Gender in Russian Politics

My name is Gina Byrne, I am a master’s student studying at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. I spent the first year of this two year degree at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in University College London.

As part of my degree, I am undertaking an internship at the Russian International Affairs Council where I am using my dissertation research to examine the future of British-Russian relations. I am focusing on how UK print media portrays the Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly in terms of gender and ‘masculinity’.

I will be examining what it is that makes Putin such a compelling figure for the British press – how he is presented to a UK audience and why certain events and photo opportunities stick in the popular consciousness of the British media much longer than political pronouncements or policy declarations.

In my research I will be drawing on many different strands of political and social theory: Butler’s ideas of gender and performativity; Hall’s theories on representation and media; Gee’s approach to discourse analysis; Foucault’s perspective on power and subversion. Furthermore, every article I consult will be compiled into a sortable, searchable database which will become available on this website when it is completed, and used as empirical evidence in my completed thesis.

This blog will be a place for me to share my findings and reflections on my research as it progresses, and to receive feedback from members of the public who are interested in gender, media or contemporary Russian politics. I will also be sharing some of the more choice extracts from the articles I am analysing – and I’m sure there will be enough of them!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon.