Director of the independent Belarusian think-tank Center for new ideas Alesia Rudnik
PhD Candidate in political science at Karlstad University Rudnik

Alesia Rudnik

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Director of the independent Belarusian think tank Center for new ideas.

PhD Candidate in political science at Karlstad University. 

Stockholm illustration

Leading a think tank, writing a PhD thesis, conducting research on technology and social movements in autocracies

ReShape Conference, organized by the Center for new ideas, June 2023challenges for the belarusian independent media reshape conference
Alesia Rudnik from Hrodna becomes European of the YearFuture Forum
who  is Alesia RudnikBelarus informational resilience forun
biography

about me

Alesia Rudnik is a PhD candidate in political science (Karlstad University, Sweden) and a director of an independent Belarusian think tank in exile Center for New Ideas.

My academic research focuses on studying human-technology relations in the context of political protests in autocracies.

My research interests and practice also include role of media in forming public opinion; co-option of digital platforms by the autocrats; female representation in the anti-autocratic social movements.

Previously, I led the organization of the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden. I am also a recipient of the Swedish award “European of the Year 2022”.

see my cv
Alesia Rudnik har utsetts till Årets Europé för sin kamp för demokratins sak i Belarus
Education event for young analytics, organized by me and my colleagues Ryhor Astapenia and Henadz Korshunau at the Center for new ideas, March 2023
European humanitarian university
political science PhD Karlstad
Presentation of Zmicer Lukashuk’s book on the Belarusian national identity, summer 2022
Discussion on the Belarusian national identity at Estniska Huset with Dmitri Plax and Zmicer Lukashuk, summer 2022
research papers and publications

My publications and research

The public role of women in the Belarusian resistance has diminished along with the rise of totalitarianism

The female face of Belarusian resistance

The public role of women in the Belarusian resistance has diminished along with the rise of totalitarianism. But they remain vital drivers for change...

The Belarusian diaspora turned into a serious force of political influence across Europe in just a matter of months

The Belarusian diaspora and its role

The Belarusian diaspora turned into a serious force of political influence across Europe in just a matter of months...

Belarus – where society is deprived of power but not agency

Belarus – where society is deprived of power but not agency

“I was terrified and scared but more than ever before I felt that I am a Belarusian and I could not stay home...

Transformation des politischen Systems / Das Regime und soziale Medien

Transformation des politischen Systems / Das Regime und soziale Medien

Das politische System, das derzeit in Belarus aufgebaut wird, ist durch eine vollkommene Absage...

The media image of Belarus abroad

The media image of Belarus abroad

Belarus generated considerable media attention in 2020, when active protests were sweeping the country. However...

Exiled, but loyal to people: The Belarusian media struggle

Exiled, but loyal to people: The Belarusian media struggle

The Belarusian political system has rarely been open to freedom of speech and press. Media outlets and the printed press...

Exiled, but loyal to people: The Belarusian media struggle

Belarusian Change Tracker, 7th Edition

Political communication analysis of the Belarusian online platforms, Telegram and TikTok

Exiled, but loyal to people: The Belarusian media struggle

Legitimierung des Regimes in Belarus

Telegram als Instrument zum Weißwaschen und zur Legitimierung des Regimes in Belarus

Machinery of Dissent

Machinery of dissent: Exploring the techno-social practices of modern protests

Focusing on the example of the Belarusian protests of 2020, this article examines the human and non-human labour behind the production of protest mobilisation content, protest coordination, and protest reporting. Based on semi-structured interviews with 18 respondents, the paper is the first to examine the practices and routines of Telegram channel editors and moderators, activists, politicians, and marketing specialists.

Co-option of Technology: Digital Repression and Legitimation Strategies of the Belarusian Regime

Co-option of Technology: Digital Repression and Legitimation Strategies of the Belarusian Regime. Communist and Post-Communist Studies

In the summer of 2020, the Belarusian regime experienced an unprecedented challenge to its power. Large-scale demonstrations erupted across the whole country as a response to a rigged election and police violence against protest participants...

TikTok and Telegram Mobilization

TikTok and Telegram as platforms for political mobilization in Belarus and Russia

This article applies previous research within social movements and democratization
studies about the use of Facebook and Twitter to instigate and
galvanize protests in autocratic countries in order to explore
how protest mobilization on newly politicized platforms such
as Telegram and TikTok is manifested.

Media comments, expert discussions, TV shows

Video materials

presentations at academic conferences

conference participation

Paper presentation: “The labour and agency behind the Belarusian protests”. 

Panel: “Community of Relations’ under threat: understanding societal resilience in theory and practice across the post-Soviet space”. 

Paper presentation: "Was Telegram a key mediator in Belarusian protest? Perspectives from the inside".

Panel: Democratic vs authoritarian resilience: the case of Belarus.   

Conference "Social Movements in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia in Times of War”.

Panel: "Belarus After August 2020 Hybrid Wars, Gender, and the Future”.

Paper presentation: "TikTok-Famous” Political Protests: Telegram and TikTok as New Protest Mobilization Platforms”.

Panel "Belarus: From the August 2020 Elections to the War on Ukraine"

Paper presentation "Telegram and Tik Tok as New Protest Mobilization Platforms”.

Scholarships and acknowledgements

awards

European of the Year Award
Swedish European movement
2022, Swedish European Movement
Swedish Institute Visby Scholarship
svenska institutet logo
2015 – 2017, Swedish Institute
The Most Outstanding Student of the BA political science track
2015, European Humanities University
Nominal grant of Professor Uladzimir Furs
European humanities university
2015, European Humanities University
extra curricular

additional education and training

/ Swedish Institute Leader Lab 2024

April - November 2024

swedish institute

/ SMM for Belarus, IPM (Belarus)

May-July 2020

ipm research center

/ Young Leadership Program at Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies

March 2019

Young Leadership Program at Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies

/ Certificate of completion of the distance course "Public Policy and Administration" at SYMPA, Minsk

September 2016

SYMPA Minsk

/ Completed “Youth in Action” Training Course in Project management, Germany

November 2015

youth in action training course

/ Completed a course, “Business and Management,” by EHU MBA

November 2012 – March 2013

EHU MBA
form for your inquires

get in touch

You can contact me here with requests regarding written analysis on Belarusian political, media and societal affairs, propose academic collaboration or invite me as a speaker to your event.

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