Russian Academia and Urban Activism in Times of War: Insights from St. Petersburg

Urban Political Podcast

Conversation with Oleg Pachenkov

Meet urban scholar Oleg Pachenkov who left Russia few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine. Markus speaks with him about his personal and professional trajectory as a critical scholar bringing him to Berlin. The conversation covers the breakdown of the public sphere in Russia within weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine and Oleg's personal confrontation with a repressive system ready to crack down on critical voices. Self-censorship, Aesopian language and the retreat to the private sphere are aspects that now characterize dynamics of discussion in the attempt to cope with the authoritarian reality in the country. Olegs talk to us about the institutionalization of Urban Studies and the discrepancy between those parts who have arranged themselves within the regime, and those that didn't, between those actors who have stayed in the country and those who have fled. We hear Oleg reflect on these divisions and what needs to be learned for the future - for scholars both in Russia as well as beyond.

Guest:

Oleg Pachenkov, Dr., is a sociologist specialized in urban studies. He received his Doctor degree (Candidate of Science in sociology) at sociology department of St.-Petersburg State University in 2009. Since 2023 he is working as Research fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin in a research group "Urban Futures at Risk" supported by Einstein Foundation and based at Georg Simmel Zentrum for Metropolitan Studies. He is working mainly in the fields of urban studies and interdisciplinary art / social science projects as well as consulting on participatory urban development and participatory budgeting, and organises informal education & training programs for urban activists.

Previously, he worked for more than two decades as a leading researcher and a project coordinator ate the Center for Independent Social Reserach (CISR) in St.-Petersburg Russia. Starting in 2016 Dr. Pachenkov has also been working as an expert in the projects of CISR e.V. Berlin. From 2012 until 2022, he also led the Center for Applied Research (CeAR) at European University at St.-Petersburg (EUSP), worked as a Project leader and consultant at the Center "UP" for Urbanism and Participation at EUSP (2020-2022).

In 2006 Dr. Pachenkov received prestigious German Chancellor scholarship by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (BUKA) and did a research based at Humbioldt University of Berlin. In 2010 Oleg Pachenkov co-established an interdisciplinary expert & activist platform Open Urban Lab (OUL). Since 2012 he is a chief editor of the series of books titled Studia Urbanica at the NLO Publishing House in Russia. In 2021 he established an interdisciplinary educational program CO-URBANISM based at EUSP.

More about his activitires at: http://www.pachenkovvoronkova.com

Image Credits: View on St. Petersburg Graham from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

فصل ها

1. Intro: Oleg and his work in St. Petersburg (00:00:00)

2. Authoritarian repression of academic work and civic engagements with the start of the war (00:10:43)

3. The institutionalization of Urban Studies in Russia (00:22:24)

4. Shifting terrains of activism and repression (00:34:25)

5. Ongoing participatory planning programs in Russia (00:39:27)

6. EU Sanctions against scholars in Russia (00:42:46)

7. Exodus of critical scholars and activists. Some, however, have stayed in Russia (00:48:05)

8. Society is split. The strange continuation of everyday life (00:54:09)

9. Self-censorship and the new silence (00:58:30)

10. Hibernation and Kwartirnik (01:01:12)

11. Last trip to St. Petersburg in April 2023: Feelings and expectations (01:03:25)

12. Aesopian language and the difficulties of communicating with colleagues in Russia (01:10:36)

13. The role of fallen soldiers in public discourse (01:20:10)

14. Tensions between first and second wave of refugees in 2022 (01:27:25)

15. Plans for the future: research agenda and politicizing Urban Studies (01:34:19)

16. The war in Ukraine. Future rebuilding and migration dynamics as a challenge for urban scholars (01:43:08)