Research

Research is conducted in two departments - “History and Culture” and “Politics and Economics” - under the joint theme “Between Dissent and Consensus”. The regional focus of the department “History and Culture” lies on the Soviet Union and the countries of Central Eastern Europe, especially Poland and Czechoslovakia. After the EU’s Eastern Enlargement, the department “Politics and Economics” investigates mostly the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The shared concept “Between Dissent and Consensus” aims at the analysis of biographies, discourses, forms of action and networks in state socialism and in post-socialist societies, covering the full spectre and oscillations of human action from opposition and non-conformism to acceptance and support. In this context communication and interaction with the institutions of the state are researched. The scholars from disciplines like history, political science, literature and cultural studies analyse shared worlds of actors from dissent, consensus, state and party, informal networks and corruption and functioning of (semi)authoritarian regimes.

The research projects focus, firstly, on the question under which conditions people develop and present diverting opinions. Secondly, we investigate the different relations between official and unofficial discourses, the forms of actions and protests practiced by dissidents, their networks and organisations. Thirdly, we examine how the state and the party reacted, which kind of repression was employed and how harassment and violence impacted on dissidents and non-conformists and marked their lives.

The majority of our research projects are based on sources and data available in the Research Centre’s own archive. Furthermore often projects contribute to our archival holdings and data collections by generating or acquiring new materials. There are also several pure data collection projects, namely by the Department of Politics and Economics. The archival collection on dissent, protest and political movements is continuously updated to the present time, e.g. with a collection of self-published documents from political parties and civil society organisations from Russia and Poland. Most recently the Research Centre has started to compile a comprehensive collection of data on political protests in Russia and Ukraine and to create a virtual research environment with the help of external funding.

The Research Centre has developed a comprehensive supervision and training programme for early stage researchers.

It regularly conducts conferences and workshops, often in cooperation with international project partners.