Publications
See also Google Scholar and ORCID. Working papers are available on request.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Micromobilizing Emotion: How Feminist Anti-War Resistance Builds Affective Infrastructure in Exile
Abstract
How do grassroots feminist movements convert moral shock into sustained resistance under war, repression, and exile? This article examines the diasporic wing of the Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAR/FAS), a transnational network of Russian feminists formed in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with activists in 25 countries, it conceptualizes FAS as an affective infrastructure that joins affect, meaning, and materiality to enable emotional survival and political resistance. Extending Ward’s micromobilization model, the article advances the concept of productive mediation—a feminist process that transforms morally charged emotions into politically meaningful action and sustained participation. FAS’s repertoire—symbolic performances, embodied signals, grief activism, and care-based practices—creates an emotionally resonant, low-threshold path into and back to collective action in diasporic and authoritarian settings. The analysis shows how alignment of ideology, horizontal and decentralized structure, and ritual lowers entry costs, supports withdrawal and return after burnout, and renders dissent durable. The article contributes to three literatures: affect theory and micromobilization; feminist scholarship on exile and forced migration; and research on transnational feminist infrastructures under authoritarianism. It argues that FAS does not treat emotional labor as ancillary to politics but centers it as a generative force. Rather than merely enduring the emotional fallout of war, FAS channels difficult emotions—grief, guilt, and fear—into collective feminist action, making participation emotionally bearable and sustainable over time.
Abstract
The article is devoted to reflecting on silence and speaking in the dreams of people in Russia after the 24th of February 2022. Our two-stage analysis of dream narratives and dreamers’ comments on them uncovers several key topics related to speaking and silence. Interpreting them with the apparatus of sociology, we conclude that these dreams provide a space for restoring agency that had been lost in real life. Available both in English and Russian.
Under Review
Moral Responsibility and the Reverse Gender Gap: Political Activism Among Russian Post-2022 Emigrants
Abstract
This paper examines gender differences in political activism among Russian anti-war emigrants who left the country following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Drawing on original survey data (N = 1,734) and 68 in-depth interviews, the study analyzes participation across four repertoires of anti-war activism: street protests, digital activism, financial support for independent Russian NGOs and media, and assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Contrary to classical theories predicting lower political participation among migrant women, the findings reveal a reverse gender gap: women demonstrate higher overall engagement, particularly in beneficiary-oriented and digital forms of activism, while no significant gender difference emerges in street protest participation. The paper argues that this pattern is not primarily explained by political socialization or migration-related constraints, but by stronger war-related moral appraisals among women, especially perceived moral responsibility and support for reparative action. The study contributes to research on political participation, gender and migration, and the emotional dynamics of transnational activism under authoritarianism.
Working Papers
Citizenship as Leverage: Authoritarian Control Beyond Borders Advanced draft
Abstract
Citizenship is conventionally understood as a source of rights and protection. It is also a source of dependency: states retain distinctive authority over passports, legal identities, civil status, and mobility that citizens need even when they live abroad. Under authoritarianism, these dependencies become instruments of political control. We introduce the concept of extraterritorial authoritarian citizenship, a continuing relationship in which emigrants depend on origin-state institutions whose provision of nominally universal rights is politically conditional. It generates latent leverage: the capacity to impose costs without exercising it against anyone in particular. Emigrants may curb dissent even when never targeted, and transnational repression activates leverage already at work. Using five waves of the OutRush panel survey and 579 in-depth interviews with Russian emigrants, we show that what emigrants fear is the open-ended legal and administrative reach of the origin state rather than targeted violence, that this fear suppresses contentious activism specifically, and that only the protection of another citizenship reduces it.
The Gendered Opportunity Structure of Exile: How Host-Country Contexts Shape Migrant Political Participation Draft
Two Percent of Trust: Methodological Innovations for Retaining Fearful Respondents in Panel Surveys Draft
Work in Progress
Destination Preferences in Secondary Migration Among Politically Induced Migrants from Authoritarian States: Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment Preregistered
New Russian Migration to Latin America: Mobile Middle Classes, Flight from Illiberalism, and the Formation of New Urban Communities Analysis
Migration under Shock Conditions: Insecurity, Institutions, and Fertility Intentions Analysis
Reports & Policy Briefs
On the Move: Mobility, Integration, and Dynamics of Russian Emigration in 2022–2024
Summary
This report investigates the lives of Russians who emigrated after February 2022, based on longitudinal data from the OutRush project. The primary focus is on emigrants’ adaptation processes, political activity, and connections with Russia.
Summary
This OutRush report explores the characteristics, experiences, and motivations of Russian emigrants in Latin America, focusing primarily on those who left after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Based on responses from 938 participants, the report highlights political reasons, safety concerns, and the threat of mobilization as key drivers of migration.
Mapping and Gathering Russian Artists and Cultural Workers in Exile
Summary
This report highlights the need for targeted policies and programs that address both the contributions and vulnerabilities of cultural workers in exile. The findings are intended to inform policymakers, cultural institutions, and support organizations in developing effective strategies to support this group of exiled cultural workers.
One and a Half Years Later: Progress and Barriers in the Integration of Russian Emigrants
Summary
OutRush is a longitudinal study of Russian emigrants who left after February 24, 2022. The project tracks changes in emigrants’ lives, their relationships with host societies, and their ties with Russia. This report is based on the third wave, conducted in May–July 2023.
Book Reviews
Other Writing
Men’s Words, Women’s Work: Exploring the Reverse Gender Gap in Post-2022 Russian Emigration
Summary
Are men truly more engaged in politics, or do they just talk a good game? Since February 2022, over a million Russians have fled political repression, and among them, a surge in female activism has emerged, challenging traditional gender roles. Despite having fewer resources than men, Russian women are more politically and civically active abroad. This reverse gender gap has been observed in interviews with exiled activists and consistently documented in the OutRush survey.