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Abstract:

How do researchers feel in the post-Soviet academia? How do they navigate between the rigid guidelines of the ministry of science and local universities concerning curricula and research activities, the political framework and academic freedom? What is allowed and what is not, and where are the limits of what is possible and deserving of academic fervour? This contribution will address these questions, but also how researchers discipline themselves and normalise a range of self-controlling behaviours and practices to avoid harm and safeguard academic careers. At the same time, it discusses how all this impacts on knowledge production in the region. The contribution draws on research notes taken during ongoing fieldwork.