The article deepens our understanding of Russian memory politics of the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War (1917–1922) by studying the case of the Mudyug prison camp near Arkhangel’sk. By analysing the competing narratives and strategies of the mnemonic actors involved, it reveals a profound discursive struggle between actors from local, federal and international levels. It also questions the continuity between Soviet and post-Soviet commemorative practices, demonstrating a more complex relationship between the two. The study concludes that strategies conforming to the official historical narrative of the ‘thousand-year Russian state’ are most advantageous for local memory actors.
Russia’s war against Ukraine reveals contradictory dynamics in centre–regional relations. While governors remain Moscow’s loyal agents operating within an authoritarian model, wartime demands have forced the Kremlin to delegate politically sensitive responsibilities to regional administrations, particularly those involving direct engagement with local populations. This delegation, managed through a small central control apparatus, increases Moscow’s dependence on governors. The emerging pattern may erode the fundamental principles of Putin’s ‘power vertical’, as governors must serve both the Kremlin and their regional populations, a risk that becomes politically significant if Putin’s popularity declines and forces him to bargain for support.
The Blitz, a series of German air raids that destroyed strategic towns in the UK during the Second World War, brought devastation and terror on a massive scale. Outside London, the Belfast Blitz was the most destructive in human and material terms, though its collective trauma has barely been debated in history books. Considering that literature can be instrumental in bringing to light gaps, silences or biased narratives of the past, this article focuses on Lucy Caldwell’s These Days (2022) as a memorialisation of those whose lives were erased from history and for its due tribute to the city of Belfast. Drawing on Butler’s Precarious Life (2004) and Frames of War (2009), the present analysis will explore issues of vulnerability, precarity, and the ethics of grief in These Days in order to contend that Caldwell’s novel reveals how ungrieved and disposable lives were as much a consequence of the wreckage brought by the Second World War as of the erasure of collective memory from the official discourses of history.
This study examines the experiences of being a parent to a child with special needs for eight Syrian migrant parents living in Temporary Accommodation Centres established in Türkiye to meet the basic needs of Syrian migrants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents, and the data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Five themes were identified through data analysis: life in Temporary Accommodation Centre, the process of educational evaluation and diagnosis, special education services in Temporary Accommodation Centres, being a parent to a child with special needs in Temporary Accommodation Centres, and parents’ expectations. The findings indicate that living in Temporary Accommodation Centres s with a child with special needs is physically and mentally exhausting for parents, who describe having a child with special needs as experiencing a ‘second war’ and express significant concerns about the future. The data have been discussed, and various recommendations have been made.
International power competition between the US and China is intensifying as the deterioration of international trade cooperation is ongoing. Especially surrounding the US-China trade war, the bilateral trade imbalance has been politicized. I argue that power concerns shape mass public views of trade balances as deficits are seen to limit national power. To gain a better understanding of trade imbalance views, I conduct a set of original survey experiments in China and the US ( n = 4181). I find that citizens from both countries view trade deficits more negatively than surpluses and that particularly deficits with political competitors are rejected. US respondents who believe that the US will be overtaken by China have more negative views of the bilateral deficit. My findings thus highlight why the trade imbalance is a key point of contention in US-Sino relations. In this context of power gap changes between the US and China, seemingly passé mercantilist ideas are likely to be resuscitated again.
This article examines the employment opportunities for women lawyers in the notary profession in Estonia. Ilma Sarepera started her career in her father’s notary office, was appointed to the position in 1936, and remained the only woman notary until 1944. Her journey reflects a transformative period in Estonian history, which is explored in the context of this article. With the establishment of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, opportunities for women to pursue legal education increased significantly. However, securing professional positions remained challenging due to societal prejudices and fierce competition from male lawyers. The article examines the development of the notary profession as state officials and the requirements for becoming a notary in the newly independent republic. It also analyzes the risks associated with running an independent practice during the economic crisis of the 1930s and how these challenges influenced the notary profession. Ilma Sarepera’s career also provides insight into the complex years of World War II and the occupations, and how this period impacted the legal system and the notary profession in Estonia.