The Hannah Arendt
Research Center
bridging social science and civil society
in Russia and everywhere
We do research and advocate for dialogue, solidarity, responsibility, and human rights to nurture sustainable peace, social justice and human dignity. We also inform social and ethical policies for civil society – in the context of Russia and beyond.
the scope of our work
research
We study civil society, inequality and identity in Russia through the lenses of sociology, psychology, economics, linguistics and data analysis.
Key ethical principles of our work are: intersectionality, decolonialism, participation, non-harmfulness, and a reflexive stance.
civil society in 2024 russia: the study
We look into the current state of Russian civil society, identify its key strengths and weaknesses, forecast its possible options, and formulate area specific recommendations for the donors and allies to support civil society initiatives and practices in modern Russia.
permitted – prohibited
A sociological study of state violence and and the public's perception of it, carried out at the request of the Commitee Against Torture.
perceptions of repressions and political persecution in Russia
How do Russians in 2024 describe, justify and critique repression?
In people's eyes, what makes something a political repression? How fluid are perceptions of the causes and consequences of repression, and what can change them? Finally, how can these perceptions be measured through surveys?
A public report on the research is coming soon.
poverty penalty. employment and mobilisation
A quantitative study of the relationship between mobilisation and the rise in unemployment after the outbreak of war.
What are the vulnerabilities of certain people to mobilisation, whether it depends on access to information and cultural consumption, on the state capacity, or on basic socio-economic well-being.
our research interests
peacemaking, sociology of human rights and activism, life trajectories and educational choices of high school students, research on the new social class of IT specialists, impact of the therapeutic turn on society in a dictatorship, historical memory of the Soviet Union and the 1990s, archive of qualitative panel data on Russians according to international standards
If you'd like to work on these topics, drop us an email to discuss how we can explore them together!
activism
As a result of our research, we sometimes launch activist projects based on the needs identified.
Our first major offshoot project is Shpargalka (the Cheat Sheet).
We created the Cheat Sheet after studying the wartime Russian education system and the life paths available to today's high school students. The separation of students, parents and teachers makes it difficult to get answers and support in difficult educational situations.
The Cheat Sheet is:
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A hotline for legal, psychological and communication help at school, accessible via a Telegram bot. The chat room is staffed by volunteers and the answers are provided by professionals.
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Our own alternative methods for «Talking About What Matters», originally a compulsory school subject aimed at indoctrinating children. When we first started introducing advocacy sessions in schools, it was very important for us to help concerned teachers and parents cope with the unpredictability of the situation. Our toolkits are fully aligned with the themes of the Russian Ministry of Education, but instead of pseudo-patriotism, they teach critical thinking, dialogue and interaction through games, debates, tests and experiments.
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A news channel on school issues. It publishes answers to questions about school, expert commentaries on education news, school research and other useful information.
The second is a project with the working title «Rhizome».
It is a platform for mutual support of civil society actors, and a resource center for initiatives.
We will have more to say about this very soon, following the completion of the 2024 Civil Society Study, which led us to identify the need for this project.
consulting
We have experience in conducting research, collecting and analysing big data, and dealing with socially and emotionally complex topics. And we're ready to share it!
We work with qualitative and quantitative data, use AI, conduct and facilitate horizontal events, mediate conflicts, evaluate the effectiveness of programmes and strategies, and much more.
What we can help with:
Let’s talk and make changes together!
