Margaret Hanson

political scientist @ASU_SPGS | Central Asian politics | governance & rule of law | migration | dogs, whiskey, & wanderings | #standwithukraine

[Matthew Kupfer @Matthew_Kupfer]

‼️Kyrgyz authorities have filed suit to shut down @kloopnews, one of the most important investigative journalism outfits in #Kyrgyzstan & Central Asia.

Reasons: Criticizing the authorities, "manipulating public opinion" and...causing "sexual anomalies"? 🫢https://t.co/AEb3O5rh9f

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

@andrewmichta *Especially* w/stress on need for model-building and generalizability if you don’t study an “important”/big country — something that strongly disincentivizes studying like countries Ukraine, Kazakhstan, etc

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

@andrewmichta Building this kind of country expertise requires (a) bringing in & supporting scholars from countries who have this deep knowledge already; (b) providing grad students & faculty with funding to learn languages and spend time conducting field research. Support for both is scarce

[Andrew A. Michta @andrewmichta]

🧵I’ve been looking as the relative analytical contributions made by universities, think tanks and research institutes to our understanding of the drivers of the Russian invasion of #Ukraine, including pre-invasion assessments, projected outcomes and how the war would unfold. 1/5

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

@akbotabox @GWtweets Congratulations 🎉!

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

A nuanced take by @AkromAvezov @Diplomat_APAC on Uzbekistan's constitutional referendum that showcases the dilemma dictators face in using law to legitimate continued control -- worth a read.

https://t.co/NgQba5TSKk

[Dr. Diana T. Kudaibergen 🌻🍉 @CreativeCorazon]

Kazakhstan is a huge country.
Here’s some starters pack to understand what’s happening.

Zhanaozen is a town in Western Kazakhstan known for its oil and gas industry.

Astana is the capital city where most power institutions are located.

[Democracy Research University Stuttgart @Demo_LabS]

Whether people support democracy is highly reliant on democracy measurements, @Chapman_HannahS and team show. Their analysis emphasizes the relevance of meaing-making on democracy and democratic norms for resilience against authoritarian tendencies. https://t.co/t37qJ6k9Ad

[The Loop. A Political Science Blog from @ECPR @ECPR_TheLoop]

🦋 #ScienceOfDemocracy No88
Amid concerns of declining support for democracy worldwide, recent research points to a way forward. @Chapman_HannahS @wanderingphd1 @vdzutsati & @poliscipaul show that how people define democracy influences their support for it
https://t.co/p4s6Of5lkl

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

I’ve seen little to indicate change from the status quo ante apart from rebranding: more parties, but same lack of meaningful choice or competition. The low turnout in cities is notable, however; speaks to popular disillusionment w/“New Kazakhstan”.

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

Great advice here:

[Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega @raulpacheco]

#ISA2023 folks, particularly graduate students. I'm going to share a couple of pieces of advice I was NOT socialized to know.

1) conferences are usually for academic networking, but can be great to get feedback. Follow up w/folks who asked you questions/discussed your paper

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

Great thread. TLDR: “Is Navalny anti-Putin? Yes. Was he wrongfully imprisoned by Kremlin for this? Absolutely. Is he anti-war? He says so. But does he reject the colonial approach & the idea of Russian superiority/dominance over other nations? Definitely not.”

[Ostap Yarysh @OstapYarysh]

Many in the West praise Russian opposition leader #Navalny and the Oscar-nominated documentary about him. But there’s something else to remember: Being anti-Putin doesn’t negate Navalny’s imperialist and chauvinist views. Let’s take a look at specific examples in this thread 🧵

[Alex Melikishvili @A_Melikishvili]

1/2 It's official! Georgian parliament votes for the second time and formally withdraws the controversial law on foreign agents. This is a victory for the Georgian people. I sincerely congratulate everyone, who stood their ground on Rustaveli. You are Georgia's European future.

[OC Media @OCMediaorg]

BREAKING: An extraordinary parliamentary session has been scheduled by Georgia's ruling party for tomorrow noon, to vote on withdrawing the foreign agent law. This follows demands by activists and opposition to formalise the party's withdrawal of the draft legislation.

[Ana Aptsiauri @aptsiauri_ana]

Let me explain what is happening in Georgia now:

1. A group of 'former' members of Georgian Dream(the ruling party) initiated a law on 'foreign influence agents'. The law copied russian repressive legislation that banned NGOs and independent media from operating in the country🧵

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

GD temporarily retreating to diffuse the protests but *not* ditching the law that sparked them: “But the party's initial statement…made no mention of the second, more restrictive bill…and made no commitment to vote down the first bill as procedures require.”

[Eurasianet @eurasianet]

Georgian Dream's decision to back down in the face of protests marks a departure from its increasingly uncompromising approach to governing in recent years. 

But its initial statement made critics wary.

https://t.co/0tZUumdm0g

[d @dragon178991]

🇬🇪 Tens of thousands came! Georgians protesting against Russian law near the parliament.
#Georgia #Tbilisi #Tbilisiprotests

[OOIR @ObserveIR]

Trending in #PoliticalScience:
https://t.co/8i0zGPHkKC

1) The Int'l Community’s White Silence on Far-Right Terrorism (@SecDialogue)

2) Allegiance of Affluent Americans & Politics of Redistribution (@PoPpublicsphere)

3) What Do People Mean When They Say They Support Democracy?

[XSovietNews 🇺🇦 @XSovietNews]

"A repressive state isn’t the only obstacle to mass protest movements. Even without these conditions, mass antiwar protests can only occur if a large number of Russians oppose the war. There is no evidence that this is the case."

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

@Chapman_HannahS Nothing like public accountability to make things happen 😎

[Margaret Hanson @profhanson]

Excited to see this in print! And equally excited to start working on the next installment in what is a larger project on popular conceptualizations of democracy (so stay tuned).

[Dr. Hannah Chapman @Chapman_HannahS]

🚨New article alert!🚨Amid concerns over waning support for democracy worldwide, our article in @PoPpublicsphere examines what ordinary citizens mean by the term democracy and how their definitions influence democratic support. 1/3