Olga Shparaga, PhD (b. 1974 in Minsk) is philosopher in exile. Until 2021 she taught philosophy at the European College of Liberal Arts in Minsk (ECLAB), which she co-founded in 2014 (and which was forcibly closed by the Belarusian regime in 2021). She studied philosophy in Belarus and Germany and first taught at European Humanities University (EHU) in Minsk (2001-2004) and after 2005 till 2014 in Vilnius, as EHU was forcibly closed in Minsk and reopened in Vilnius as Belarusian University in Exile.

Olga Shparaga was a Research Fellow at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Pedagogical University of Freiburg and Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (Germany), Center for Theoretical Study (CTS, Prague, Czech Republic), Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), New School for Social Research (New York, 2017) and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (2022). Olga Shparaga is a member of the Advisory Board of the Länder-Analysen (“Country Analytical Digests”), Editorial Board of the Ideology and Politics Journal, and the filia Women Foundation Council.

Olga Shparaga has published three monographs and edited seven academic volumes. Her second book “Community-after-Holocaust. Toward an inclusive society” (Minsk, ECLAB-books, 2018, in Russian) was awarded by The International Congress of Belarusian Studies as the best philosophical book 2018.

Her third book The Face of the Revolution is Female. The Case of Belarus was published in German by Suhrkamp in 2021. This book was also published in Vilnius in Russian und in Lithuanian and received the “Ales-Adamovič-Award” 2021 of the International PEN Belarus. In 2024 Olga Shparaga was also awarded with the “Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences” by the Potsdam University.

Olga Shparaga in Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolha_Schparaha

Olga Shparaga's CV in German.

Research interests:

• Political and feminst philosophy
• Modern history of female solidarity and resistence
• Relational theory
• Philosophical and social theories of community and justice
• Ethics of Care and Care-Theories
• Philosophy of Human Rights and social inclusion
• History of social and political critical art in Belarus

Selected publications:

Books:

Die Revolution hat ein weibliches Gesicht. Der Fall Belarus. Suhrkamp, 2021.

In Russian: У революции женское лицо. СлучайБеларуси (Vilnius, Petro ofsetas, 2021)

In Lithuanian: Olga Šparaga. Revoliucijos veidas moteriškas. Baltarusijos atvejis. Leidykla LAPAS, 2022.

Сообщество-после-Холокоста: на пути к обществу инклюзии. – Минск: Медисонт, 2018. – 356 с. - (ECLAB books) / Community-after-Holocaust: Toward a Society of Inclusion. Minsk: Medisont 2018, «ECLAB books» (in Russian), 356 p.

Пробуждение политической жизни: эссе о философии публичности. Вильнюс: ЕГУ, 2010. - 241 с. / Awakening political life: an essay on the philosophy of public (sphere). Vilnius: EHU, 2010 (in Russian), 241 p.

Edited volumes:

Феминистская (арт)критика / под ред. И. Соломатина, О. Шпарага, В. Гапеева. Каунас: Taurapolis, 2015. – 680 c. / Feminist (art)critique. I. Solomatina, O. Shparaga und V. Hapeeva (Ed.). Kaunas: Taurapolis, 2015. – 680 p. (in Belarusian and Russian).

Беларусь в европейском контексте. Актуальные дискуссии о нациостроительстве. Под ред. О. Шпарага, А. Смоленчук. Вильнюс: ЕГУ, 2014. – 195 с. / O. Shparaga, A. Smolenčuk (Ed.), Belarus in the European Context. Actual discussions on nation-building. Vilnius: EHU, 2014. - 195 p. (in Belarusian and Russian).

Zero Radius. Art-ontology of the 00s Minsk / O. Shparaga, O. Jguirovskia and R. Vashkevich (Ed.), Minsk: I.P. Logvinov, 2013. – 534 p. (in Russian and English).

После советского марксизма: история, философия, социология и психоанализ в национальных контекстах (Беларусь, Украина). Под. ред. О. Шпараги. Вильнюс: ЕГУ, 2013. - 288 c. / (Ed.) After Soviet Marxism: History, Philosophy, Sociology and Psychoanalysis in National Contexts (Belarus, Ukraine). Vilnius: EHU, 2013. - 288 p. (auf Russisch).

Пути европеизации Беларуси: между политикой и конструированием идентичности (1991-2010). Под ред. О. Шпараги. Минск: Логвинов, 2011. – 278 c. / (Ed.)  Paths of Europeanization of Belarus: Between Politics and Identity Construction (1991-2010), Minsk, Logvinov. 2011. -  278 p. (in Russian and English) // https://www.academia.edu/66540095/Пути_европеизации_Беларуси_между_политикой_и_конструированием_идентичности_1991_2010_Под_ред_О_Шпараги_Минск_И_П_Логвинов_2011_278_с_Серия_Европейские_исследования_

 Рeer-reviewed articles:

Die belarusische feministische Bewegung zwischen der Revolution und Krieg (2020-2023). In: Femina Politica Jg. 32, 2023-2. S. 103-112 (online access: https://www.budrich-journals.de/index.php/feminapolitica/article/view/43161).

Само- та взаємоповага: по той бік абстрактности та соціяльного приниження. In: Ukraina Moderna, Volume 26, April 2019, pp. 162-179 (online access: https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/ukrainamoderna.26.162).

Some other newest publications:

Die unglaubliche Revolution. In: dekoder [specials], 23.02.2024, https://specials.dekoder.org/freiheit-protest/belarus/?fbclid=IwAR3TeuvfRxyuJjsmmatT8QjNAAsl8z0qs1xKIfdX6Ed5IMIXdKbH6RQROP4

Die fürsorgliche Solidarität: die belarussischen Frauen* in der Situation der fortschreitenden Revolution (2020-2022). In: Anna Kasten (Hg.). Feministische Postsozialismusforschung. Eine Spurensuche. Beltz Verlag, 2024 (im Druck).

Caringresistance – Fürsorge und Widerstand. In: Cordelia Dvorak (Hs.). «Wenn du durch die Hölle gehst, dann geh weiter!». Zeugnisse inhaftierten Frauen in Belarus. Edition.fotoTAPETA, 2023. S. 286-300.

Zwischen der „Zeit der Nation“ und der „Zeit des Feminismus“. Die Ukraine und das prodemokratische Belarus im Kampf für Demokratie. In: Franziska Davies (Hrsg.). Die Ukraine in Europa. Traum und Trauma einer Nation. Wbg (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft), Darmstadt, 2023. S. 217-231.

Feministische Politik und Fürsorge. In: IWMPost, №132, Fall/Winter 2023, S. 11, https://www.iwm.at/sites/default/files/inline-files/IWMpost%20132.pdf

A caring community of fate, 27.06.2023. In: Eurozine,  https://www.eurozine.com/a-caring-community-of-fate/

Globale Asymmetrien und der Krieg in der Ukraine:  Es geht um die Verteidigung der Menschenrechte // Ukraine in Focus, IWM, 26.07.2022,https://www.iwm.at/blog/ukrainian-democracy-and-global-asymmetries