Institute of Criminology: Book Talk 'Russia in Four Criminal' Federico Varese in discussion with Michela Wrong

Book Talk 'Russia in Four Criminals' (Polity Press, 2024), hosted by the Violence Research Centre.

Federico Varese, Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, Paris and Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford in discussion with Michela Wrong, journalist and author

What can four criminals tell us about the fate of a nation? In this discussion, Federico Varese presents his new book, which traces Russia's turbulent transformation from the late Soviet period to the Putin era through the lives of four figures: a traditional mobster, an oligarch, a prison drug-dealer who documented state-sanctioned torture, and the architect of the world's most dangerous computer virus.

Together, their stories illuminate how corruption, the weaponisation of law enforcement, and the entanglement of crime and politics did not emerge overnight — but were built, decade by decade, into the foundations of the Russian state. Varese also turns a critical eye on the West's willingness to look away, first under Yeltsin and then under Putin, and asks what that complicity has cost us.

Federico Varese, Professor of Sociology, has written extensively on the Russian mafia, Soviet criminal history, Russian dissidents, migration of mafia groups, Somali piracy, the drugs trade, and cybercrime. He is the author of many academic papers and three award-winning books: The Russian Mafia (2001), Mafias on the Move (2011), and Mafia Life (2018). 

Michela Wrong is journalist and author of acclaimed investigations into corruption and state failure across Africa. Her most recent book, Do Not Disturb (2021), examines political murder and authoritarian entrenchment in Rwanda under Paul Kagame.

This event is open to all. Registration is required at: www.ticketsource.com/institute-of-criminology-university-of-cambridge