The Pussy Riot affair divides Russia. While polls show that many Russians, especially Orthodox believers, approve the severe punishment the band members received, others denounce it. What explains this mixed response to the two-year sentences that thousands around the world are protesting? Are there social or feminist issues that divide Russia? The panel will address this issue by looking at the local contexts to unveil the social, legal, and cultural meanings of the event.

Moderator: Olga Maiorova, CREES director. Presenters: Elena Gapova, associate professor of sociology, Western Michigan University, and European Humanities University; Holly Hughes, professor of art and design and professor of theatre and drama, U-M, and performance artist; Ekaterina Mishina, assistant professor of law, Vysshaia shkola ekonomiki, and visiting professor of law, U-M.

Part of the series Pluralism in Politics and Culture, a new initiative jointly sponsored by CREES and WCED that examines the foundations of free and open societies. The project builds on the university’s rich legacy of study and support of the dissident culture in the former Soviet Union and on several existing efforts at U-M. The series focuses on multiple facets of political pluralism, including its legal, cultural, and economic dimensions, and explore them in a broader historical context.