Polina Aronson

Lecturer in sociology, Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences

is a sociologist and the debate editor of openDemocracy Russia. She was born in St Petersburg and lives in Berlin, and is working on a book about perceptions of love in Russia and in the West.

X (Formerly Twitter)

Written by Polina Aronson

A woman using a smartphone on a train; colourful murals decorate the walls and an open laptop sits in her lap.

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Technology and the self

The quantified heart

Artificial intelligence promises ever more control over the highs and lows of our emotions. Uneasy? Perhaps you should be

Polina Aronson & Judith Duportail

Photo of a woman reflected in a mirror in a softly lit bedroom with paintings on the wall.

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Rituals and celebrations

Mrs Myself

Self-marriage promises love and fulfilment – but is it a radical act or a depressing concession to self-absorption?

Polina Aronson

A couple dressed in dark clothes, smiling and holding hands as they walk through stormy seas with crashing waves and a cloudy sky.

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Gender and identity

Romantic regimes

Love in the West is consumerist – we choose a partner to give us what we think we need. But Russians do things differently

Polina Aronson

Black and white photo showing people in heavy winter clothing gathering water from a small stream on a snowy street. Vehicles are in the background.

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History

This is humankind

If my grandfather could survive the Siege of Leningrad and still distinguish between a German and a Nazi, so can I

Polina Aronson