Eleanor Bindman

Dr Eleanor Bindman is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), specializing in Russian and East European Politics. She holds a PhD in Russian and EU Politics from the University of Glasgow (2013) and has held prestigious roles including Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. Her research focuses on civil society in authoritarian regimes, particularly Russia and Belarus, exploring social policy, welfare reform, and protest dynamics. She is currently leading a Leverhulme Trust-funded project analyzing civil society’s role in the 2020 Belarusian protests. Dr. Bindman teaches Russian Politics and Comparative Public Policy, supervising PhD students like Travon Hendricks. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and external examiner for the BA in Politics at the University of the West of England.

Her expertise spans media commentary on Russian and Belarusian politics for BBC, Sky News, and international outlets. Research highlights include a 4*-rated monograph on social rights in Russia and multi-authored works on NGO policy influence in Eurasia. She collaborates with institutions like the Aleksanteri Institute (Helsinki) and Uppsala University, reflecting her transnational academic engagement. Grants include the Leverhulme Trust and institutional funding for comparative social security studies in Russia/Belarus.