Before delving into the following chapters, which provide a detailed analysis of neoliberal authoritarianism through the lens of Russian universities, a brief methodological interlude is necessary. This book is an ethnography of penetrative global neoliberalism, state reproduction, and neoliberal authoritarianism—examined through knowledge economies and universities. By ethnography, I mean a close examination of the institutional and everyday practices of global neoliberalism and the authoritarian state, which are performed, reinforced, and mutate in the process of their becoming. Instead of viewing neoliberalism and authoritarianism as stable abstractions, the ethnographic gaze focuses on their mutations and lived realities. This perspective allows us to move beyond “universals” (what neoliberalism and authoritarianism might mean) and to continually start anew in specific situations—by observing actually existing neoliberalisms and the lived realities of the enforcement and reproduction of an (authoritarian) state.