February 2022: Russia And Europe’s challenging time. The practice approach

Putin’s Russia’s contentious position, that culminated in the incursion into Ukraine in 2022, creates a puzzling situation within international affairs and European politics. Informed by Bourdieu’s sociology and Neumann and Pouliot’s study of practice theory and approach, this empirical investigation explores whether and how the ‘lack of fit between practices and the field’ where they are performed has important consequences that hamper security. It deals with practices originated by Moscow, at intervals interacting with the European Union. By introducing ‘confrontational’ and ‘contentious’ positions as originating from ‘background knowledge’, this enquiry adds an extra layer of analysis to the practice logic with regard to the theory. By testing the working of the practice perspective concerning this investigation’s aim, this enquiry demonstrates the virtue of the practice approach in terms of policy.