Tora Berge Naterstad

Researcher

Tora Berge Naterstad is a Researcher in NUPI’s Research Group on Russia, Asia and International Trade. Naterstad mainly works on the projects Values-based regime legitimation in Russia (LegitRuss), Dynamics of de facto state patron-client relations (DeFacto), and the Russia Network (RUSSNETT). She previously worked as a research assistant at The Lorax Project: Understanding Ecosystemic Politics (LORAX).

Naterstad holds a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Oslo. Her master’s thesis, Russian Nation Building and the Biopolitics of Defending Tradition, 2012-2021, explores how nation, body, values, and power are connected in Putin’s Russia.

Naterstad’s bachelor’s degree is in International Studies from the University of Oslo and SOAS University of London, and she has studied Russian language and society in Oslo and at Moscow Higher School of Economics. Her research interests include nationalism and politics in Russia, critical security studies, body politics, philosophy of science, and the role of identity in international relations.

EDUCATION:

2018 - 2021 MA in Political Science, University of Oslo

2016 - 2018 Russian and Russia studies, University of Oslo and Moscow Higher School of Economics

2013 - 2016 BA in International Studies, University of Oslo

WORK EXPERIENCE:

2022 - Researcher, NUPI

2020-2022 Research Assistant/Junior Research Fellow, NUPI

2021- Lecturer, International Studies, University of Oslo

2020 NUPI Graduate Research Fellow

2020 - Project assistant, University of Oslo

2020 Seminar teacher, Introduction to IR, University of Oslo

2020 Seminar teacher in International Environmental- and Resource Politics, University of Oslo

2018-2019 Seminar teacher in International Security Policy, University of Oslo

2019 Trainee, The Norwegian embassy in Moscow

2016 - 2017 HR administrator, Save the Children Norway

Publications All publications

What Now, Russologists?
Publication | 2022
- Kristin Fjæstad
- Tora Berge Naterstad
Russia’s war against Ukraine has enormous consequences. First and foremost for Ukraine, but also for Russia and its neighboring states. The war has n1
Post Post-Sovjet, stil og opprør: Symbolikk og subversiv nasjonalisme i Gosja Rubtsjinskijs «nye Russland»
Publication : Academic article | 2022
- Tora Berge Naterstad
This article explores the resonance enjoyed by streetwear designer Gosha Rubchinskiy among young Russians, and the extensive network that has emerged1

Projects All projects

Dynamics of de facto state patron-client relations (DeFacto)
Research project | 2020 - 2023 (Ongoing)
Almost all de facto states that survive for some time have a powerful 'patron' that provides security guarantees and economic support. Too often this has resulted in the de facto states simp...
Russia and Eurasia Governance Development policy Conflict

Events All events

Russia’s New ‘War Nationalism’: How Nationalist Rhetoric Prepared the Ground for the Invasion of Ukraine
Event
Wed 23 Nov 2022
Time: 09:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: NUPI
Ahead of Russia’s war on Ukraine, various nationalist tropes have gradually been incorporated into Russian official rhetoric. What can studying the regime’s emergent ‘war nationalism’ tell us about the identity dimension of the current conflict?
The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Legitimacy of Putin’s Regime: A Biopolitical Perspective
Event
Fri 12 Nov 2021
Time: 10:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: C.J. Hambrosplass 2 D / Livestream to Facebook and Youtube
Russia is currently experiencing record numbers of COVID-19-related deaths. The pandemic has put medical knowledge at the very centre of politics around the world and Russia is no exception. The current debate in Russia is influenced by what appears to be a new regime of medical governance combined with ‘pandemic authoritarianism’.