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The Survival of the Lukashenka Regime after the 2020 Uprising and Its Manipulation of the Past
15 November 2023, 4:30 pm–6:00 pm
A SSEES Politics and Sociology seminar with David R. Marples (University of Alberta)
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
SSEES
Location
-
Masaryk roomUCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies16 Taviton streetLondonWC1H 0BW
The paper examines how the Lukashenka regime managed to survive the mass uprising in Belarus that followed the presidential elections of 2020. It highlights in particular the exploitation of historical memory and the Second World War and the creation of a new state-sponsored platform of the "genocide of Belarusians," denial of which is deemed a criminal offense. Though Russia's invasion of Ukraine has endangered the sovereignty of Belarus and undermined Lukashenka's authority, he has at the same time repressed opposition, all political parties, and controls the media and education system. In turn, official interpretations of the 'Great Patriotic War' are closely linked to those engineered by Moscow.
About the Speaker
David R. Marples
Distinguished Professor at University of Alberta
David R. Marples is Distinguished Professor, Department of History & Classics, University of Alberta and teaches Russian and East European history. He holds a PhD in Economic and Social History from the University of Sheffield (1985). At the University of Alberta he received the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research in 2003 and the University Cup, the university’s highest honour, in 2008. He is author of seventeen single-authored books and six edited books, including Stalin: His Life and Works (2022, co-authored with Alla Hurska), The War in Ukraine's Donbas (edited, 2022), Understanding Ukraine and Belarus (Bristol: E-International Relations, 2020), Ukraine in Conflict (2017), ‘Our Glorious Past: Lukashenka’s Belarus and the Great Patriotic War (Stuttgart, Germany: Ibidem Verlag, 2014), Russia in the 20th Century: The Quest for Stability (London: Routledge, 2011), Heroes and Villains: Creating National History in Contemporary Ukraine (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2008) and The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991 (London: Longman, 2004).