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Lessons of unfreedom: “People live in a kind of limbo, where rules are both rigid and arbitrary”

This is an interview with an anonymous Russian researcher recorded in the winter of 2023, in response to events taking place in the Russian Federation. In this interview the role of dissidents and the civil society in exile is discussed. Life under the current regime is compared with life during the Soviet-period: there are similiarities and differences in the repressive apparatus and the methods and strategies for resistance.

By Elisa Marin and Oliver Skye May 29, 2026

”And this is not a spy novel” Researching activism in Russia after 2022

This essay examines the methodological, ethical, and safety challenges of researching civil society and activism in Russia after 2022. Drawing on recent fieldwork experience, we discuss the growing importance of ethnographic engagement, heightened risks for researchers and interlocutors, challenges of trust-building, anonymization, and blurred boundaries between analysis and advocacy. We argue that these conditions reshape both fieldwork practices and knowledge production, raising broader questions about the future of qualitative research in authoritarian contexts.

Essay by Elisa Marin and Oliver Skye May 29, 2026