Postgraduate seminar by Tugrul Eroglu and Mary Oluwatosin Laval

Dear colleagues, we invite you to participate in a PhD seminar on December 15th, featuring IL SIR graduate students Tugrul Eroglu and Lawal Mary Oluwatosin. The seminar is held as part of the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research's seminar program.

Tugrul Eroglu, topic: “Digital Protectionism In Russia: Economic Motivation And Institutional Change” — 6:00 PM (18:00)

Abstract of Tugrul Eroglu’s presentation:

The growing primacy of data as both an economic resource and a perceived national vulnerability has heightened debates on digital sovereignty and the protectionist preferences used to secure it. Much of the literature treats digital protectionism mainly as an external trade or geopolitical instrument, but this can obscure the domestic conflicts through which such regimes are built and stabilized (Aaronson, 2018; 2021). Russia offers a distinctive case: it advances one of the strongest sovereignty claims in platform governance and has institutionalized sweeping restrictions and mandates to consolidate control over data infrastructures and markets (Aaronson, 2018; 2021; Remington et al., 2022). Drawing on economic-sociological and critical political-economy debates on platform power, surveillance capitalism, and institutional change (Fuchs, 2011; Castells, 2022; Zuboff, 2019), the study conceptualizes digital protectionism as a new institution that redistributes data surplus and reorganizes power relations among decision-makers, big-data firms, and netizens.

This institution is operationalized through four mutually reinforcing instruments, data localization, local content requirements, technology transfer, and barriers to entry, that translate sovereignty goals into market design and stakeholder incentives (Aaronson, 2018; Chander & Lê, 2015; Lowry, 2021; Savelyev, 2015). The study combines conceptual mapping with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Ragin, 2014) and expert interviews to identify the configurations producing high levels of digital protectionism and to examine trade-offs involving concentration, inclusivity, and innovation. The seminar will present the framework, the refined concept map of Russia’s digital protectionist regime, and the logic of the proposed empirical testing, highlighting how digital protectionism is defined and institutionalized in the Russian data economy.

Scientific supervisor:

Sergey G. Davydov - Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Senior Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research.

Discussant:

Marina V. Chernysheva - Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Chair of Economic Sociology, Senior Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research.

 

Lawal Mary, topic: “ Inclusive Education in Nigeria: Policies, Practices and Teachers Attitudes” — 7:00 PM (19:00)

Abstract of Lawal Mary’s presentation:

The goal of this research is to examine the challenges and prospects of inclusive education in Nigeria using a multi-dimensional approach. The study employs a mixed-methods methodology, incorporating a systematic review of literature, semi-structured interviews, and a survey questionnaire.

Scientific supervisor:

Elena R. Iarskaia-Smirnova — Doctor of Sociological Sciences, PhD, Professor, Head of the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research at the HSE University

Discussant:

Olga B. Savinskaya – Associate Professor at the Department of Sociological Data Collection and Analysis, Leading Research Fellow at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research.