Publications

    Imperialism and Ethnonationalism in Russia’s Turbulent Years (1989–1994) – How Narratives of Unjust Borders Shaped Putin’s ‘Time Bomb’ Metaphor

    2025•Nationalities Papers

    The article explores the interplay between imperialism and ethnonationalism, revealing how these seemingly conflicting ideologies coalesced in Russian political thought. The period of 1989–1994 saw a struggle between civic nationalism, which sought to redefine Russia within its existing borders, and imperialist-nationalist currents that viewed Soviet disintegration as a geopolitical catastrophe. Within this ideological conflict, the “time bomb” metaphor emerged as a potent rhetorical device, encapsulating anxieties about territorial fragmentation and national decline. The study identifies Russian émigré intellectual Gleb Rahr as a key figure in introducing the metaphor, later popularized by figures such as Dmitry Rogozin and Vladimir Putin.

    Political Narratives in the Spirit of Russian Propaganda: A Report on Their Presence in Polish Scholarly Literature, 2014–2024 (IN POLISH)

    2025•Mieroszewski Centre

    Russian propaganda does not operate only in the media and politics. Its influence reaches deeper – into the world of academia as well. The Mieroszewski Centre’s report “Political Narratives in the Spirit of Russian Propaganda: A Study of Their Presence in Polish Scholarly Literature, 2014–2024” shows that narratives characteristic of the Kremlin – from “corrupt Ukraine” to “Crimea has always been Russian” – also appear in Polish academic publications. They are usually criticized or merely reported, and less often endorsed. Yet their very presence in academic language means they can – often unintentionally – reinforce Russian messaging in public debate. The report, authored by Dr Ernest Wyciszkiewicz and Dr Bartłomiej Gajos, is the first study in Poland to systematically analyze the presence of pro-Russian narratives in Polish academic literature in the social sciences and humanities. The researchers examined over 208,000 publications from 2014–2024, using AI tools, text-mining, and a custom list of 44 narratives derived from Russian propagandistic discourse.

    Inconvenient Anniversary: October Revolution Day in the Polish People’s Republic, 1957–67

    2019•Acta Poloniae Historica

    This article shows how the leaders of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) tried to incorporate the October Revolution into the Polish culture of remembrance. The author concentrates his attention on two round anniversaries (in 1957 and 1967) and describes the limits, zig-zags, and paradoxes of the official politics of memory conducted by the PZPR. He argues that although the Soviet leaders conceived the anniversaries of the October Revolution as a means of strengthening the friendship between the nations, in the case of Poland, they created an opportunity to advance arguments for easing Soviet domination. The author also points out that both the Soviet and Polish cultures of remembrances shared one feature in common: by the late 1960s, the theme of the Second World War started to overshadow all other events from the past, including fi rst and foremost the October Revolution.

    (R)evolutionary memory in Tambov (1991-2017), in: Circles of the Russian Revolution. Internal and International Consequences of the Year 1917 in Russia, ed. Ł. Adamski, B. Gajos, Routledge 2019, p. 242-269

    2019•Routledge

    The Tambov case should be seen as a pars pro toto of the process whereby Russia's Soviet past is being reinterpreted, with state authorities undertaking to fashion a new public memory of that time. And when it comes to the October Revolution this memory very much lends itself to highly conflicting argumentation.

    Fading Red October: Soviet Youth and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the October Revolution

    2018•Revolutionary Russia

    Grand anniversaries are always treated by politicians as an opportunity to exploit history in accordance with their political agenda. This article explores how the CPSU and the Komsomol used the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution in order to shape the post-war generation. Preparations and celebrations of this event demonstrated that the ultimate aim embodied by the October Revolution - building communism - wasn't appealing for young Soviet citizens and the CPSU struggled to win over hearts of young people. The fiftieth anniversary also showed that the October Revolution started to lose its central place in the Soviet pantheon of memory, as the main goal of the Soviet power evolved from striving to create utopian claseless society to defend and preserve the existing regime. It was one of the reasons why the Great Patriotic War started to overshadow the memory of the year 1917 and consequently became the event around which all others revolved.

    The Fiftieth Anniversary of the October Revolution (1967) – a Generational Turnover and the Politics of Memory of the USSR

    2018•Studia z Dziejów Rosji i Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej

    The celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution revealed significant changes in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s politics of memory. The events that took place in Petrograd – long a focal point of social memory – no longer carried, by the 1960s, the same symbolic power to mobilize society behind the Party’s goals as the Great Patriotic War did. After the official reinstatement of Victory Day celebrations in 1965, the October Revolution gradually began to lose its prominence and its central place in the collective memory of the Soviet people.