Research links state withdrawal to radicalization in Eastern Europe
A five-year Oxford University study examines how state abandonment and market shifts drive emptiness and political unrest across Eastern Europe and Russia.
State decisions create empty places
Anthropologists found that leaving towns vacant is a choice made by governments rather than an unavoidable result of economic changes. Resources are concentrated in cities while rural areas lose investment and care from the state. This pattern has intensified in some regions due to ongoing conflict.
Residents feel left behind
People living in these shrinking communities express deep disillusionment with national institutions that neglect their needs. The research collected essays and films from sites in Latvia, Armenia, Ukraine, and the Russian Far East. These materials show how locals describe the emotional impact of living where services have disappeared.
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