Fellows Research

Although the post-Soviet context has highlighted how shortcomings in the rule of law may inhibit democratization, courts have played instrumental roles at critical historical junctures.

This research conducts a most-similar-systems analysis to assess the influence of judicial intervention in recent electoral revolutions.

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Courts and Election Disputes in Democracy’s Gray Zone: An Analysis of Armenia and Georgia (63KB.pdf)

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Although the post-Soviet context has highlighted how shortcomings in the rule of law may inhibit democratization, courts have played instrumental roles at critical historical junctures.

This research conducts a most-similar-systems analysis to assess the influence of judicial intervention in recent electoral revolutions.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.
Bryon Moraski, of the University of Florida, was a 2008-09 Short-Term Travel Grants fellow.

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Courts and Election Disputes in Democracy’s Gray Zone: An Analysis of Armenia and Georgia (63KB.pdf)

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The primary focus of this research was to examine the discourse of Armenian policy vis-à-vis Iran.

There are important geopolitical factors that define the relationship in its present form such as Armenia’s persistent fear of isolation in the region, particularly in the sphere of energy transportation, along with a desire to counterbalance Turkey and Azerbaijan.

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Between East and West: Armenia’s Relations with Iran (49KB.pdf)

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This project examines the evolution of Soviet attitudes toward race and racial diversity by focusing on the encounter between Soviet society and the “idea of Africa.”

Soon after the October Revolution of 1917 Africa and people of African descent came to figure prominently in the narrative of the young Communist nation.

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An Exotic Subversive: Africa, Africans, and Blackness in Soviet Popular Culture and Imagination (68KB.pdf)

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My research explores how in the mid-nineteenth century Russia joined other European governments in sponsoring the hajj.

It seeks to show that there was a gradual shift in tsarist policy away from sporadic, unsuccessful attempts to ban the hajj in the early part of the nineteenth century, toward a policy of official support for it, beginning in the 1840s and lasting until the collapse of the empire.

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Imperialism through Islamic Networks: The Hajj and Russian Influence in the Ottoman Arab World (56KB.pdf)

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This research assesses why collective action by the political opposition has been so difficult in the postcommunist world.

Especially in countries like Kyrgyzstan, where the costs of political opposition have been relatively low until recently, one might have expected closer cooperation between members of the opposition in order to advance their policies, further their careers, and prevent the excessive concentration of power in the hands of the authorities (vlast’).

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Why Opposition Elites Fail to Cooperate? Kyrgyzstan and the Postcommunist Experience (53KB.pdf)

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The purpose of this research was to investigate the social causes and cultural meanings of a relatively new trend in East European urbanism—the proliferation of walled-off or gated residential spaces.

Case study research was conducted in fast-growing neighborhoods of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, where the trend has become extremely prominent in recent years.

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Post-communist Gates: The Causes and Meanings of Walled-off Residential Spaces in Sofia, Bulgaria (61KB.pdf)

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This research explores the restructuring of social welfare provision in Russia by examining state-run projects to promote youth voluntarism. In Russia, youth are the new subjects of state policy.

Via a national project of “patriotic education” and new pro- Kremlin youth organizations, youth are encouraged into diverse forms of civic activity. While the political role of these pro-Kremlin organizations has been widely noted, their connection to social welfare and neoliberal governance has not been explored.

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Youth organizations, voluntary service and the restructuring of social welfare in Russia (71KB.pdf)

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Taking into consideration the significant economic migrations into and out of Ukraine, this project questions the correlation between the present popularity of hip-hop and growing articulations of “blackness” and “whiteness” in Kharkiv.

It further explicates the ways in which music, migration, and the market economy influence race and class identity formation in light of economic transitions in contemporary Ukraine.

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Sampling Blackness: Hip-Hop, Black Identity, and Racial Status in Ukraine (58KB.pdf)

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My research studies how effective anti-trafficking films/videos/documentaries are and how (and if) they create the viewer as action-oriented citizen or how (and if) they produce only voyeurists who doubt the real dimensions of trafficking.

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Screening Trafficking in Women: Prudent or Perilous (60KB.pdf)

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