Russia's relationship with the "West" can be described as a tense and constant interplay between attraction and repulsion. The recent history of alienation up to the open war against Ukraine has not been sufficiently explored in social science. Its development was not inevitable; it is based on foreign as well as domestic political causes. In her current book "Russia and the West", Katharina Bluhm explores the question of how this development can be explained and what role was played by the broad political and intellectual movement against the liberal shock therapy of the 1990s and against Western integration, from whose arsenal the Putin regime drew for its illiberal-conservative state ideology after 2012.

In the 8th episode of "Futuring the Liberal Script", Katharina Bluhm discusses with political scientist and Eastern Europe expert Sabine Fischer Theses theses from "Russland und der Westen. Ideologie, Ökonomie und Politik seit dem Ende der Sowjetunion." (Matthes & Seitz 2023). Moderated by Volker Wieprecht.

Discussion language: German

Hosted by the Cluster of Excellence „Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)" in cooperation with Matthes & Seitz and silent green.

Speakers

Sabine Fischer is a German political scientist. She currently works at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin as a specialist in the fields of "Russian foreign and security policy, EU-Russia relations, unresolved conflicts in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood and regional relations in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. In this capacity, she advises the German Federal Government. On her core topic of Eastern Europe, she has published numerous books, articles and studies, most recently " Die chauvinistische Bedrohung. Russlands Kriege und Europäische Antworten” (Econ 2023).

Katharina Bluhm is Professor of Sociology with a focus on Eastern Europe. From 2015 to 2023 she was Director of the Institute for Eastern European Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is Principal Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence "Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)". As an expert on Eastern Europe, she has worked intensively for many years on the transformation processes in Eastern Germany, Central Eastern Europe and Russia. Her current research topics include illiberal conservatism, economic and social policy, and the role of elites in Russia.

Volker Wieprecht is a journalist, author and radio and TV presenter. In 2013 he was awarded the German Radio Prize as best presenter. Since February 2019, Wieprecht has been moderating the news programme RBB-"Abendschau", alternating with other presenters.