Dr. Alexandra Orlova

Dr. Alexandra Orlova is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and in the Faculty of Law at Ryerson University. She received her Ph.D. in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in 2004. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Alexandra joined the Department of Criminology as a full-time faculty member in August 2005. She teaches courses on Canadian Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, International Perspectives, and Security Threats.

Her main research interests focus on transnational organized crime, Russian organized crime, international terrorism and international crimes. She has published articles in the areas of international law as well as traditional and non-traditional security threats. 

Edited Books

• Dementev, I.O., Orlova, A.V., Chalyi V.A., eds., Место Западных Идей в Российском Общественном и Правовом Сознании (The Place of Western Ideas in Russian Socio-Legal Consciousness) (Kaliningrad, Russia: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Press, 2016) ISBN 978-5-9971-0434-4 [in Russian].
   

Edited Journal Volumes

• Gerry Ferguson, Suvrajyoti Gupta, Alexandra Orlova, Poonam Puri, eds., “New Governance Strategies for Preventing Corruption: Law, Theory and Practice,” Jindal Global Law Review 9:1 (2018).
   

Papers in Refereed Journals

• Orlova, A.V., "Death Penalty in Russia: From European Norms to Domestic Constitutional Identity," Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law XI:April (2024), 149-172.
• Orlova, A.V., “Conflict and Crime: Will the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Result in the Rise of the Russian Mafia?” Chinese Journal of International Review 4:2 (2022), 225009-1 to 225009-25 (external link) 
• Orlova, A.V., “Russia’s Utilization of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lockdowns, Re-Sovereignization and Disengagement from the West,” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 29:2 (2022), 119-145.
• Orlova, A.V., "'Digital Sovereignty,' Anonymity and Freedom of Expression: Russia's Fight to Re-Shape Internet Governance," UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy 26:2 (2020), 225-247. (Funding for this article was provided by Ryerson University Faculty of Arts Special Grant (SPG)).
• Orlova, A.V., “The Soft Power of Dissent: The Impact of Dissenting Opinions from the Russian Constitutional Court,” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 52 (2019), 611-642.
  
• Orlova, A.V., “‘Foreign Agents,’ Sovereignty, and Political Pluralism: How the Russian Foreign Agents Law Is Shaping Civil Society,” Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (JLIA) 7:2 (2019), 382-417 (Winner of the New York State Political Science Association’s (NYSPSA) Arthur L. Galub Best Faculty Paper Award). 
• Orlova, A.V., “Russian Politics of Masculinity and the Decay of Feminism: The Role of Dissent in Creating New ‘Local Norms,’” William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender and Social Justice 25 (2018), 59-86.
• Orlova, A.V., “Sovereignty, Dissent, and the Shaping of International Consensus around Human Rights: An Examination of Russian “Disengagement” from the European Court of Human Rights,” Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 35:3  (2018), 435-468.
• Orlova A.V., Challenging Everyday Violence of the State: Developing Sustained Opposition Movements through Anti-Corruption Protests,” Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change 42 (2018), 173-196.
• Orlova, A.V. and Boichev, V., “‘Corruption is Us’: Tackling Corruption by Examining the Interplay between Formal Rules and Informal Norms within the Russian Construction Industry” Journal of Developing Societies 33:4 (2017), 401-427. (Funding for this article was provided by Ryerson University Faculty of Arts Special Grant (SPG) and Ryerson University Faculty of Arts/OVPRI Undergraduate Research Opportunity (URO) grant).
• Orlova, A.V., “Public Interest,” Judicial Reasoning and Violence of the Law: Constructing Boundaries of the “Morally Acceptable” Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 9:2 (2017), 51-80. (Funding for this project was provided by Office of the Vice President, Research and Innovation, Ryerson University and Office of the Dean of Arts, Ryerson University as well as Ryerson University Arts Undergraduate Research Assistants (AURA) grant program).
• Orlova, A.V., “Privatizing Homosexuality: Russia’s Reassertion of ‘Moral Sovereignty’ over Gay Rights” Human Rights and International Legal Discourse 11:2 (2017), 122-181. (Funding for this article was provided by the Ryerson University Faculty of Arts/OVPRI New Initiatives Award (NIA), as well as by the Ryerson University Faculty of Arts/OVPRI Undergraduate Research Opportunity (URO) Grant).
• Orlova, A.V., “Plugging the Baby Gap? The Struggle to Reverse Demographic Decline in Russia” Russian Law Journal 3:3 (2015), 83-109. (An abridged version of this article first appeared in the Eurasia Studies Society of Great Britain & Europe Journal 3:2 (2014), 1-15) (Research for this article was supported by the Department of Criminology, Faculty of Arts funds).
• Orlova, A.V., “A Promising Solution? Changing the Current Russian Business Climate by Amending the Criminal Code” European Business Law Review 23:5 (2012), 809-830. (Funding for this project was provided by Ryerson University Summer RA Program (Policy Studies).
• Orlova, A.V., “Stoking Dangerous Fires: Nationalism and Hate Crime in the Russian Federation,” Journal of Eurasian Law 2:3 (2010), 37-62.
• Orlova, A.V., “The Russian “War on Drugs”: A Kinder, Gentler Approach?” Problems of Post Communism 56:1 (2009), 23-34.
• Orlova, A.V., “Russia’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime: Law Enforcement Tool or Instrument of Domestic Control?” Journal of Money Laundering Control 11:3 (2008), 210-233. (Funding for this project was provided by a Ryerson University SSHRC/SIG Research Grant)
• Orlova, A.V., “A Comparison of the Russian and Canadian Experiences with Defining ‘Organized Crime,’” Trends in Organized Crime 11:2 (2008), 99-134. (Funding for the project was provided by a Ryerson University Faculty of Arts SRC grant).
• Orlova, A.V., “Korruption in Russland. Vom Mythos des Marktes und des Staates als Gegenmittel” (Corruption in Russia: What remedy can finally cure it? Comparison of Yeltsin’s neo-liberal and Putin’s statist reforms) Osteuropa 1 (2008), 21-34. [in German] (Most cited non-English language journal as evaluated in the Journal Citation Report (2001) of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)).
• Orlova, A.V., “Missing the Mark: The Russian Experience with Defining ‘Organized Crime,’” Columbia Journal of East European Law 1:2 (2007), 207-230. (Funding for the project was provided by a Ryerson University Faculty of Arts SRC grant).
• Orlova, A.V., “A Hope for the Future? Prosecuting Crimes Against Humanity in Russia's Courts,” International Criminal Law Review 7 (2007), 45-76.
• Orlova, A.V. and Baglay, S., “Stumpfe Waffen des Gesetzes: Der Kampf gegen den Menschenhandel in Russia und der Ukraine,” (A Comparative Analysis of Russian and Ukrainian Legislative Efforts Directed Against Human Trafficking) Osteuropa 6 (2006), 169-191 [in German].
• Orlova, A. V. "Trafficking of Women and Children for Exploitation in the Commercial Sex Trade: The Case of the Russian Federation," Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, VI: II (2005), 157-178.
• Orlova, A. V., and Moore, J. W., “‘Umbrellas' or ‘Building Blocks’? Defining International Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime in International Law,” Houston Journal of International Law, 27: 2 (2005), 267-310. (This article was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Venneri [2012] 2 S.C.R. 211 at para.39 (majority opinion, written by Fish J.).
• Orlova, A. V., “Organized Crime and the Rule of Law in the Russian Federation,” Essex Human Rights Review, 2:1 (2005), 23-37.
• Orlova, A.V., “From Social Dislocation to Human Trafficking: The Russian Case,” Problems of Post Communism, 51: 6 (2004), 14-22.
   

Book Chapters

• Orlova, A.V., “Russian Organized Crime and Political Power” in Felia Allum and Stan Gilmour eds., The Handbook of Organized Crime and Politics (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2019) at 143-158. (This publication was supported by a grant provided by the Office of the Dean of Arts, Ryerson University)​.
• Orlova, A.V., “Влияние Запада: правовой колониализм или космополитизм? Место зарубежной правовой позиции и соразмерности в продвижении защиты прав человека” Ma(Western Influence: legal colonialism or cosmopolitanism? The place of foreign legal ideas and the concept of proportionality in protecting human rights) in Dementev, I.O., Orlova, A.V., Chalyi V.A., eds., Место Западных Идей в Российском Общественном и Правовом Сознании (The Place of Western Ideas in Russian Socio-Legal Consciousness) (Kaliningrad, Russia: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Press, 2016), at 153-177 [in Russian].
• Orlova,A.V., “The Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime in Russia” in Felia Allum and Stan Gilmour eds., Routledge Handbook of Transnational Organized Crime (London and New York: Routledge, 2011) at 494-508.
• Burstein, P. and Orlova, A.V., “Criminal Organization Legislation: Politics and Practice” in M.E. Beare ed., Honouring Social Justice (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008) at 251-270.
   

Other Publications

• Orlova, A.V., “Роль конституционных судов в конструировании концепции «общественного интереса» и влияние на права меньшинств” (The Role of Constitutional Courts in Construction of “Public Interest” and Impact on Minority Rights), II International Conference proceedings titled, Тамбовские правовые чтения имени Ф.Н. Плевако (Tambov Legal Readings Dedicated to 175^th Anniversary of Fyodor Plevako), (Tambov: Tambov Federal University Press, 2017) at 91-96 [in Russian].