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Immensely grateful to the Kazakh women activists & experts Raushan Zhandayeva, Diana Kudaibergenova, Olga Veselova, Aigerim Kussaiynkyzy, Laura Vaigorova, and Leyla Makhmudova) for taking the time to share their experiences and expertise.

I would be happy to share a PDF with anyone interested.

After losing my previous job earlier this year, really didn’t think it would be possible to stay in the human rights/ democracy space given *gestures wildly*, let alone to keep working on Eastern Europe/ Eurasia.

Feel lucky to be able to keep doing both

Including features from @rebeccalroot.bsky.social, @kayagenc.bsky.social, @emilycouchuk.bsky.social,
@martinbright.bsky.social, @nikwilliams.bsky.social, @katiedd.bsky.social, and many others.

With sincere thanks to EuroMaidan Press’s Alya Shandra, AutoMaidan’s Kateryna Butko , New Voice Ukraine’s @vagrantjourno.bsky.social & the Ukrainian Security & Cooperation Center’s Dmytro Zhmailo for their insights

I (unfortunately) wrote this before the protests against the erosion of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, but I think their occurrence speaks to the broader point of the piece

“I’m going to have some chai tea and naan bread on maidan square”

No need to lionise a man who - among other things - slashed the country’s welfare system and enabled the mass incarceration of black Americans

The article is available for free via Sage Journals. Also happy to share their important work PDF if anyone would like it

journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.11…

Obviously there’s far, far more at stake here than my job. What’s happening is symptomatic of how this administration is turning this country into a fascist, authoritarian state.

I’ve seen the writing on the wall since the EO came out& thought that would inoculate me against the inevitable but it’s still a blow. Knowing that I’m doing something - however small - to support 🇺🇦 in its fight for freedom has been what’s kept me going - it’s hard not to feel unmoored now