Understanding Belarus: Suggested Background Reading

Chronicle from Belarus

Texts chosen to give a brief overview and introduction to the evolving situation in Belarus.

Volnaja mova
Original BE Вольная мова
[Free language] — A platform for organizing online meetings for people who would like to make their passive Belarusian language active.
Talaka
Original LT and RU Cycle of documentaries "Talaka" about Belarusian activists with Maksimas Milta, LRT Plius, October 2021-Ongoing.
Flying University
Original RU and BE #ReBelarus: "Четвертая Республика". Аналитический проект
[#ReBelarus: "The Fourth Republic". Analytical project] for Flying University - fly-uni.org, July 25, 2021-Ongoing— An attempt to search for reasons and possible options for the future of Belarus.
Constitution of New Belarus
Original RU Проект конституции новой Беларуси разработан общественной конституционной комиссией
[Constitution's draft of the new Belarus developed by the public constitutional commission], narodnaja.com, July 1, 2021.
dekoder
Original DE Das andere Minsk. Exkursion durch eine Stadt, die neue Bedeutung gewonnen hat
[The Other Minsk. Excursion through a City that Has Taken New Meaning], dekoder.org, July 2021.
Our people
Original RU and BE Анкеты невероятных белорусов
Portraits of incredible Belarusians], zubr.media, May-ongoing 2021.
The Sociology of Protest in Belarus - Social Dynamics, Ideological Shifts, and Demand for Change in the Slavic Review Volume 80 - Issue 1 - Spring 2021. Slavic Review is Interdisciplinary Quarterly of Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies:
- Nelly Bekus, Mischa Gabowitsch
Original EN Introduction: The Sociology of Belarusian Protest
- Nelly Bekus
Original EN Echo of 1989? Protest Imaginaries and Identity Dilemmas in Belarus
- Simon Lewis
"Tear Down These Prison Walls!" Verses of Defiance in the Belarusian Revolution
- Natallia Paulovich
How Feminist is the Belarusian Revolution? Female Agency and Participation in the 2020 Post-Election Protests
Bohdan Ben
Original EN Discover Belarus, “the country of nine million hostages,” with Belarusian writer Andrei Khadanovich, Euromaidan Press, May 28, 2021.
Coordination Council
Original RU Адвокаты с совестью и без лицензий. Правовая реальность Беларуси
[Lawyers with a conscience and without a license. Legal reality of Belarus], Coordination Council - YouTube, May 27, 2021.
Iia Kiva
Original UA «Ми вийшли на вулиці»: мистецтво протесту в Білорусі 2020 – 2021
["We went on the streets": the art of the protest in Belarus 2020 - 2021], chytomo.com, May 26, 2021.
meduza
Original RU Мы так много сделали и не смогли победить Хроника протестов в Беларуси, рассказанная их участниками. И история страны, которую написал Шура Буртин, meduza.io, May 19, 2021.
EN ‘We’re locked in with a psychopath’ The story of a changing Belarus — through the eyes of the people who live there, meduza.io, May 27, 2021.
Original RU MediaMasterskaya - A podcast about journalism and current trends in Belarus, May 2021.
Stories of people, who suffered from the arbitrariness of the security forces during peaceful actions in Belarus.
Original RU with EN subtitles Август2020. Протесты в Беларуси
[August 2020. Protests in Belarus], YouTube - #august2020voices.
The series of podcasts, which is based on the book by Vladimir Orlov "Names of Freedom", dedicated to those who from the time of Tadeusz Kosciuszko and to this day fought for freedom in its various dimensions and incarnations.
Original BE «Імёны Свабоды». Гістарычны падкаст Уладзімера Арлова
["Names of Freedom." A historical podcast by Vladimir Orlov], RFE/Radio Liberty - SoundCloud, May 6, 2021.
Analysis of Belarusian protests and its current situation in the "Whither Democracy?" Issue 1-2, 2021 of New Eastern Europe Magazine:
- Iwona Reichardt and Maxim Rust
Original EN The failure in binary thinking about Belarus
- Wim van Meurs and Olga Morozova
Original EN Belarus. Fighting for the future or the past?
- Iris Kempe
Original EN A prayer for peace in Belarus.
Talk Eastern Europe
Original EN The Story of Belarus. The nation, its history and a new hope — A new podcast documentary series explore various aspects of Belarus. This limited 10-part podcast series take a deeper look at the history, identity, economy, society, and recent political developments taking place there.
Fem Group of Coordination Council
Original RU and BE Fem Small Talk — Videointroduction of feminist group of Coordination Council
Original RU and BE Fem Group — YouTube channel of feminist group of Coordination Council.
Read about gendered dimensions of the Belarusian protests in the book of Belarusian philosopher Olga Shparaga
Original DE Die Revolution hat ein weibliches Gesicht - Der Fall Belarus. Eine Freiheitsbewegung in Europa – weiblich, friedlich, postnational
[The revolution has a female face - the case of Belarus. A freedom movement in Europe - female, peaceful, post-national], May 2021.
Tatiana Shchyttsova
Original RU Цикл видео-лекций "Беларусская революция. Начало"
["Belarusian revolution. Beginning"] for Flying University - fly-uni.org, Spring 2021 — To understand what structural prerequisites determine the key features and uniqueness of the Belarusian revolution watch a cycle of video lectures.
Belarusian poetry in special edition of Terminus Magazine
Original RU and BE, EN Poetry@TECH, Terminus Magazine - special Edition, Spring 2021.
For the historical background on Belarus read Timothy Snyder’s book “Bloodlands“.
Chronicle from Belarus in IWM Post #126 .
About history of Grodno city and its ethnical and national context read in Felix Ackermann’s book in German “Palimpsest Grodno. Nationalisierung, Nivellierung und Sowjetisierung einer mitteleuropäischen Stadt 1919-1991”.
Andreas Rostek, Nina Weller, Thomas Weiler, Tina Wünschmann about gendered dimensions of the Belarusian protests
Original DE Belarus! Das weibliche Gesicht der Revolution
[Belarus! The feminine face of the revolution], edition.foto TAPETA_Flugschrift, December 2020.
Olga Abramchik
Original RU Мы не знали друг друга до этого лета. Фильм о протестах в Беларуси
[We didn’t know each other before this summer. Film about the protests in Belarus], CurrentTimeDOC – YouTube.