Articles | Volume 81, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-297-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-297-2026
Intervention
 | 
30 Apr 2026
Intervention |  | 30 Apr 2026

Researching the authoritarian: a conversation on methodology and ethics in closed contexts

Sven Daniel Wolfe and Dasha Kuletskaya

Cited articles

America's Deportation Obsession, Caught on Tape (w/ Drew Harwell): https://www.thebulwark.com/p/americas-deportation-obsession-caught, last access: 25 February 2026. 
Andringa, P., Campbell, C., Hauslohner, A., Jalabi, R., and Bozorgmehr, N.: The Iranian school bombing and the information war, Financ. Times, https://www.ft.com/content/c0d36dc5-9668-4607-bccb-3c423e6d3865 (last access: 16 March 2026), 13th March 2026. 
Anon: Das Leben der Anderen, a film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck distributed by Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), ARTE, 2006. 
Anon: [Everything is great. I'm sleeping – Reports from “concerned citizens” about protesters | BELARUS LIVES], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8iBww226jY (last access: 28 April 2026), 2023. 
Baden-Württemberg: Anzeige wegen “Pinocchio”-Kommentars: Heftige Kritik an Polizei Heilbronn, https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/badenwuerttemberg/swr-anzeige-wegen-pinocchio-kommentars-heftige-kritik-an-polizei-heilbronn-102.html, last access: 16 March 2026. 
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Short summary
This short academic conversation covers the challenges of doing work in contexts shaped by authoritarian practices. Based on our experience living and working in many countries from the former Soviet Union, we compare these experiences with the authoritarian turn in the broader West.
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