Decolonial Research Initiative

On Monday (20/04), Anton Saifullayeu and Tatsiana Astrouskaya will be at Stony Brook University, presenting Digital Authoritarianism and Postcolonial Nationalism in Belarus as part of the Frontiers of Change: Understanding Eastern Europe and Eurasia series, organized by Izabela Kalinowska.
Izabela, Tatsiana, and Anton are all members of the Decolonial Research Initiative (University of Warsaw), and the visit will also serve as a kind of off-site seminar for the Initiative.
If anyone is there and would like to join — you’re very welcome.

We are excited to announce that in mid-January, the Decolonial Research Initiative (DRI) was officially established as a research group at the Institute of Central and Eastern Europe Intercultural Studies, University of Warsaw.

DRI emerged from the webinar series “Decolonial Shaping of the Post-Soviet World,” launched in early 2025. Our mission is to develop decolonial research approaches to the Global East, with a particular focus on the post-imperial space of Russia and the former USSR.

We aim to foster a collaborative network where joint research and teaching projects can emerge, guided by engagement, dialogue, and active networking.

📅 Upcoming DRI events in 2026:
• 10 March – webinar/Ukrainian context
• 09 April – webinar on decolonial tools in historical research in Eastern Europe
• May–June – webinars focusing on Central Asian countries
• Early July – possible seminar in Warsaw
• Late September/October – one-day online conference
• Second half of 2026 – finalization of a book project

We are looking forward to fruitful collaboration and building a vibrant, interdisciplinary network of scholars dedicated to decolonial approaches in the Global East.
If you are interested in collaborating within the Initiative, please write to [email protected]

We started a few minutes ago with a webinar on decolonisation in the context of Dagestan. If you want to join us write an email to [email protected]

Dear Friends,
We would kindly remind you that there is 1 day left until the webinar. You can still register using the link below. Registration will close on 10.12.2025 at 10.00 (CET). Those who have already registered will receive the link tomorrow

5th webinar in the series "Decolonial Shaping of the Post-Soviet World"

🗓 Date: December 10, 2025, 18:00 (CET).
📍 Platform: Zoom
🔗 Register here: http://forms.gle/qTecpj9H5z11w6F97
📩 The Zoom link will be sent 2 days before the event.

🎙 Lecture: Decolonization Without the Soviet Lens: Case of Dagestan.
Decolonial narratives and practices inspired by religion receive significantly less attention in academic writing than their secular counterparts. When religion is acknowledged, it is often regarded merely as a component of cultural heritage or identity.
Dagestan is a peripheral republic that remains in a quasi-colonial relationship with the federal center. Over the past 30 years, it has experienced processes of detraditionalization, urbanization, and securitization. State violence and the persecution of Salafi-oriented Muslims have provoked resistance. However, this resistance has ultimately led to either withdrawal into Islam-inspired social spaces within the republic or emigration.
In this study, I examine the narratives of Dagestani religious activists and their followers in exile, particularly in Turkey and beyond. I argue that decolonization narratives produced by Dagestani activists diverge from broader decolonial discussions in the post-Soviet space by omitting - rather than emphasizing - the Soviet era, particularly Soviet-era repressions. In my presentation, I will outline possible reasons for this omission, drawing on the "implicated subject" concept.
This presentation is based on preliminary 2024–2025 research involving in-person and online interactions with Dagestani activists in exile in Turkey and beyond.

👤 Speaker: Dr. Hab. Iwona Kaliszewska (University of Warsaw)
Iwona Kaliszewska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. Her research explores the intersections of Islam, the economy, the state, and anti-state violence, with a recent focus on war and humanitarian crises. Between 2004 and 2021, she conducted field research in Dagestan and Chechnya and, more recently, in Ukraine and the Polish-Ukrainian borderlands. Her latest book, Putin, Violence, and Sharia in the North Caucasus, was published by Cornell University Press in 2023. For more information on her publications: https://etnologia.uw.edu.pl/en/about-us/people/academic-and-non-academic/iwona-kaliszewska

💬 Moderator: Dr. Anton Saifullayeu (University of Warsaw)
🗣 Discussant: Prof. Blackwood-Kalinowska (Stony Brook University)

We look forward to your participation!

5th webinar in the series "Decolonial Shaping of the Post-Soviet World"

🗓 Date: December 10, 2025, 18:00 (CET).
📍 Platform: Zoom
🔗 Register here: http://forms.gle/qTecpj9H5z11w6F97
📩 The Zoom link will be sent 2 days before the event.

🎙 Lecture: Decolonization Without the Soviet Lens: Case of Dagestan.
Decolonial narratives and practices inspired by religion receive significantly less attention in academic writing than their secular counterparts. When religion is acknowledged, it is often regarded merely as a component of cultural heritage or identity.
Dagestan is a peripheral republic that remains in a quasi-colonial relationship with the federal center. Over the past 30 years, it has experienced processes of detraditionalization, urbanization, and securitization. State violence and the persecution of Salafi-oriented Muslims have provoked resistance. However, this resistance has ultimately led to either withdrawal into Islam-inspired social spaces within the republic or emigration.
In this study, I examine the narratives of Dagestani religious activists and their followers in exile, particularly in Turkey and beyond. I argue that decolonization narratives produced by Dagestani activists diverge from broader decolonial discussions in the post-Soviet space by omitting - rather than emphasizing - the Soviet era, particularly Soviet-era repressions. In my presentation, I will outline possible reasons for this omission, drawing on the "implicated subject" concept.
This presentation is based on preliminary 2024–2025 research involving in-person and online interactions with Dagestani activists in exile in Turkey and beyond.

👤 Speaker: Dr. Hab. Iwona Kaliszewska (University of Warsaw)
Iwona Kaliszewska is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. Her research explores the intersections of Islam, the economy, the state, and anti-state violence, with a recent focus on war and humanitarian crises. Between 2004 and 2021, she conducted field research in Dagestan and Chechnya and, more recently, in Ukraine and the Polish-Ukrainian borderlands. Her latest book, Putin, Violence, and Sharia in the North Caucasus, was published by Cornell University Press in 2023. For more information on her publications: https://etnologia.uw.edu.pl/en/about-us/people/academic-and-non-academic/iwona-kaliszewska

💬 Moderator: Dr. Anton Saifullayeu (University of Warsaw)
🗣 Discussant: Prof. Blackwood-Kalinowska (Stony Brook University)

We look forward to your participation!