Ania Aizman

Ania Aizman teaches Russian, Eurasian, East European, and Central European culture at the University of Chicago, focusing on literature, film, anthropology, and history. Her current book project, “Anarchist Currents in Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Pussy Riot,” shows that an intellectual and artistic anarchist culture has existed in Russia and among Russians abroad for over 150 years. She argues that the arts, whether elite or popular, are key to understanding the unlikely survival of anarchist ideas in Russia. Another concurrent project is a study of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has transformed the politics and cultures of radical anti-authoritarian groups, such as anarchists, in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.