Boris Kagarlitsky

Boris Kagarlitsky

Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements in Moscow

Boris Kagarlitsky is a well-known international commentator on Russian politics and society. Boris was a deputy to the Moscow City Soviet between 1990-93, during which time he was a member of the executive of the Socialist Party of Russia, co-founder of the Party of Labour, and advisor to the Chairperson of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.  Previously, he was a student of art criticism and was imprisoned for two years for 'anti-Soviet' activities.

Boris' books include Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System (Pluto Press, February 2008, Russia Under Yeltsin And Putin: Neo-Liberal Autocracy (TNI/Pluto 2002) and New Realism, New Barbarism: The Crisis of Capitalism (Pluto 1999).

Work area:

Areas of expertise:

Russian Political Economy; Medvedev, Putin and Yeltsin; Russian History; Globalisation & the Crisis of Capitalism; G8

Honours/Awards:

Kagarlitsky won the Deutscher Memorial Prize for his book, The Thinking Reed: Intellectuals and the Soviet State (Verso 1988).

Media experience:

Boris Kagarlitsky writes regularly for The Moscow Times and Eurasian Home and is frequently interviewed for radio and television.

Contact

goboka [at] gmail.com

English, Russian

application/pdf iconkagarlitsky long bio.pdf

Selected publications

Empire of the Periphery
The Revolt of the Middle Class

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Recent content by Boris Kagarlitsky

The Bankrupcty of EU's No-Default Policy

April 2013
EU Crisis:
The European elite are more afraid of defaults than Russians are of revolutions.

Chavez was no Dictator

March 2013
The Russian blogosphere is sharply divided over the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, with some people expressing vulgar joy at his passing, and others pouring out passionate eulogies.

Can Russia come up with a new foreign policy strategy?

October 2012
An illuminating  essay on historical developments in Russia's foreign policy over the last century that argues that only internal political collapse now has the chance to inaugurate a new foreign policy relevant to a post-crisis world.

The World's Largest Pyramid Scheme

August 2011
The United States managed to avert a default, and that is good news. But the partisan battle in Congress sent the stock market plunging, and the decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the country’s credit rating has made matters far worse.

Privatization Follies

June 2011
Who will benefit from a second wave of privatisation in Russia?

Europe's Nationalists waiting in the dark

May 2011
Democratising Europe:
As Brussels bureaucrats and established political parties struggle to answer the current crisis caused by a faulty economic structure, right-wing nationalist parties have increasingly come to the fore in Europe, with Finland's recent election the last contribution to a worrying trend.

Link between capitalism and hunger

March 2011
Speculation on food commodities causes hunger, despite state regulations; thirty years of liberalization of the food market has resulted in a food crisis on a scale higher than ever.

Radical Retirees

February 2011
Russia's youth are much less radical or politically active than Russia's retirees - putting up little resistance as officials gradually encroach upon their rights and entitlements.

Video: Emerging Powers: Allies or Rivals?

January 2011
Corporate Planet:
The economic elites are turning to a neoliberal Keynesianism to save the crisis of capitalism, which is doomed to fail because it does not address its root causes.

The Return of Fascism

December 2010
The logic of Russian fascists has always stood in sharp contrast to the logic and traditions of the development of the nation.