This seminar proposes an analysis of the practices of government and forms of political commitment in contemporary Russia and the post-Soviet world since the 1990s. It combines empirical investigation with a critical discussion of interpretive models for observed changes in that world.

The seminar presents current research into forms of government and systems for participation in the post-Soviet world and the norms and representations that underpin them. Together with speakers who are not Russia specialists, a comparison is made between fieldwork in Russia and the theoretical models of political sociology and investigations undertaken elsewhere.

The seminar is organised by CERCEC-related researchers working on contemporary Russia and neighbouring states and led jointly by Françoise Daucé, Gilles Favarel-Garrigues, Anne Le Huérou, Kathy Rousselet, Silvia Serrano and Carole Sigman. It is a forum for collective discussion open to all students and researchers interested in this region and these questions.