{"id":2159,"date":"2025-10-29T10:26:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2026-01-15T17:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:48:14","slug":"cerees-lecture-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/2025\/10\/29\/cerees-lecture-6\/","title":{"rendered":"CEREES Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Imperial Despotism of Russia: Historical Perspectives<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When: Friday 5 December<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time: 17:00-18:00<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where: GC101<\/span>, Graduate Centre, Queen Mary University of London<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Book tickets here<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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About the Lecture:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Russian identity has long been confined by autocracy and imperial ambition, a condition that continues under Putin, whose twenty-five-year rule and the war in Ukraine reflect this legacy. Sabine Dullin emphasises that official Russian discourse, past and present, frames the role of the ruler, militarism, and imperial power as central to national identity. Even after the fall of the tsars, autocratic governance persisted, and the empire repeatedly re-emerged in new forms. Dullin argues that a truly pluralistic and open Russia can only arise once Russians reject both despotism and imperial domination<\/span>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Speaker:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sabine Dullin<\/strong> is a Professor of Contemporary History of Russia and the Soviet Union at Sciences Po and a member of the Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po. Her research focuses on the political history of the state, communism, imperial and colonial history, and the construction of borders and sovereignties. She has just published her new book, R\u00e9flexions sur le despotisme imp\u00e9rial de la Russie <\/i>(Payot, 2025).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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R\u00e9flexions sur le despotisme imp\u00e9rial de la Russie <\/i><\/a>(Payot, 2025).<\/h4>\n
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\u201cA despot and an imperial vision: this is the prison in which Russian identity has been locked up for centuries. And Vladimir Putin, in power for twenty-five years and the architect of the war in Ukraine, will not deny it! There is no doubt that a pluralistic and open regime cannot emerge sustainably in Russia as long as Russians do not also turn their backs on this imperial identity, which cloaks itself in a false anti-imperialism and a false existential defense.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the bold thesis of this essay, which continues with a selection of texts\u2014some little-known\u2014by Europeans who, from the 16th to the 21st century, have questioned Russia’s imperial despotism. Their relevance is troubling. For let us make no mistake: fascinated and critical, these texts also hold up a mirror to Europe, reflecting back to it what it was: colonial, imperialist, and fascist\u2014and what it could well become: antidemocratic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shape the Conversation<\/h2>\n

To join our mailing list, participate in our programme of events, or find out how we can support your research, please contact hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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Pitch a new CEREES Group<\/a> \u00a0\/ \u00a0Pitch a new CEREES Screening<\/a> \u00a0\/ \u00a0Pitch a new CEREES Collaboration<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imperial Despotism of Russia: Historical Perspectives   When: Friday 5 December Time: 17:00-18:00 Where: GC101, Graduate Centre, Queen Mary University of London   Book tickets here About the Lecture: Russian identity has long been confined by autocracy and imperial ambition, a condition that continues under Putin, whose twenty-five-year rule and the war in Ukraine reflect […] Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2230,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions\/2230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}