Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen

The Research Centre for East European Studies (Forschungsstelle Osteuropa – FSO) is an independent research institute attached to the University of Bremen. It is funded jointly by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the State of Bremen. Founded during the Cold War in 1982, the FSO today combines two goals: the (re)examination of societies and cultures in the Eastern Bloc and the analysis of contemporary developments in the post-Soviet region. 

 

Archive and Research News

Now online: Discuss Data: A new repository for archiving, sharing and discussing research data on the post-Soviet region

New journal article: Gulnaz Isabekova, Heiko Pleines: Integrating development aid into social policy: Lessons on cooperation and its challenges learned from the example of health care in Kyrgyzstan, in: Social Policy & Administration » open access

New journal article: Andreas Heinrich: The advice they give: Knowledge transfer of international organisations in countries of the former Soviet Union, in: Global Social Policy » open access

New journal article: Esther Somfalvy: The Challenges to De-localising Constituencies through Electoral Reform in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, in: Europe-Asia Studies » online first

New special issue on Media Capture in the Russian Analytical Digest with contributions by Heiko Pleines, Esther Somfalvy and Anna Litvinenko » open access


 

Archive With an archive and library spezialising in the literature on dissent, emigration and repression in Eastern Europe after 1945/1953 and the political transformation after 1989/1991, the Research Centre offers scholars from the humanities unique conditions to conduct research on the history of "Dissent and Consensus" in Eastern Europe after 1945. Researchers who plan to use the archive are kindly requested to contact us 4 weeks in advance. We are extremely grateful to anyone wishing to give documents to our archive or willing to inform us of materials related to our profile! » read more

Research The guiding concept of the centre's research is "Dissent and Consensus". This posits that deviant opinions, political opposition, defiance or forms of obstinacy can only be understood in the context of the political system, its discourses and repressive measures. To this end, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and specialists in literary and cultural studies collaborate using interdisciplinary approaches. This approach places particular emphasis on the following areas: the shared worlds of representatives of dissent, consensus, state and party; networks and corruption; the functioning of (post-) authoritarian regimes. » read more