Dr. Ian Garner

Anyway, we might be wrong. Perhaps Russia isn't fascist. But if it isn't, its philosophy of rebirth through violence needs some new term - and there's nothing that fits better today than the f-word.

The authors of the chapters in the volume explore this central thesis from a range of angles, discussing memory politics, the Russian Orthodox Church, education systems in Russia and occupied Ukraine, and the role of military propaganda in normalizing war.

Putin's fascism is a fusion of Tsarist myths, digital propaganda, and war crimes into a new authoritarian spectacle. But digital and corporeal forces blend with historical trauma and imperial-nationalist fantasy, manifesting into real violence.

This isn’t the fascism of big institutions: physical parades, secret police forces, and political parties. It's a fascism of memes, livestreams, and pop stars singing holy war into the cultural miasma.

Russia’s war on Ukraine isn’t just imperial nostalgia or power politics. It’s the central point of a campaign of national rebirth and purification through violence: in a nutshell, destroy the other to "cleanse" the nation.

Russia and Modern Fascism | Columbia University Press Russia seems to be hurtling toward fascism. Vladimir Putin and his allies—domestic and foreign—have obliterated and colonized Ukrainian cities in a “ho... | CUP

Taras Kuzio and I have spent the last 18 months on this project. We are certain that Russia embodies a new form of 21st century fascism.

After 3 years of violent war against Ukraine and 25 years of increasing authoritarianism, it's time to finally decide:

Is Russia fascist? ⬇️

Big writing day in Warsaw. Shame one of us is sleeping through it.

I all but stopped driving on ON highways years ago. Much easier to take the back roads, tack some time onto the trip, but not die when some mad helter skelter racer tailgates me then tries to pass at 140.

Shitposting our way to the apocalypse, what a world

Looks line fascist Russia is directing tonight’s Blitz air raid against Kyiv - many drones over the city (drone sounds, explosions and anti-aircraft fire reported around the city), and 50-60 drones inbound. Some drones that flew past and went west have turned and headed back.

Last, but certainly not least, @irgarner.bsky.social examines the reconstruction of Stalingrad within the context Communist mobilization. Stalingrad existed as a site of devastating sacrifice & as site of utopian rebirth. Even after the guns went silent, the war over Stalingrad's meaning continued.

Ukrainian hack uncovers 'thousands of files' proving Russia's mass abduction of children, intelligence claims As part of the operation, Ukrainian cyber specialists gained access to servers belonging to the Russian occupation administration of Crimea, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) claims.

🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Ukraine's military intelligence agency has uncovered further evidence of Russia's mass abduction of Ukrainian children from occupied territories following a successful cyber operation, the agency reported on July 30.

kyivindependent.com/ukraine-says...

#RussianWarCrimes

Five survivors of Rotherham grooming gangs say they were also raped by police officers Three former South Yorkshire police officers arrested in investigation into claims by the women, as young as 12 at the time

God, the number of people who were willing to believe that the South Yorkshire police were too woke to prosecute sexual abuse cases, when in fact the police force was itself an instrument of patriarchal sexual violence. It’s like a case study in the worst excesses of the British press.

Media literacy - Committees - UK Parliament This inquiry will seek to establish a clear vision for what good media literacy would look like in the UK, and examine the barriers to achieving this vision. The committee will consider the roles and ...

The House of Lords just released a major report on media literacy. Its core message is that the UK is falling behind, and it’s putting democracy at risk.
committees.parliament.uk/work/9030/me...

Has the shitty, sepia-backgrounded AI image killed the good old-fashioned meme?

Russian Regions Impose Indefinite Mobile Internet Restrictions Over Security Concerns - The Moscow Times Authorities in at least a dozen Russian regions have restricted mobile internet access indefinitely, citing security concerns.

In the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, outages stretched into a fourth day on Tuesday, with local authorities calling the measure a security precaution.

at this point the best argument for faculty governance of universities is they couldn’t possibly screw it up worse than career admins

NYC Mass Shooting Was Nearly Impossible to Prevent, Experts Say

Holy shit, they did it. They wrote the headline.

You’re welcome!

Announcing the 2nd edition of Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth!

Updated with a new introduction on the accelerating violence underpinning Putinist indoctrination.

As a treat, Waterstones are giving a pre-order 25% discount. #WPreorder @HurstPublishers

‘They turn our farms into rape centres’: Russian mercenaries accused of abuse in Central African Republic A rise in sexual violence means food prices have leapt in CAR as women and girls say they fear working in the fields

"They turn our farms into rape centres": Russian mercenaries accused of abuse in Central African Republic.

Horrific but essential reading.

The face of a dog who went on holiday without us and was spoiled rotten

Russia and Modern Fascism This volume gathers leading experts in the first scholarly study of a new Russian fascism that draws on distinctly modern forms of control and violence as much as on historical precedents. An array of...

FRESH OFF THE PRESS

Edited by @irgarner.bsky.social @pileckiinstitut.bsky.social and @taraskuzio.bsky.social #NaUKMA

@ffrafaction.bsky.social @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social @komrex-unijena.bsky.social @sceeus-ui.bsky.social @wi-rex.bsky.social

Contr.:@jaroslavabarbieri.bsky.social @chathamhouse.org

How reliable is the archive? 😉

Communism: famously tolerant of quitting your job

People say it’s the end of American hegemony but every single developed country across the globe seems to be mimicking American glonzo politics so is it really the end of American hegemony?

that liminal thing when you're reading and falling asleep and start to hallucinate words on the page that aren't on the page, i love that

I think that contract has been over for a long time (probably since 2012), but the approach is soft: you don’t *notice* the state is in your device until they get you

True, but dark tech saviours don’t have a great history. See: Durov, P.