It’s strange: So many years later, here in the United States of America, I feel like I’m living in a country threatening to become like Vladimir Putin’s Russia, which I spent years experiencing earlier in this century. Let me tell you a little something about that.

For decades as a young adult, I lived and traveled in Russia. I was an anthropology doctoral student and human rights worker, studying the effects of Putin’s centralizing policies and of the country’s Christian nationalist media on the everyday lives of Russians. In one of my last projects, I investigated the government’s practice of separating kids with disabilities — and poorer kids generally — from their parents and detaining them in closed institutions. My report detailed how much changes in society when the government excl

See Full Page