BOOK PRESENTATION 'Réflexions sur le despotisme impérial de la Russie/Reflections on the Imperial Despotism of Russia' (Payot, 2025)

Name: BOOK PRESENTATION 'Réflexions sur le despotisme impérial de la Russie/Reflections on the Imperial Despotism of Russia' (Payot, 2025)
Start: 2026-01-21T17:15:00+0000
End: 2026-01-21T17:15:00+0000

21 January 2026

Maison Française d'Oxford

Similar events

Exhibition 'The MFO Turns 80: Celebrating Research, Culture, & Science Diplomacy (1946-2026)'

30 June to 29 October

Exploring the History, Legacy, and Future of the Maison Française

Conférence Dr. Paul Smith : Les présidentielles de 2027 - décryptage

23 September

Organised in collaboration with the Alliance Française d'Oxford

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED

With author Sabine Dullin (SciencesPo, Paris)
Chaired by Andrew Kahn

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. The essay 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 reemerged in new forms. The author contends that a truly pluralistic and open Russia can only arise once Russians reject both despotism and imperial domination. The book includes an anthology of European texts from the 16th to the 21st century, examining Russia's imperial despotism, whose insights remain strikingly relevant today.