Book Talk- Caring Like a State: The Politics of Russia's Demographic Crisis
Tue, Nov 10 · 4:00 PM 1957 E St NW · Foggy Bottom
Room 212. The post-Soviet Russian state has long been haunted by the specter of a dwindling population. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and despite well-publicized pro-natalist campaigns, the population has continued to contract, raising doubts about the state’s capacity to care effectively for its citizens. The talk draws on Inna Leykin's book Caring Like a State: The Politics of Russia's Demographic Crisis that explores the national preoccupation with demography from the dissolution of the Soviet Union to the full-scale invasion of sovereign Ukraine. Moving beyond policy analysis, it focuses on the role of socio-demographic knowledge in shaping how the state defines social problems, identifies target populations, and determines who should be the object of state care and intervention. By tracing the circulation of demographic knowledge across expert communities, state institutions, and everyday life, the book shows how the “demographic crisis” has been socially organized and how responses to it generate alternative understandings and practices of care that do not always align with state visions. The discussion will be moderated by Ivan Grek, Director of the Russia Program.
