Professional Affiliation

Forschungsstelle Osteuropa  an der Universität Bremen

 

Expert Bio

Dr Alexandra Arkhipova is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the “Contemporary Folklore Monitoring” research group at the School of Advanced Studies in the Humanities, in the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. She also holds professorships at the Russian State University for the Humanities and the Russian School of Economics. She is a leading expert on political jokes, rumors, and legends, on the concept of money in traditional society, and on the anthropology of protest. Along with her research group she is currently engaged on a years-long study of "infodemia," WHO’s term for the spate of false and potentially dangerous misinformation that flows through and infects the public discourse much like a viral pandemic. Her book Dangerous Soviet Things: Urban Legends and Fear in the USSR, written with Anna Kirzyuk, won the Liberal Mission Prize for the best analysis of current events.

 

Expertise

Folklore Studies and Anthropology: Commemoration Rites and Victory Day in Modern Russia, Anthropology of Protest in Contemporary Russia, Anthropology of Money, Contemporary Russian Political Folklore, Contemporary Legends, Conspiracy Beliefs

Wilson Center Project

"Russian Political Protest in Rumor and Reality"

Project Summary

My current research is the anthropology of Russian protests and the role of rumor in contemporary Russia, under the increasing authoritarianism of the Putin government and with the influence of social media. The recent protests in support of Alexey Navalny, which have been particularly rife with competing narratives, links these two topics. In this context, my time at the Wilson Center will be spent writing two chapters for a forthcoming monograph on the topic: "The New Children's Crusade?: The first moral panic of political protest in 2021" and "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf: The Second Moral Panic of political protest."

Major Publications

Books and Edited Volumes (in Russian)

• Alexandra Arkhipova  & Anna Kirzyuk. Dangerous Soviet Things: Urban Legends and Fear in USSR. Moscow, NLO, 2019.
• Alexandra Arkhipova & Daria Radchenko, eds. Symbolic resistance. Moscow: 2016. 
• Alexandra Arkhipova. Oblomingo bird, OBS radio and other linguistic games in Russian folklore. Moscow, 2015. 
• Arkhipova Alexandra & Mikhail Alekseevsky, eds. Anthropology of Protest in Russia, 2011-2012. Tartu, 2014.
• Arkhipova Alexandra & Jacob Fruchtmann, eds. Fetish and Taboo: Anthropology of Money in Russia. Moscow: OGI & RGGU, 2013.
• Alexandra Arkhipova. Shtirlitz was walking down the corridor: how we invent jokes. Moscow, 2013. Arkhipova Alexandra and Mikhail Melnichenko (2010). Jokes about Stalin: Texts, Comments, Analysis. Moscow: OGI & RGGU. 458 pp. 

Selected papers 2014-2020

• Arkhipova Alexandra, Daria Radchenko, Kozlova Irina, Gavrilova Maria, Peygin and Nikita Petrov. The ways of Russian Infodemia; from WhatApp to the Courtroom // The Monitoring of Public Opinion [Monitoring obschestvennogo mnenia]. In Russian. 2020. # 6. 
• Arkhipova Alexandra, Brodie Ian. When rumours fly like helicopters: an international conspiracy ‘language’ for the new reality? // Social Anthropology, edited By: Laia Soto Bermant and Nikolai Ssorin-Chaikov,  Vol. 28, № 2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1469-8676.12826 (Scopus) doi: 10.1111/1469-8676.12826
• Arkhipova Alexandra, Daria Radchenko & Anna Kirzyuk. Our schmuk: Russian Folklore about American Elections // Alexandra Arkhipova, Daria Radchenko, Anna Kirzuyk. Our Schmuk: Russian Folklore about American Elections // The Journal of American Folklore. Volume 133, Number 530, Fall 2020. pp. 452-470.  DOI: 10.5406/jamerfolk.133.530.0452 
• Arkhipova Alexandra & Daria Radchenko. Hate speech of Russian-Ukrainian conflict as a weapon and a defence in Ab Imperio, 1/2008.
• Arkhipova A.S., Radchenko D.A., Titkov A.S., Kozlova I.V., Yugai E.F., Belyanin S.V., Gavrilova M.V. «Rally rebuild»: Internet in protest and protest on the Internet in Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. 2018. № 1. P. 12—35. 
• Alexandra Arkhipova, Dmitry Doronin, Anna Kirzyuk, Daria Radchenko, Alexey Titkov and Elena Ugay. Légitimation et disqualification par l’histoire dans les manifestations de rue en Russie (2011-2016) in Le Mouvement Social. # 4. 2017. Pp. 129-148. In French.
• Alexandra Arkhipova, Daria Radchenko & Alexey Titkov. «Take that, Obama»: the logics of symbolic aggression  in Ethnographic Review. 2017. Volume 3. pp 113-137. In Russian.
• Alexandra Arkhipova, Doronin Dmitry, Kirzyuk Anna, Sokolova Anna, Daria Radchenko, Alexey Titkov & Elena Ugay. Festival as a War, War as a Festival: performative commemoration of Victory Day in Forum for Anthropology and Culture. Volume 33. 2017. Pp. 84-122. In Russian.
• Alexandra Arkhipova, Kirzyuk Anna & Alexey Titkov. Alien poisoned objects in New Literature Observer. 2017. Volume 1 (146). pp. 154-166. In Russian.
• Alexandra Arkhipova & Elena Mikhailik. Soviet Things and Dangerous Signs in New Literature Observer. 2017. Volume 1 (146). pp. 130-153. In Russian.
• Alexandra Arkhipova & Manolo Alexandres. Political humour of Freedom Island: what Cubans tell of Fidel Castro in Forum for Anthropology and Culture. № 21. 2014. С. 146-150. In Russian.
• Alexandra Arkhipova & Manolo Alexandres. “He-Who-Must-Be-Named”: Taboos and the Substitutions of Fidel Castro’s Name in Cuban Folklore in SCALA NATURAE: Festschrift in Honour of Arvo Krikmann for his 75th Birthday. 2014. Pp. 291-304. In English.
• Alexandra Arkhipova & Jacob Fruchtmann. "Bait for money, cheap and fast": money magic in Russia in Forum for Anthropology and Culture. 2013. № 18. С. 134-190. In Russian.