time, the authoritarian Putin regime has taken great lengths to prevent challenges to its supremacy that could arise from civil society, even on tame topics like the environment. Given these contradictory factors, the relationship between the state and environmental activists is in question. This study explores how environmental activists relate to their authoritarian government and its climate change response in hydrocarbon-dependent Russia. This question is contextualized in a novel theoretical framework of authoritarianism, hydrocarbon superpower culture, climate virtue signaling, and uncivil society that explains Russian climate change politics and how they may affect climate activists. The empirical study is a survey of 12 Russian environmental activists sharing their experiences with and views on the regime and its climate change response. The findings indicate an “uncivil” society split between repressed and co-opted groups, with dissenting activists condemning the regime’s duplicitous climate change rhetoric and the greed that keeps the hydrocarbon system in place. While many environmental activists disapprove of the regime and its environmental policies, activism in Russia is crippled and politicians prioritize the war. These findings shed light on the centrality of authoritarianism to civic life in Putin’s Russia at a time of war and climate crisis.
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    Environmental regionalism in Central Asia by non-democratic regional organizations
    (Tartu Ülikool, 2023) Franco, Claire; Reidhead, Jacob, juhendaja; Aliyev, Husyn, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
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    Presidentialism, energy sector ownership, and autocratic survival: comparing Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan between 1991 and 2006
    (Tartu Ülikool, 2022) Elam, David; Anceschi, Luca, juhendaja; Ibadilin, Nygmet, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
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    A ‘Telegram Revolution’: the impact of digital authoritarianism on political mobilization in Belarus since the 2020 protests
    (Tartu Ülikool, 2024) Van Hooft, Laura; Cheskin, Ammon, juhendaja; Zubek, Marcin, juhendaja; Tartu Ülikool. Sotsiaalteaduste valdkond; Tartu Ülikool. Johan Skytte poliitikauuringute instituut
    Amid the surge of anti-regime protests in 2020 in Belarus, Telegram played an important role in protest mobilization and coordination, and drew widespread (academic) attention. However, existing literature focused merely on the active mobilization phase, leaving a void in understanding the platform’s evolution beyond 2020, particularly in the face of escalating authoritarian practices. The main aim of this research is to understand how this increased authoritarianism has impacted political mobilization efforts on Telegram in Belarus between August 2020 and September 2023. Based on semi-structured interviews with five administrators of Telegram channels, this thesis investigates how this increased repression has impacted activists and users’ online behavior on Telegram, and opportunities for political mobilization. Employing an inductive qualitative content analysis, this study reveals that over time, the regime’s legislative reforms, increased surveillance, repression and misinformation transformed Telegram’s role from a space for political mobilization and protest coordination, to predominantly a source to reach uncensored information. The participatory culture that previously characterized Telegram, and its status as a ‘free space’, have disappeared, challenging the optimistic perspectives prevalent in earlier literature. Even though the effects of the protests linger, the shrinking public space has led to depoliticization, diminishing prospects for political mobilization on Telegram in Belarus. Nevertheless, the online space remains comparatively more free than the offline space, remaining as the only possible trajectory for potential mobilization in the country.