F313Z Fall 2024 Sponsored by GMU Retired Faculty Association: Putinism’s Origins in 1990s Russia

F313Z Sponsored by GMU Retired Faculty Association: Putinism’s Origins in 1990s Russia
Wednesday, 2:15—3:40, Oct. 30
One session
Instructor: Steven Barnes
Coordinator: Julianne Mahler
In order to understand the origins of Putin’s authoritarianism and Russia’s war on Ukraine, we must delve into the history of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The 1990s collapse and the failures of transition provided the necessary preconditions for the rise of an authoritarian leader out of a moment of democratic hopes. While the rise of a Putin may not have been inevitable, it became likely in ways that raise important broader questions about the world’s current authoritarian moment.
Steven Barnes is director of the Program in Russian and Eurasian Studies and associate professor of Russian and Soviet History. His research focuses on forced labor in the Soviet Union, and he has conducted extensive field research in Russia and Kazakhstan. He teaches broadly on modern eastern European history.