Neoliberal Authoritarianism: An Ethnography of Russian Universities

“Th(is) book investigates a timely and important topic in contemporary world politics: the entanglements between the neoliberal and authoritarian modes of governance.” (Pinar Donmez, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at De Montfort University, Leicester)

“By detailing how Russian academic institutions increasingly blend neoliberal and authoritarian logics, this highly original book sheds considerable light on developments currently taking place around the world, including Turkey, Hungary, the United States.” (Isaac Kamola, Associate Professor of Political Science, Trinity College, Hartford)

“Contrary to the democratization argument advanced for years in the literature on post-communism, this book demonstrates how neoliberal reforms can reinforce, rather than curb, authoritarian control.” (Katarzyna Kaczmarska, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations from the University of Edinburgh)

This open access book delves into the politics of oppression and dispossession driven by global neoliberalism and state authoritarianism. Challenging liberal biases, it introduces the concept of "neoliberal authoritarianism," highlighting how the Russian state has transformed within the context of neoliberal globalization into a new state formation where authoritarianism is reinforced by neoliberal rationalities. The book analyzes neoliberal authoritarianism through an ethnographic lens on universities and their governance, which have become a new frontier of neoliberal economic development, serving the imperatives of growth and competition.

Iuliia Gataulina is Postdoctoral Researcher at Tampere University, Finland. Currently, she is a member of the “International Political Economy” research group. Her main research interests spring around international political economy, the workings of global capitalism and neoliberalism across East/West divide, and ethnographic methods in International Relations.