About
Dr Matthew Frear is a Visiting Lecturer in East European Politics. His research interests focus on non-democratic rule and opposition politics in the post-Soviet space, especially Belarus. He has been a member of CREES since 2005, initially as a taught Masters student, then as a doctoral researcher, and from 2011 as a member of the academic staff.
Qualifications
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Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2012
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PhD in Area Studies (Belarus), University of Birmingham, 2011
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MSc in Contemporary Russian and Eastern European Studies, University of Birmingham, 2006
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BA in Modern Languages (German and Russian), University of Bradford, 1996
Biography
Since completing his doctoral research on contemporary Belarus at CREES in 2011, Matthew has taught at both the University of Birmingham and Aston University, and is currently a Visiting Lecturer in East European Politics. He has also been deployed as an international election observer for OSCE/ODIHR in Ukraine and Belarus.
Matthew has contributed to policy discussions and briefings on Belarusian politics at a number of UK governmental bodies, international organisations and think-tanks. His papers have been presented at academic conferences in the UK, Europe and North America.
He has extensive in-country experience and knowledge of the region, having lived, worked and studied in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus on numerous occasions since the mid-1990s. His language skills include advanced Russian and a good comprehension of Belarusian and Ukrainian.
Teaching
Undergraduate courses taught
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Contemporary Russian and Eastern European Politics (Level I) and Advanced Contemporary Russian and Eastern European Politics (Level H)
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Cultural Politics of Russia and Eastern Europe (Level I) and Advanced Cultural Politics of Russia and Eastern Europe (Level H)
Postgraduate courses taught
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Russian and Ukrainian Politics and International Relations
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Readings in Russian and East European Studies
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Researching Russia and Eastern Europe
Research
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Authoritarian Consolidation and Non-Democratic Regimes
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Opposition Politics, Popular Protest and Democratisation
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Belarusian and Ukrainian Studies
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International Politics in the Shared Neighbourhood
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Nationalism and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space
Other activities
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Member of the British Association for Slavic and East European Studies (BASEES)
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Member of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN)
Publications
Frear, M. The Lukashenka Years: Adaptive Authoritarianism in Belarus, London: Routledge (under contract)
Frear, M. (forthcoming, 2013) ‘Belarus: Player and Pawn in the Integration Game’ In Dragneva, R. and Wolczuk. K. (eds) Eurasian Economic Integration: Law, Policy and Politics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (under contract)
Frear, M. (forthcoming, 2013) ‘The Parliamentary Elections in Belarus, September 2012’ Electoral Studies
Frear, M. (2012) ‘2012 Belarus Parliamentary Elections: Same as It Ever Was’, The Monkey Cage
Frear, M. (2012) ‘Opposition Strategies for the 2012 Elections in Belarus’, Baltic Rim Economies Quarterly Review, issue 3, June 2012
Frear, M. (2011) ‘The EU and Belarus after the 2010 Presidential Election’, Baltic Rim Economies Quarterly Review, issue 2, May 2011
Frear, M. (2010) ‘Friends or Foes? Developments in Relations between Russia and Belarus’, Russian Analytical Digest, November 2010, No.87
Frear, M. (2009) ‘Authoritarian Consolidation and Adaptation. The Case of Belarus’, Das Ende des Postsozialistischen Raums? (Ent-)Regionalisierung in Osteuropa: Beiträge für die 17. Tagung junger Osteuropa-Experten, Bremen: Forschungsstelle Osteuropa