Professional Affiliation

Senior Researcher, University of Bern

Expert Bio

Alina Polyakova's research examines radical right movements in Europe, with a specialization on Ukraine. Polyakova is currently a Senior Researcher at the University of Bern, where she's working on a book manuscript on post-Soviet identities and the Ukraine crisis. The book is partially based on her doctoral research for which she interviewed over 100 radical right activists in Ukraine. Polyakova holds a Ph.D. (2013) in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a former Fulbright Scholar, National Science Foundation Fellow, and graduate of Emory University. Polyakova speaks German, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Wilson Center Project

"From the Provinces to the Revolution: Euromaidan and the Transformation of the Ukrainian Far Right"

Project Summary

The research project compares the on-the-ground mobilization practices and organizational evolution of the Ukrainian far-right movement before and after the 2014 Euromaidan protests. Specifically, the research asks why Euromaidan resulted in a paradoxical outcome for the far-right movement: rather than rewarding the fast-rising far right for participating in a successful and highly visible pro-democracy uprising, Euromaidan relegated the far right to political marginality.

Major Publications

Polyakova, Alina. 2014. “From the Provinces to the Parliament: Nationalism in the Galician Heartland.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 47(2):211-225.

Polyakova, Alina. Forthcoming 2014. "Parties and Subcultures in the Process of Mobilization: The Internal Dynamics of the Radical Right in Ukraine." Forthcoming in Transforming the Transformation, edited by M. Minkenberg. Routledge Press.

Polyakova, Alina (with Neil Fligstein and Wayne Sandholtz). 2012. “European Integration, Nationalism, and European Identity.” Journal of Common Market Studies 50(S1):106-122.