As part of the ceecon26 congress, Guillaume Sauvé, 2026–2027 Fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study, researcher and lecturer in political science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and lecturer in international studies at the Université de Montréal, gives a talk on anti-war petitions in Russia.

Presentation

This presentation examines the wave of anti-war petitions that emerged in Russia in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, placing it within a longer history of public petitioning. Drawing on a corpus of 91 anti-war petitions and interviews with initiators and signatories, it shows that these mobilisations were driven less by a logic of instrumental effectiveness than by relational functions: affirming values, making solidarities visible and enabling communities to speak in their own name. A longitudinal database of nearly 1,700 petition events between 2012 and 2022 then makes it possible to trace the genealogy of this wave: the convergence, from 2019 onwards, of professional petitions and mass political petitions around cases of domestic repression, followed by the extension of this configuration to a mobilisation on foreign policy in 2022.

ceecon26

ceecon is the largest interdisciplinary congress in the German-speaking world dedicated to the study of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Bringing together researchers from some thirty countries, the congress showcases the latest research on the region and offers a setting conducive to international academic exchange. It was founded in 2022 as a cooperation between the German Association for East European Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde / DGO e.V.) and the Institute for East European Studies (Osteuropa-Institut / OEI) at Freie Universität Berlin. In 2024, the Centre for East European and International Studies (Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien / ZOiS) joined ceecon as a cooperation partner.

Under the theme “(Un)Certainties”, ceecon26 addresses the social and geopolitical uncertainties shaped by regional conflicts and wars, global crises and challenges to the international order. Through more than 70 panels, a plenary lecture and debates, researchers from a range of disciplines explore how uncertainty is experienced, negotiated and transformed across the region.

The congress brings together established and early-career researchers to discuss current research, exchange perspectives and build new connections across disciplinary and national boundaries.

Practical information

Open to the public, registration required. In-person event only, in Berlin.
More information: https://ceecon.de/