Arrangement

The term "modernization" was the main buzzword during Dmitri Medvedevs's presidency. "Modernization" supplanted and to some extent subsumed other slogans about Russia’s development – transition, westernisation, privatisation, rule of law, democratisation or sovereign democracy. However, the choreographed switching of political roles between Medvedev and Putin in 2012 dampened the hopes of those who saw Medvedev as an independent and more progressive political force in Russia.

In light of these events, the conference will discuss several questions: Was “modernization” first and foremost a rhetorical tool, or was substantial change on the agenda? Is “modernization”, as formulated by Medvedev, a dead project? The challenges that modernization was meant to address have not disappeared – what is the place of these challenges on the Russian political agenda today.

This conference is the capstone event of the project Modernization and the Russian North (MODNORTH, 2011-2013) led by Elana Wilson Rowe at NUPI and involving a network of national and international partners. The project is supported by the NORRUSS programme of the Norwegian Research Council.

A Special issue of Nordisk Østforum was published after the conference.

PROGRAMME:

09:00	Welcome address – Indra Øverland, NUPI
09:10	Dmitri Trenin: Russia and the world: The importance of being modern
09:40	Panel 1: Political modernization?
	Chair: Julie Wilhelmsen, NUPI
	Vladimir Gel'man: “Freedom is better than non-freedom”: unintended consequences of rhetorical liberalization
	Irina Busygina: The Open Government initiative
	Natalia Moen-Larsen: Mr. President: Modernization and social media
11:10	Coffee break
11:30	Panel 2: Modernization in the regions. The case of North-West Russia
	Chair: Kirsti Stuvøy, HiL
	Andrei Mineev/Anatoli Bourmistrov: Modernization of business practices from the bottom-up. The case of North-West Russia
	Helge Blakkisrud: New approaches to regional governance
12:30	Lunch
13:15	Panel 3: Modernizing state-business relations?
	Chair: Jakub Godzimirski, NUPI
	Richard Sakwa: State-business relations and the dual state
	Richard Connolly: On the doorstep of modernity? Economic development in Putin's Russia
	Alena Ledeneva: Modernization and sistema
14:50	Closing remarks: Indra Øverland, NUPI