As political imprisonment has once again become a mass experience in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, questions around how to narrate the memory of repressions, and which inherited plots to use in the process, are again becoming urgent. In this presentation, Billington Fellow Anastasiya Osipova will discuss why a pre-Gulag tradition of writing about political imprisonment may be becoming increasingly relevant now in the context of the intensifying repressions. She will focus on the legacy of the publishing activity of the Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers (1921-1935) and the lessons that it carries for Eastern European political prisoners today.

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The James H. Billington Fellowship was established in 2016 in tribute to the co-founder of the Kennan Institute, former Director of the Wilson Center, and former Librarian of Congress. Dr. Billington made enduring contributions to the field of Russian Studies, and in our nation’s ability to understand and maintain bridges of dialogue with the Russian people.