Communist and Post-Communist Studies (@cpcs.bsky.social)

@cpcs.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 11:57 PM

Recently Published:

Social Media Listening Platforms in Wartime Russia: Limits and Opportunities
by Olga Logunova & Pavel Lebedev

Free access for one week: doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

The Russian online sphere today is subjected to sophisticated forms of control, including self-censorship, legal repression, and the shutdown of global platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, leaving state-controlled Russian platforms as the primary means of digital communication for the public. In this article, we explore the potential and limitations of using social media data to study cultural processes and societal dynamics within a non-transparent authoritarian context of wartime Russia as the government attempts to censor all explicit forms of political communication. Specifically, we discuss data provided by social media listening (SML) platforms and argue that, despite methodological and organizational challenges, SML in an authoritarian context offers unique opportunities to gauge cultural and social trends, particularly through the identification of micro triggers (signals) and macro patterns of online discourse. The huge volume of data extracted from SML enables scholars to explore deeper layers of information beyond mere text, including metadata from platforms such as author details and engagement metrics, and provides AI-driven analytical tools, such as sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and named entity recognition.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 2:46 AM

Recently Published:

Text-as-Data Methods to Study Mass-Media Manipulations in Autocracies
by Lanabi La Lova

Free access for one week: doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

This article explores how text-as-data methodologies can be used to reveal patterns of mass-media manipulation strategies employed in modern autocracies. First, it explains the importance of studying media strategies by reviewing literature on autocratic resilience, with a particular focus on scholarship addressing state-controlled mass-media tactics. Next, it outlines the computational methods currently used to study mass-media management, highlighting key academic contributions in the field of political communication, especially those focused on present-day autocracies. Finally, the article discusses the challenges of using text-as-data methods to study mass-media management strategies in autocracies.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 12:00 PM

Recently Published (🔆Open Access🔆):

From Restricted to Digital Fieldwork: A Renewed Methodological Framework for Russian Studies After the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
by Kevin Limonier & Maxime Audinet

doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

The “exogenous shock” provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has profoundly transformed the subfield of Russian studies, raising significant methodological and epistemological issues. Like many before them, scholars in Russian studies, mainly from Western institutions, are faced with the need to renew their research methods and sources in light of the challenging access to the research field in Russia. Rooted in discussions on the “computational turn” and digitization of area studies, this article proposes to overcome these new challenges by exploring Russia through its digital fieldwork. Over the past decade, open-source investigations have become decisive in the documentation of objects as diverse as organized crime, elite corruption, or contemporary conflicts. Generally referred to as OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), these investigative practices are made possible by the omnipresence of sensors that digitize a growing proportion of human activities and generate digital footprints. Although these sources are widely used by intelligence services, journalists, and activists, the reflections carried out to integrate them into the “toolbox” of the social scientist in Russian studies are still embryonic and deserve to be enriched. As part of this special issue, this article contributes to this effort, by reviewing the existing literature in “digital Russian studies,” highlighting key epistemological and ethical issues associated with digital investigation in authoritarian context, and proposing a draft methodological framework for potential research avenues. The result is the possibility of a fieldwork “augmented” by digital technology, the use of which proves particularly fruitful to study wartime Russian politics.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 15, 2026, 4:37 PM

Recently published:

Introduction to the Special Issue on Methodological Challenges and New Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis in the Context of War, Conflict, and Authoritarianism
by Gulnaz Sharafutdinova and Maxim Alyukov

doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered the status quo in Russian and Eurasian studies. Along with numerous moral and security implications, it has raised questions about the validity and reliability of widely used research methods in the region, placing research on Russia and Belarus on par with studies of other closed, repressive authoritarian systems, and it has placed research on Ukraine on par with studies conducted in the context of war, civil war, and violent conflict. Drawing on existing research on autocracies and conflict, this article reviews ongoing debates on the methodological, ethical, and epistemological challenges of conducting research in repressive or unsafe environments and introduces contributions to this special issue. Leveraging expertise in computational methods, ethnographic and qualitative research, survey research, and other approaches, the authors address issues of access to the field; availability, validity, and reliability of data; and ethical challenges. Based on their own ongoing research projects, they reflect on how methodological and ethical constraints shape knowledge production on autocracies and in conflict zones while offering potential “work-arounds” to overcome these barriers. This special issue demonstrates that despite these challenges, there are opportunities for productive comparative studies of authoritarian regimes across different contexts and in-depth analysis of conflict zones. However, these opportunities must be balanced with careful consideration of methodological biases, risks, ethical dilemmas, and the need for ongoing awareness of the knowledge-power nexus, which inevitably elevates some scholarly perspectives while marginalizing others.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 6:14 PM

The article addresses an important gap in the literature by examining how ordinary citizens perceive civic activism and what motivates engagement. The article should be an important reference in future debates on civil society, civic participation, and democracy promotion.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 6:14 PM

The award recognizes cross-regional collaboration in published research on the communist or post-communist world. Among a strong field of nominees, this article stood out for the elegance of the research design, the novelty of the comparison, and the enduring value for both research and education.

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 6:14 PM

The editorial team at CPCS congratulates the winners of the inaugural Global Collaborative Research Award:

Dorota Pietrzyk-Reeves and Paula M. Pickering, "Perceptions and Drivers of Civic Activism: The Cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Poland."

doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

@cpcs.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 1:29 PM

The September issue is out! Featuring a long-awaited special section on Methodological Challenges and New Approaches to Data Collection and Analysis in the Context of War, Conflict, and Authoritarianism, guest edited by Gulnaz Sharafutdinova and Maxim Alyukov.

online.ucpress.edu/cpcs/issue/5...