Social Science in Eastern Europe

N E W S L E T T E R September 2003

Social Science Information Centre (IZ) of the Association of Social Science Institutes (ASI) Lennéstr. 30 • 53113 Bonn Telephone: +49-228-2281-0 Hotline: +49-228-2281-100 Fax: +49-228-2281-120 e-mail: iz@bonn.iz-soz.de Department Information Transfer Eastern Europe at the GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe Schiffbauerdamm 19 • 10117 Berlin Telephone: +49-30-233611-311 Fax: +49-30-233611-310 e-mail: iz@berlin.iz-soz.de

The Social Science Information Centre, the Central Archive for Empirical Social Research at the University of Cologne (ZA) and the Centre for Survey Research and Methodology (ZUMA) are institutional members of GESIS German Social Science Infrastructure Services, member of the Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (WGL)

Publisher Social Science Information Centre, Member of the German Social Science Infrastructure Services, Bonn

Editors Social Science Information Centre, Department Information Transfer Eastern Europe at the GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe Becker, U.; Schleinstein, N.; Sucker, D.; Hausstein, B.

Layout Mallock, W. Frequency Print

Minimum 4 issues per year; presently free of charge Printed in Germany

Distribution Social Science Information Centre, Department Information Transfer Eastern Europe at the GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe Schiffbauerdamm 19, 10117 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49-30-233611-311, Fax: +49-30-233611-310 e-mail: iz@berlin.iz-soz.de

This publication is financed by the German Social Science Infrastructure Services (GESIS) which is jointly funded by the Federal and State governments ISSN 1615-5459 2003 Social Science Information Centre, Bonn. All rights reserved. The reproduction of excerpts is permitted but subject to the condition that the source be mentioned and against specimen copy.

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 3

BELARUS Online publications..................................... 3

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA Scientific institution

Center for Policy Research and Development (CPIR) ................................. 3

CROATIA Recent publication...................................... 4 Online publication....................................... 4

CZECH REPUBLIC Scientific institution

Europeum - Institute for European Policy . 4 ESTONIA

Research projects........................................ 5 LATVIA

Online publications..................................... 6 LITHUANIA

Scientific institution Market and Opinion Research Centre "Vilmorus Ltd." ........................................... 7

Scientific institution Lithuanian Regional Research Institute .... 7

POLAND Scientific institution

Wrocław University Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Research ............. 8

ROMANIA Journal description

Romanian Journal of European Affairs ..... 9 RUSSIA

Journal description The Journal of Social Policy Studies ......... 9

Sociological Data Archive Russian Sociological Data Archive (RSDA) ....................................... 10

Online publications................................... 10 Scientific network

SOCIONET – Professional Information Space for Social Scientists...................... 11

SLOVAK REPUBLIC Scientific institution

International Visegrad Fund .................... 12 SLOVENIA

Journal description Managing Global Transitions. International Research Journal .................................... 13

CONFERENCES ...................................... 13 SCIENTIFIC NETWORKS

The Network of Institutions and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee).................... 17 The Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe ....................................... 18

BELARUS

Online publications

The Center for Gender Studies at the European Humanities University (Minsk) offers full text online publications (in Russian) at http://gender.ehu.by/en/strip.php?to=public • Гендерные истории восточной Европы

(Gender Histories of Eastern Europe) • Антология гендерной истории (Anthology

of Gender History)

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Scientific institution

Center for Policy Research and Development (CPIR) Centar za politièko istraživanje i razvoj Nikole Kasikovisca br. 7 71000 Sarajevo E-mail: info@cpir.net Management: Ivanovic, Dragan (Chair and Program Director) Departments: CPIR is organized in program-oriented departments and a project management unit. • Department of Political Management and

Communication concentrates on political party capacity building, involvement of civil society in the political process, support to national, regional and local parliament members and policy decision-makers.

• Department of Bi- and Multilateral Relations focuses on international relations, international policy analysis, creating forums and other means of cooperation between regional experts.

• Project Management and Consulting Unit deals with management over CPIR's projects, technical organization of activities and events, planning, consulting and web-presentation.

Main fields: The Center is an independent non-profit policy-analysis organization with the goal of strengthening values of civil society, development of international cooperation and promotion of European standards in BH society Events: CPIR will take part in a joint Program with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. The joint Program consists of:

4 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

• Regional Conference on the role of BiH in regional stability and integration. The Conference will be held in Sarajevo. Regional Experts on International Relations and Foreign Policy will discuss Bosnia's current role in the Region.

• Conference on the role of "Second Track Diplomacy". The Role of the civil society in International Politics and economic diplomacy. The Conference will be held in Sarajevo.

• The Diplomatic Forum: Six events are planed on European and Regional topics and the influence on Bosnia and Herzegovina. The events will be held in Sarajevo.

Co-operations: Partners of CPIR in Germany are: Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Berlin, Bildungswerk Sachsen der Deutschen Gesellschaft e.V., Leipzig and Arne Grimm Politische Beratung und strategische Kommunikation, Berlin. Services: Activities in 2003: Department on Political Management and Communication: • CPIR online features Bosnian Polit-

Barometer, a weekly updated social and political illustrations of the current state of affairs in BH politics, economy and society.

• May-June 2003: Follow-up to the Visiting Program for newly elected Bosnian Parliamentarians in Germany: Project cooperation with the non-governmental organization FOSDI, Banja Luka. The follow-up concentrates on a round table for the group of newly elected parliamentarians who participated in the Visiting Program organized by FES.

• April-May 2003: Regional Conference "Youth and Politics - Challenges and Opportunities": Joint Project of CPIR and IAM (International Youth Organization, Sarajevo).

• CPIR online features a monthly CPIR Interviews/Analysis Reports on political, economic and social issues.

Department on Bi- and Multilateral Relations: • CPIR online will feature BH Diplomacy:

Week in Review, with bi-weekly updates on diplomatic activities of the BH Government and diplomatic activities in the regional framework.

• CPIR online will feature its new online project Region online -- a bi-weekly update on the current affairs in the region.

CROATIA

Recent publication

Vašečka, M.; Jurásková, M.; Nicholson, T. (ed.), 2003: Čačipen pal o Roma: A Global Report on Roma in Slovakia Bratislava: Institute for Public Affairs (in English)

Online publication

Youth in Croatia 2002 is a national report that makes part of a regional research project on young people’s life initiated and coordinated by PRONI (Institute of Social Education) and the School of Education of the University of Jönköping working in close co-operation with relevant national governments and universities. The realization of the project was supported by SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). It was carried out in 2002 in four countries of South-Eastern European (Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Yugoslavia) with the aim to provide empirical data on life, needs, attitudes and expectations of young people from the region. It was presumed that these would serve as an integral part of the Council of Europe’s youth policy reviews that aims at improving youth participation in the processes of democratic changes of the countries in the region. http://pauk.ffzg.hr/hre-edc/Sazetak_mladost_eng.htm

CZECH REPUBLIC

Scientific institution

Europeum – Institute for European Policy

Rytirska 31 1000 Prague 1 Tel.: +420 221 610 2067 Fax: +420 221 610 204 Internet: http://www.europeum.org/EN/default.asp Management: Kral, David (president) dkral@europeum.org Šlosarčík, Ivo (research director), islosarcik@europeum.org Year of foundation: 1998 Founder members: EUROPEUM was founded in 1998 as a civic association from the initiative of the lecturers at the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague.

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Staff: 16 (11 researchers) Supporting institution: EUROPEUM was built with a strong support of Faculty of Social Sciences and the Tempus programme of the European Commission. Organization: The Institute for European Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent institute. Main fields: The aim was to provide a platform for young researchers and university students interested in various aspects of European integration to develop their potential and capacity. It focuses on the issues of European integration and on the transformation of political, economic and legal milieu in the Czech Republic arising there of. EUROPEUM strives to contribute to a long-lasting development of democracy, security, stability, freedom and solidarity across Europe. The institute formulates opinions and offers alternatives to internal reforms in the Czech Republic with a view of ensuring her full-fledged membership and respected position in the European Union. Research: • EU policies programme focuses on the

formulation of future Czech positions towards EU policies, especially in the framework of the ongoing deliberations of the Convention on the Future of Europe. It contributes to the building of structures and articulation of political positions after the accession to the EU. The main areas include the EU institutions, Convention, Justice and Home Affairs, Economic and Monetary Union, Common Agricultural Policy and Regional and Structural Policy. (Head: – David Král)

• Economic and Social programme analyses economic and social issues mostly connected with the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU like the employment policy, pension system and health care reforms, corporate governance issues, regulation of securities etc. (Head: – Marek Havrda)

• Law programme analyses key legal issues connected with the EU including the reform of judiciary, effective settlement of commercial disputes, problems of implementation of acquis and the questions of intellectual property rights. (Head: – Ivo Šlosarčík)

EUROPEUM participates in number of projects. This year, the two key projects will focus on the structural funds, namely on increasing the absorption capacity of the region of Moravia-Silesia for the support offered by European Social Fund, or the preparation of NGOs for the involvement in structural funds (both funded by PHARE). Apart from that, EUROPEUM participates actively at the EU Communication Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Research projects (current): • Increase of absorption capacity of the

Moravia-Silesia region in the human resources development (Phare - Human Resources Development Programme)

• Preparation of NGOs for participation in activities financed by the EU structural funds (Phare - Civil Society Development Programme)

Finished projects: • Europanostra (a project for high school

students about EU, supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Communication Strategy)

Publications: The institute publishes “Integrace”, the Czech magazine devoted to EU affairs, is the main platform providing unbiased, critical, qualified as well as objective information on the European integration. Its aim is to inform the Czech public about the current questions of the European Union and the EU - Czech relations. Integrace strives to be a guide for each citizen of our country. Integrace appears only in Czech. Events: Institute associated with the Jean Monet Centre of Excellence in European Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University organises a summer institute to discuss economic, legal and political challenges of enlarging European Union (July 2003). Co-operations: EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy is also a member of various international networks of policy and research institutes, for instance EPIN (European Policy Institutes Network) or PPCI (Public Policy Centers Initiative).

ESTONIA

Research projects

Current research projects of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (http://www.mtk.ut.ee) Target financed projects: • Janno Reiljan: Strategies of the Sustainable

and Balanced Development of Estonia in Joining with the European Union. 2003-2007

• Tiiu Paas: Structural changes in the Estonian labour market: risks and sustainable development. 2003-2007

Estonian Science Foundation Grants: • Toomas Haldma: Institutional Aspects of

Accounting Change in Transition Economy. 2001-2003

• Helje Kaldaru: Social and human capital as factors of economic development. 2003-2005

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• Mait Miljan: Possibilities of Implementing Value-based Marketing in Estonian Companies. 2002-2004

• Tiiu Paas: Modelling Economic Development of the Baltic Sea Region. 2001-2004

• Vambola Raudsepp: Strengthening the Financial Basis of Regional Business Environment: Flexible Structures and Financial Support. 2002-2005

• Janno Reiljan: Competitiveness of Estonian Industry in Integration with the European Union. 1999-2003

• Jüri Sepp: Formal and Informal Public Institutions in Estonia: Factors of Economic Development. 2002-2005

• Mart Sõrg: Promoting Domestic Savings in Estonia. 2002-2005

• Maja Vadi: Organizational Culture in Estonia: National and International Aspects. 2003-2005

• Urmas Varblane: The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in the Transition Process of Estonian Economy . 2000-2003

LATVIA

Online publications

The Baltic Institute of Social Sciences (BISS) offers full text online publications (in English) at http://www.bszi.lv/default.asp?category=publikacijas&lang=en • Brigita Zepa: Confidence in Institutions:

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in "Political Representation And Participation In Transitory Democracies: Estonia, Latvia And Lithuania", Soedertorn University, Stockholm, 2001. Chapter 8, p. 63-85

Because of several conditions, it is rather difficult to carry out an analysis of political trust in the post-Communist countries, including the Baltic States. On the one hand, these are countries where the traditions of democracy are only in the process of formation. It could be assumed, therefore, that, as democracy develops, the trust of the people both in the government as well as civic institutions would grow. However, the findings of Western researchers, made from surveys in their own countries, may be regarded as not supporting such an assumption. • Inese Ozoliņa: Associational Membership

and Its Impact on Attitudes and Behaviour of People in The Baltic States, in: "Political Representation And Participation In Transitory Democracies: Estonia, Latvia And

Lithuania", Soedertorn University, Stockholm, 2001. Chapter 10.

The aim of this study is to proof whether membership in associations creates generalized interpersonal trust and sense of co-operation, do associations contribute to extend the circle of trust beyond the boundaries of face-to-face interaction to generalized interpersonal trust, are members of associations much more likely than non-members to participate in politics, to spend time with neighbours and friends particularly in a case of the Baltic states, where the formation of democracy in the terms of development of participatory skills and attitudes towards the freedoms has just began, and also the associational membership in voluntary organizations has only about 10-12 years long history. • Rasma Karklins, University of Illinois at

Chicago; Brigita Zepa, University of Latvia, Riga: Political participation in Latvia 1987- 2001 in Journal of Baltic studies”, Winter 2001, Number 4, Volume XXXII, p. 334 – 346.

Political participation is crucial to democracy; its main features during three stages are discussed. The years 1988-91 are marked by anti-regime mobilization and extensive mass activism in support for restoring independence. A "normalizing" phase between 1992-98 shows contradictory trends in more recent years. Next to conventional political participation one notes increasing protests, referendum initiatives, and corrupt ways of gaining influence. This paper argues that participation has differed greatly during three distinct phases. • Election campaign monitoring It is a study on the basis of data collected by the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences and the BMF/TNS characterizing the impact of election campaign on the popularity ratings of major political organizations. In particular, this report shows how political advertising affects public support to parties. It illustrates a close relationship between the scale of advertising (measured in Gross Rating Points) and the ratings of respective parties. • Linkage between political parties and NGOs

in Latvia Transition to competitive political regimes in Eastern Europe has raised numerous normative and empirical issues. One of them concerns a linkage between “political society” and “civil society”. In its crudest form, one could equate political society with political parties and office holders who are members of these parties. Civil society, in turn, can be conceived of as a variety of non-governmental groups concerned with issues directly or indirectly related to policymaking. Based on the experience of

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advanced democracies, it is believed that democracy is closely linked to the existence of a vibrant civil society that influences decision making in the respective country. However, this linkage can be seen as a function of exchange between parties and NGOs.

LITHUANIA

Scientific institution

Market and Opinion Research Centre "Vilmorus Ltd."

Gedimino ave. 1-15, 2001 Vilnius, Lithuania Tel.: Fax: E-mail: vladas@vilmorus.lt Internet: http://www.vilmorus.lt Management: Gaidys, Vladas, Dr. (director) Year of foundation: 1993 Staff: Its staff consists of 10 full-time employees, 20 research co-ordinators and 150 interviewers all over Lithuania. Organization: Market and Opinion Research Centre "Vilmorus Ltd." is an independent private organization. In its activities "Vilmorus Ltd." adheres to the "ICC/ESOMAR International Code of Marketing and Social Research Practice". The director Dr. Vladas Gaidys is a member of ESOMAR. Main fields: "Vilmorus Ltd." provides surveys and study materials for clients in Austria, Belgium, the UK, Estonia, the US, Latvia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, for the Government of Lithuania and the biggest Lithuanian daily "Lietuvos Rytas". "Vilmorus Ltd." is in a network and provides surveys together with Taloustutkimus Oy (Finland), ES Turu-uuringute AS (Estonia), and Latvian Facts (Latvia). Surveys: "Vilmorus Ltd." conducts monthly omnibus surveys based on the multistage random sampling enfolding 1,000 respondents 18+ of age and builds a representative model of Lithuania's population. Surveys’ results on public trust in Lithuania’s institutions, attitudes towards politicians, and voting intentions have been published since 1998 in Lithuanian daily "Lietuvos rytas". Projects: “Vilmorus" has been participating in various international public opinion and market research projects since its establishment. It has been co-ordinating such projects in the Baltic countries. “Vilmorus” conducts international sociological surveys in such areas as victimology, corruption, political preferences,

attitudes towards economic reforms, trust in different countries and other topics. Once a month it investigates Lithuanians’ attitudes towards the European Union. Yearly an in-depth survey on issues related to the EU awareness level, expectations etc. is conducted. The results are published in "Integracijos zinios" http://www.euro.lt/. When executing large-scale projects, Vilmorus is co-operating with other marketing research companies: TOY (Finland), ES Turu-uuringute (Estonia), Latvian Facts (Latvia).

Scientific institution

Lithuanian Regional Research Institute

Donelaicio 60, LT-3000 Kaunas, Tel.: + 370 37 423251 Fax: + 370 37 423251 E-mail: lrti@lrti.lt Internet: http://www.lrti.lt/english/institute.html Management: Alvikas, Antanas (director) Year of foundation: 2000 Financing: The Lithuanian Regional Research Institute is a non-profit public institution. Main fields: The key objective of the Lithuanian Regional Research Institute - to implement and maintain the policy of sustainable, social, economic and territorial development in Lithuania by scientific, methodological and practical activities. The aims of the Lithuanian Regional Research Institute: • Improve the state governing model by

uniting various branches of science and researchers;

• Integrate the activities of regional development institutions for achieving general purposes;

• Participate in formation and improvement of the long-term Lithuanian regional development conception;

• Attract foreign investments to the country; • Increase degree of information accessible to

the public society; • Supporting the society in the accession the

EU. Research: • Preparation of regional, city, and economic

branch development programs; • Performance of scientific research works; • Search for possibilities in attracting funds of

Lithuanian and international organizations, enterprises, funds and programs for regional development;

• Participation in the implementation of the EU regional policy solutions, and regional

8 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

cooperation and other relevant programs and projects;

• Collection, analysis, systematization and dissemination of information and experience on regional development in Lithuania and other countries;

• Coordination of studies on regional development economics and management; organization of seminars, training and qualification advancement; rendering related consultations.

POLAND

Scientific institution

Wrocław University Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Research Ul. Straznicza 1-3 50-206 Wrocław Tel./Fax: +48 71/3279361 E-mail: wojtan@wbz.uni.wroc.pl Internet: http://www.wbz.uni.wroc.pl Management: Ruchniewicz, Krzysztof, Dr. (Head) Year of foundation: 2002 Supporting institution: DAAD and University of Wrocław Financing: The University of Wrocław and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) finance The Centre to an equal degree. Chairs: The Centre includes the following chairs: • Chair of Economics • Chair of Political Science • Chair of History • Chair of Social Communication • Chair of German Studies • Chair of Law. Main fields: Willy Brandt Centre is an interdisciplinary institution, which aims at fostering the academic debate between Germany and Poland in a growing Europe. It carries out applied research and offers an opportunity of gaining intercultural communicative competence during postgraduate studies and PhD courses. Research topics: Polish-German relations, German and European studies, European policy. Research projects in 2003: • Institutional factors of the development of

the national economy in the internationalisation and globalisation processes: economic aspects

• National discourse in the writings of Joseph Roth and Józef Wittlin

• Regional role of Poland. The implementation and effects of the EU Eastern Enlargement

• Dynamics of the integration processes in Europe: mechanisms of rapprochement or marginalisation

• Polish and German collective symbolism • Relations between Poland and German

Democratic Republic Publications/ papers: • Beata Ociepka: Dla kogo telewizja? Model

publiczny w postkomunistycznej Europie Srodkowej (For whom is the television? Public model in the post-communist Central Europe), Wroclaw 2002

• Michael Fleischer: Konstrukcja rzeczywistości (Construction of the reality), Wroclaw 2002

• Krzysztof Ruchniewicz: Warszawa-Berlin-Bonn. Stosunki polityczne w latach 1949-1958 (Warszawa-Berlin-Bonn. Political relations in the years 1949-1958), Wroclaw 2003.

Teaching: The Centre offers postgraduate studies and PhD courses in Polish-German relations. Co-operations: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Washington, Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires sur l'Allemagne, Paris, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Washington, Columbia University in the City of New York Institute for the Study of Europe, German Historical Institute, Warsaw, German Poland Institute, Darmstadt, Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas, Leipzig, German Historical Institute, Historical Institute of the University of Wrocław, Institute of History of the University of Warsaw, Institute for Peace and Security Studies at the University of Hamburg, Central Europe Centre for State, Economic and Culture Studies of the Dresden Technical University, North-East Institute, Lüneburg, Polish Academy of Sciences, Berlin Branch; Centre for Contemporary History Research, Potsdam.

Services: The centre offers consultancy services supporting cooperation between Poland and Germany, especially in the fields of economy and law.

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 9

ROMANIA

Journal description

Romanian Journal of European Affairs

Place of publication: Bucharest Publication dates: quarterly since 2000 Published by: European Institute of Romania Blv. Regina Elisabeta 7-9 70348 Bucharest Tel.: +401 314 26 96 Fax: +401 314 26 66 E-mail: ier@ier.ro Internet: http://www.ier.ro Editor- in-chief: Oana Mocanu Subject area: European integration debate; Romania’s role in an enlarged Euriopean Union Headings: Articles; Book Reviews The journal appears in English and Romanian or French. It contains English abstracts. Contents of March 2003 (vol 3, no.1) as an example Articles: • Coussens, W.: Towards Effective and

Accountable Leadership of the Union. Options and Guidelines for Reform

• Calin, D.: Romania and the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy

• Analoui, F.: Increasing Women Senior Managers Effectivenes: Evidence from Romania

RUSSIA

Journal description

The Journal of Social Policy Studies Журнал исследований социальной политики Place of publication: Saratov Published/edited by: Russian Society of Sociologists, Centre of Social Policy and Gender Studies 410035 Saratov POB 3774 Tel.: +7 8452 566755 Fax: +7 8452 566818 E-mail: socwork@online.ru Editor- in-chief: Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova, Pavel Romanov Subject area: The Journal of Social Policy Studies provides a forum for scholarly discussion of different aspects of social policy in Russia and

abroad. By placing at the center of its analysis the issues of contemporary social, economic, political and cultural transformations in post-socialist world as well as the reasons and consequences of such changes, the Journal seeks to integrate a wide range of disciplines. To contribute to the development of social policy as an academic discipline and to expand a cross-disciplinary research area in Russia, the journal will publish scholarly papers written from critical perspectives, which will analyze social problems, reflect on the policy processes and rethink the impact of social policies on inequalities. The focus of articles ranges from macro-perspective of national and international social policy to specific cases on regional and organizational levels. The JSPS publishes major articles, disciplinary review essays, book reviews, and special sections, which involve various aspects of social policy including associated teaching and learning issues. In particular, the journal welcomes such articles, which integrate conceptual or theoretical ideas with the use of empirical evidence. It could be an original article prepared especially for this journal as well as an already published article, for which it could be possible to have a permission for translation and publishing it in Russia. The journal takes on the responsibility of translations from English into Russian. Headings: no fixed headings The journal is published in Russian Contents of the Volume 1, Number 1, January 2003 as an example: Editorial Articles • Valentina Yarskaya (Saratov State

Technical University, Russia): Social Policy, Welfare State and Social Management: Issues of Analysis

• Irina Grigorieva (StPetersburg State University, Russia): Social Policy: the Main Concepts

• Pavel Romanov (Saratov State Technical University, Russia): Social Changes and Social Policy

• John Clarke (Open University, United Kingdom): Unstable States: the Transformation of Welfare Systems

• Sergey Shishkin (Independent Institute of Social Policy, Moscow): Free Health Care - Reality and Perspectives

Book reviews • Elena Bariabina, Olga Boiko, Marina

Eliutina, Marina Ishchenko et al.: Social Policy and Social Work in Changing Russia. Moscow: INION RAN, 2002. Tatiana Shipunova, Irina Grigorieva

10 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

• Evgeni Tchernosvitov. Social Medicine. Moscow: VLADOS, 2000. Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova, Pavel Romanov

Sociological Data Archive

Russian Sociological Data Archive (RSDA) Russian Sociological Data Archive is a new one: it was created in 2000 with finance support of the Ford Foundation. The idea was initiated by VCIOM (Russian Center for Public Opinion and Market Research), and the leading research centers – the Institute of Sociology of Russian Academy of Sciences, the Public Opinion Foundation, the Institute of Complex Sociological Research, ROMIR, the Institute of Economy and Organization of Industrial Production were also among those who helped this idea become a reality. Although there have been several attempts to form an archive on sociological issues before, it was not until 1990 that the necessary prerequisites for the realization of the project were actually jelled. The first prerequisite consisted in accumulating a practical experience of sociological research in accordance with international standards. At the moment there are some ten organizations that specialize in regular public opinion polls and do researches on various aspects of Russian mass perception and behavior. Also, there are a number of independent researchers and small research groups financed by national and foreign funds. The diversity of information sources gives rise to the problems of information safety, standardization and accessibility for later reference and secondary analysis. At present RSDA stores more than 70 sociological surveys, fulfilled during the last decade. The archived data can be divided into 3 large groups. The first group comprises the monitoring type surveys conducted by leading sociological agencies. The second group of data consists of 5 joint files, based on similar questions asked in different monitoring surveys: VCIOM joint monitoring survey, Consumer Sentiments Index, 1995-96’ and 1999-2000’ Elections Research, Time budgets of rural population. The third, and final, group accounts for ISSP (International Social Survey Program) research. Although Russia first joined the program in 1991 RSDA stores all rounds. All files in the archive are of SPSS-format, and are available free of charge for the research purposes. The data retrieval system is available at http://sofist.socpol.ru. The system enables the user to look for the relevant data and to request

it. The Archive passes data for research purposes and for teaching free of charge. The relations between RSDA and users are based on agreements in which the rights and liabilities of each party are specified. There are two specific we confronted with in our work: • Poor experience in the data archiving in the

country. There were no national or local archives of sociological data existed in Russia before.

• Lack of skills in work with empiric data among research community.

This put special tasks on RSDA. First, it is to define standards for those who plan to deposit survey data. Following the standards researchers are expected to improve all procedures of data collecting and data describing. Second, RSDA has a mission to show importance and necessity of the stored data for the development of social science in Russia. Secondary analysis is not admired in Russia, because of quite common illusion that only data «collected by a researcher herself” are trustworthy and valuable. RSDA has to find special forms of dealing with the potential users and depositors and drawing attention of the research community to the role that archives play in the development of social studies. And we had invented a few. Among them - the special grant competition that has been conducted in order to support researchers producing analytical articles based on the secondary analysis of data stored in RSDA. Such competition increased the number of data requests on 25%. In the future we believe the RSDA will become the basis of the national archive as an independent institution where social scholars could deposit their survey data and get essential information for doing research. Such institution promotes improving the quality of sociological studies and making one more step towards open civil society in Russia.

L.Khakhulina1 L.Kosova2

(The RSDA Presentation at the Annual IASSIST-2003 Congress)

Online publications

Carnegie Moscow Center (http://pubs.carnegie.ru/) offers the following online publications:

1 Dr. Ludmila Khakhulina is scientific coordinator of the programme, Chairman of the Archive Council and deputy director of the VCIOM 2 Dr. Larissa Kosova is director of the programme

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 11

• Political Culture / Pro et Contra Journal Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer 2002 Full text in Russian: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/p&c/vol7-2002/3/ Contents and Summary in English: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/p&c/Vol7-2002/3summary.asp

The issue is devoted to the general problems of political culture and its peculiarities in the modern Russia. It contains articles on Russia Political Culture as Seen Through the Prism of Civic Culture (Eduard Batalov), Russian Political Culture and Classical Political Culture (Yury Pivovarov), Special Features of the Russian Political Culture and of the Subject of Political Science (Alexander Akhiyezer), Presumption of Guilt: Metamorphoses of Political Institutions in Russia (Leonid Bliakher), and Representations of the people and the Power System in the Political Culture of Contemporary Russia (Olga Yelizarova). The rubric "View from the Outside" contains two translations: The Concept of Political Culture (Ronald Formisano) and Trust and the Politics of Postcommunism (David W. Lovell). • Foreign Policy for the New Century / Pro et

Contra Journal Vol. 7, No. 4, Fall 2002 Full text in Russian: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/p&c/vol7-2002/4/ Contents and Summary in English: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/p&c/Vol7-2002/4summary.asp

Among the key problems of international relations in the XXI century analyzed by the authors of this issue are: the creation of a new fluid system of world ties (Aleksandr Neklessa), the leadership of the US in the modern world (Vladimir Maximenko and Michael Troitski), the perspectives of the Russia-US partnership (Igor Zevelev), the significance of the nuclear factor in the work politics (Yuri Fedorov), and the role of Muslim component of the world politics (Diana Malysheva). The issue contains the Russian translation of the featured article by Robert Kagan "Power and Weakness" on the Europe-US relations. • Chechnya and Iraq: Associations Voluntary

and Involuntary / Briefing 4, 2003. - Aleksei Malashenko Full text in English: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/briefings/2003/issue03-03-04.asp Full text in Russian: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/briefings/2003/issue0304-03.asp

• At the Junction of Two Eras: "Boring Elections as an Indicator of the Problems of Russia's Modernization / Briefing 5, 2003. - Andrey Ryabov Full text in English: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/briefings/2003/issue03-05.asp Full text in Russian:

http://pubs.carnegie.ru/briefings/2003/issue05-03.asp

Scientific network

SOCIONET – Professional Information Space for Social Scientists Socionet is the first Russian contribution to setting up an international network infrastructure of new generation that provides information support for research and education in the Social Sciences. Socionet has been developed independently in Russia within frameworks of the international projects RePEc (http://repec.org/) and Open Archives Initiative (http://www.openarchives.org/). Socionet provides some "added value" including a new platform for creating information resources and services addressed to professional communities. All Socionet resources and services are free. Development of the system has been funded by the Ford Foundation (http://www.fordfound.org/global/office/index.cfm?office=Moscow). The database is a daily updated collection of bibliographic descriptions (metadata) of information resources composed by people specialised in Social Sciences throughout the world. Today about 90 % of the database resources belong to “Economics”. The types of resources vary from archives of electronic publications to contents of online journals, library catalogues of new acquisitions, catalogues of publishing houses, etc. Socionet is addressed to three categories of users: - "readers" – researchers, tutors and students gathering information within their specialisation and tracing new publications in their field; - "authors" – "readers" willing to make their scientific results accessible to the colleagues; - "developers" of information resources and online services addressed to research and education community in the Social Sciences. The "readers" have full access to information resources of the system: everything that has been produced by the “authors” and the “developers” becomes a part of common information space immediately or in some cases upon approval by the Socionet Administrator. Socionet provides to its users a geographically dispersed database of scientific materials in the Social Sciences, that is unique in its composition and scale, as well as by maintenance and updating mechanisms. In addition to such ordinary navigation means as hierarchical list of contents and database search, it contains the so-called “personal information robot” that automatically traces new additions in accordance with the users

12 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

preferences. A deeper insight into the structure and the content of the database can be obtained on the Portal page http://www.socionet.ru/portal-en.html. "Authors" can publish their single papers/materials in Open Archives (http://econwpa.wustl.edu/) series and/or create whole personal collections of scientific materials in the Socionet Personal Zone (http://spz.socionet.ru/index-en.shtml), which provides the “authors” with the tools designed to match different leveles of expertise of the users. "Developers" can profit from the open Socionet platform in constructing their new online services. The platform includes tools enable development of information resources (http://spz.socionet.ru/add-coll-en.htm) (series) integrated into the RePEc/Socionet database and other online OAI harvesting services (http://www.openarchives.org/community/index.html) and also tools to build personal sites and services used parts/contents of the Socionet. At the present time the platform for constructing services is being actively shaped. See description of the platform state-of-the-art (http://spz.socionet.ru/platform-en.htm). The Socionet platform grants a number of advantages to founders of series of scientific materials. For example, as soon as the author includes a series in Socionet, the RePEc and Socionet services are triggered in the series, which makes unnecessary development for the series own search, navigation and other facilities have existed in the Socionet. Online services produced by developers on the basis of the Socionet platform automatically work with all information resources included in the Socionet information space. Another advantage of the Socionet system is that developers designing their products on the basis of the Socionet platform can benefit from specialisation and division of labour. As a result, their efforts and resources are spent more efficiently than in case of utilisation of other Internet technologies. The platform for virtual integration of information resources and online services supported by Socionet is an example of a new-generation Internet technology. Its components ensure arrangement of a fundamentally new professional information space, which, on the one hand, gives users wider opportunities for individual contribution, and, on the other hand, it provides them with the tools for collective self-organisation and development. The Socionet approaches to shaping the new-generation professional information space guarantee the certain advantages over analogous systems. Despite the fact that integrated scientific materials are very numerous and diverse, Socionet informs its

users about appearance of important information in the database supplying them with effective instruments to combat information overload. For more particulars please contact: Sergei Parinov – E-mail: parinov@ieie.nsc.ru Internet: http://www.socionet.ru/

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Scientific institution

International Visegrad Fund

Drotárska cesta 46

811 02 Bratislava Tel.: +421-2-6720 7111 Fax: +421-2-5935 4180 E-mail: visegradfund@visegradfund.org Internet: http://www.visegradfund.org Management: Rusnák, Urban, Dr. (Executive Director) Year of foundation: 2000 Historical development: The Governments of countries of Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland, and the Slovak Republic), guided by the provisions of the Visegrad Joint Statement signed on May 14, 1999 in Bratislava agreed on June 9, 2000 to establish International Visegrad Fund with its seat in Bratislava. Staff: 5 persons Financing: International Visegrad Fund manages its resources according to the budget approved by the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Visegrad countries. Whole budget consists of two parts, which are project funding activities and IVF’s Secretariat internal operations. Organization: The Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which consists of the Ministers of the Foreign Affairs of the Visegrad countries, is the supreme body of the Fund. The Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs shall determine the amounts of annual contributions and their due dates for every Member State, approves the rules of procedure of the Secretariat, and approves the budget of the Fund, those are annual statements and clearance of budget presented by the Council of Ambassadors. The Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs designates from among its members its President. This presidency is rotating in the English alphabetical order of the names of the

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 13

Member States. The Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs adopts resolutions unanimously and meets at least once a year in order to estimate the implementation of the tasks set forth in the present Statute. Main fields: The purpose of the Fund is to promote the development of closer cooperation between the Contracting Parties, the strengthening of ties between the States of the Contracting Parties, and the integration of the States of the Contracting Parties into the European Union. In other words, to promote regional cooperation among Visegrad countries through supporting the development of common cultural, scientific, educational projects, exchanges between young people, and cross-border cooperation. Events: Implementation of European Union Standards in Education and Science (6.11. – 7.11.2003, Békéscsaba, Hungary)

SLOVENIA

Journal description

Managing Global Transitions. International Research Journal Place of publication: Koper Publication dates: since 2003, biannually Edited by: Koper Faculty of Management Cankarjeva 5 SI-6000 Koper Slovenia Tel.: +386-5-610-20-21 Fax: +386-5-610-20-15 E-mail: mgt@fm-kp.si Internet: http://www.vsm-kp.si/ angleska_stran/press/MGTjournal/mgt1_1/mgt1_1.htm Editor- in-chief: Anita Trnavčevič Subject area: Management research providing integrated and diverse perspectives on the processes of change and evolution in a broad range of disparate fields, including systems theory, leadership development, economics, education, sociology, informatics, technology, decision-making theory, and action learning. Headings: no special headings The journal appears in English. Contents of the Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2003 as an example: • Gough, Noel: Speculative Fictions for

Understanding Global Change Environ-ments: Two Thought Experiments

• Winbauer Catana, Suzanne: Vital Approach to Transition: Slovene Multiple Case Study

• Oldroyd, David: Educational Leadership for Results or for Learning? Contrasting Directions in Times of Transition

• Dibbon, David C.: Creating a Culture of Innovation in Canadian Schools

• Haugen, Susan; Behling, Robert; Wood, Wallace and Douglas, David: Managing Global Training Utilizing Distance Learning Technologies and Techniques: The United States Army Readiness Training

CONFERENCES

announcement

Eastern Enlargement of the EU : Strategies of the Modernisation (Conference); From Transition to Integration : EU Enlargement Network (Initial workshop) Date: October 9-12, 2003 Conference site: Prague, Czech Republic Organiser: GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe, Berlin; Institute of Sociology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg; Institute of Sociology (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) and the French Centre for Research in Social Sciences (CEFRES) More detailed information can be obtained directly from the organiser GESIS Servicestelle Osteuropa, Frau Wenninger, Schiffbauerdamm 19 10117 Berlin E-mail: wenninger@berlin.iz-soz.de

announcement

From Transition to Development: Globalisation and the Political Economy of Development in Transition Economies Date: October 10-11, 2003 Conference site: Sarajevo, BH Organiser: The Faculty of Economics at the University of Sarajevo, CID (Centre for International Development, Bologna), the Department of Economic Sciences at the University of Bologna, CERT (Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation) at the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and UNDP Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina Topics: The Conference will focus on the economic, political and social aspects of development of Countries in Transition, with particular emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina and all the Balkan countries. Contact: Centre for International Cooperation Faculty of Economics

14 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

Sarajevo, BH Attn Ass. Prof. Besim Culahovic, Ph.D. e-mail: ices@efsa.unsa.ba

announcement

Identities in Conflict and Conflict in Identities Third International Conference

Date: October 23-25, 2003 Conference site: Brno, Czech Republic Organiser: Masaryk University, Department of Sociology, Institute for Study of Culture and Ethnocentrism Topics: The aim of the conference is to investigate the analytical and interpretative powers of the sociological concept of identity in variety of contexts (nationality, citizenship, ethnicity, gender, generation, social class, etc.). Contact: Dr. Radim Marada Masaryk University School of Social Studies Dept. of Sociology Gorkeho 7 60200 Brno Tel.: (+420 541) 615 248 Fax: (+420 541) 615 100 e-mail: marada@fssmunicz Internet: http://wwwdata.muni.cz/toASCII.en/misc/events.asp?Subjekt=soc&odMesice=aktualni

announcement

Implementation of European Union Standards in Education and Science Date: November 6-11, 2003 Conference site: Békéscsaba, Hungary Organiser: International Visegrad Fund Topics: Intensification of reciprocal exchange of pedagogical and scientific knowledge leading towards the simplification of the entry process into EU with the orientation on synchronising pedagogical documentation with EU standards and implementing EU research priorities to integrated project of partner universities from V4 countries Contact: The Faculty of Economics of Matej Bel University Tajovského 10 97590 Banska Bystrica, Slovakia Tel.: +421 48 4462140 Fax: +421 48 4152793 E-mail: uramova@ef.umb.sk

announcement

Knowledge Society - Challenges to Management: Globalisation, Regionalism and the EU Enlargement Process Date: November 20-22, 2003 Conference site: Portoroz, Slovenia Organiser: University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper Topics: Staff recruiting and development; Education and research; Creation and use of knowledge; Countries in transition. More detailed information can be obtained directly from the organiser Ms. Janja Prelesnik-Cendak Faculty of Management Cankarjeva 5, Koper, Slovenia Tel.: + +386 5 610 20 07 Fax: + +386 5 610 20 15 E-mail: janja.cendak@vsm-kp.si Internet: http://www.vsm-kp.si/angleska_stran/ conference/current/4_conference/vsebina_0.htm

announcement

Contemporary Citizenship: The Politics of Exclusion and Inclusion II (Is there a chance for a post-national citizenship?)" Date: December 5-6, 2003 Conference site: Ljubljana, Slovenia Organiser: The Peace Institute, Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies Topics: The main questions/problems of the limitations of the citizenship concept/s and practices; development of the path for thinking not only about the incentives for inclusiveness in terms of membership, but also in terms of active involvement and political responsibility of the citizenry Conference language: English Contact: Ms. Mojca Sušnik, Peace Institute, Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies Metelkova 6 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Tel.: + 386 1 234 77 20 Fax: + 386 1 234 77 22 E-mail: mojca.susnik@mirovni-institut.si Internet: http://www.mirovni-institut.si/ eng_html/events/call1.doc

announcement

On the Opposite Sides of Baltic Sea - Relations between Scandinavian and Central European Countries

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 15

Date: December 25-30, 2003 Organiser: Reformation Research, the Study of Art Committee at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish-Swedish Association Conference site: Wroclaw, Poland Topics: The main topics presented at the conference will be - as we think - problems of mutual political, confessional and cultural relations, thought as general processes as well as particular occurances. Among questions, which are expected to be presented at the conference, will be a problematic of the Thirty Years War and that of the important role of Sweden during that time as well as the problem of the King Gustav Adolf II as a guarant of confessional rights of Protestants in the Central Europe. Also an artistic heritage of outraged Scandinavian artists active in the Middle Europe as well as that of artists from Poland, Bohemia and Germany, travelling to Sweden, Danemark and Norway in order to find commissions, will be taken into account. More detailed information can be obtained directly from the organiser Dr Piotr Oszczanowski Instytut Historii Sztuki UWr. E-mail: pioszcz@uni.wroc.pl

announcement

Intimate and Public Worlds on the Balkans (13th International Round Table)

Date: Februar 26-28, 2004 Conference site: Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria Organiser: International University Seminar for Balkan Studies and Specialization (IUSBSS) of South-West University "Neophit Rilsky", Blagoevgrad Contact: E. Popova International University Seminar for Balkan Studies 1"Georgi Izmirliev" Pl., AUBG building, room 105 2700 Blagoevgrad Bulgaria Tel.: (+359 73) 375 31 Fax: (+359 73) 375 31 e-mail: bforum@pirin.com

announcement

Central and Eastern European Countries inside and outside the European Union: Avoiding a new divide - 12th NISPAcee Annual Conference Date: May 13-15, 2004 Conference site: Vilnius, Lithuania

Organiser: Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe Topics: Papers are invited on the main themes of the conference: 1). Problems facing the new Member States: Administrations of the new member states (NMS) have focused more on gaining accession rather than preparing a solid base for membership. They have concentrated more on "becoming" rather than "being" during the preparatory period. Thus, there is a real danger that there will be de facto two European Administrative Spaces. 2). Problems facing the States outside the enlarged European Union Outside the enlarged European Union, there will remain a large number of states, each at different stages of development, with different relationships both with the EU and with each other. What potential will there be for further enlargement? What are the developmental risks and opportunities for them, their public policies and administrations in the new situation throughout the continent? 3). Common problems and challenges the CEE countries face in public policy and administration. Contact: Mrs. Ludmila Gajdosova, Executive Director, Hanulova 5/B, P.O.Box 163, 840 02 BRATISLAVA 42, Slovak Republic Tel.: Fax: E-mail: Gajdosova@nispa.sk Internet: http://www.nispa.sk

report

Professional associations in Russia and optimisation of the conditions of scientific and teaching activities Conference, April 2003, Moscow The conference of professional social science associations "Professional associations in Russia and optimisation of the conditions of scientific and teaching activities" was held in April 2003 in Moscow. This conference was a part of the project "Cooperation of professional social science associations", initiated by the Centre for Development of Political Science and Constitutional Law and supported by the Institute "Open Society" and the Institute for Social Science Information (INION) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Among participants of the conference there were representatives of management and members of professional associations such as the Russian Philosophical Society, the Russian Association of Sociologists, the Russian Political Science Association. The majority of these organizations has the all-Russian or inter-regional status. Alongside with them, some

16 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

regional organizations also participated in the conference. The following issues were discussed: • development of an infrastructure for

professional cooperation and interdisciplinary interaction;

• development and introduction of professional standards into research and educational process; expert estimation of scientific and training/methodical output;

• management and financing of science; exchange of experience on functioning of associations;

• scientific information and introduction of innovations into educational and research process;

• cooperation of associations in the field of advanced training for researchers and lecturers;

• problems of alternation of generations and integration of young researchers and lecturers into activities of professional scientific communities.

The first day of the conference was devoted to the presentation of associations, initiatives and projects in the field of social science research and education. The participants had a possibility to receive information concerning experience and activity characteristics of the colleagues as well as to learn problems and achievements referring to the development of professional associations, their programs and projects. Presentations of the projects and other initiatives in the field of social studies, having an interdisciplinary character attracted special attention. Among such projects it is necessary to mention the project of the Russian State Scientific Foundation "Electronic library" (ELIBRARY), the project "University Information System RUSSIA", the International program of grants of the Institute for International Education. The second part of the conference was concentrated on the following topics: • introduction of professional standards and

the advisory role of associations • organizational development and a regional

infrastructure of associations • information supply of scholarly cooperation • role of professional associations in the

development of education in Russia • professional associations as subjects of

civil society • integration of young researchers and

lecturers into activities of associations The first working group discussed problems of the introduction of professional standards and the advisory role of associations in the field of social sciences. Prof. A.L.Salagaev from the Kazan Technological University and director of

the Centre for Analytical Research and Development made a keynote report. He precisely formulated the basic problem. On the one hand, the absence of moral and ethical standards results in nonconfidence to the profession, nonprofessionalism and in loosing of prestige of the scientific community. For example, the use of the results of non-professionally conducted sociological surveys during election campaigns (frequently as a tool of the public opinion manipulation) undermines the reputation of the professional community. On the other hand, many "political technologists", representatives of government bodies and business structures aim at the constitution of their positions in the scientific environment by defending thesis for a doctor's degree. The result of these efforts is the general low thesis level in the country. Many members of the scientific subject-oriented councils are also members of professional associations. However till now their responsibility for the observance of ethical and professional principals within the framework of professional associations has not been discussed yet. One more problem is the low level of professional qualification of many university teachers of social sciences, first of all regional teachers. It adversely affects the process of professional training of experts. The second and third working groups were devoted to the development of an infrastructure for professional cooperation. It was noted that there were no uniform models of the membership in associations (individual and/or regional). Advantages of this or that pattern depend on concrete conditions and problems of organizations. Analysing questions of the infrastructure development of professional cooperation, the conference participants stressed the necessity to distinguish professional communities with some civil functions (what professional scientific associations should be) and civil associations which basic purpose is not the development promotion of the scientific community. The discrepancy of the purposes reputes various decisions concerning the development of an infrastructure. The third working group discussed the problems of information supply and the cooperation of the associations. Dr. Gerassimov from the Institute for Social Science Information (INION) was a keynote speaker. He analysed the possibilities of INION concerning the information supply of professional associations in the field of social sciences. He underlined that INION has wide resources and experience of similar activities that allows considering this organization as an optimum platform for information cooperation of the associations. In the course of the discussion the necessity of

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 17

creation of a virtual information platform and the publication of the periodic newsletter of the associations was accentuated. The topic of corporate standards was discussed in the fourth working group. A.J.Sungurov (the president of St. Petersburg Centre "Strategy", representative of the St. Petersburg Union of Scientists) reported on a potential role of professional associations in the development of civil education in Russia. This contribution was advanced with the second report "Training of employees of non-governmental organizations" made by the noted researcher of the third sector V.N.Jakimets. The missing influence of professional associations on the process of the registration of social science teaching materials by the Ministry of Education was also debated. So, the president of the International Association for Conflict Studies, Prof. E.I. Stepanov, told that on his question how expert teams of the Ministry of Education are formed, which recommend some non-professional teaching materials on conflict studies, he received the answer: "This is our internal business". The fifth working group discussed possibilities and limits of impact of professional association on various aspects of policy both at the regional and at the federal level. The sixth working group was devoted to the generation succession and integration of researchers and university teachers in the activity of professional associations. The majority of the participants noted that professional associations are organizations of acknowledged experts, however there should be certain terms, allowing to integrate young researchers into such communities. During the discussion various points of view concerning terms of such integration were expressed: direct membership in associations, establishing youth section, competitions of young researchers, etc. Some general principles, however, should be respected: active cooperation of youth structures with professional associations and support of professional associations to youth organizations or divisions. The plenary session reviewed the results of the conference and formulated general conclusions which could be considered as prospects of the further cooperation: • The organizing committee of the

conference and the associations obliged themselves to inform the scientific community - first of all members of the associations - on the conference, its decisions and objectives on prospect.

• It is necessary to establish a platform for an exchange of opinions. The regular round table of professional associations will act as such a platform. In order to maintain the

information exchange of members of the associations a virtual information platform should be established. The subsite of professional associations could be generated on the INION-site.

• It is essential to establish an electronic newsletter - "Newsletter of professional associations in the field of social sciences and education" which could contribute to information exchange between associations.

• It is necessary to strengthen influence of associations on the introduction of professional standards in scientific, educational and practical activities. For this purpose it is important to publish professional codes of various associations and to initiate discussion on professional standards in scientific journals and other publications.

• The expert role of associations should be increased

The plenary session established a working group designed for the coordination of the cooperation infrastructure. This group outlined three main objectives of cooperation on immediate prospects: • Development of an information platform and

publication of a sample number of the Newsletter;

• Organization of public hearings in the State Duma on problems of professional standards in scientific, educational and practical activities.

• Conducting of the first meeting of the round table of associations devoted to the issues of professional standards and expertise.

Let us hope that the conference will open a new page in the development of professional cooperation and promote the integration of the scientific community as well as increase its prestige not only within the framework of scientific disciplines and organizations, but in Russia as a whole.

Dr. E. Meleshkina3 Prof. A. Sungurov4

SCIENTIFIC NETWORKS

The Network of Institutions and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee)

3 Dr. Elena Meleshkina is head of the department in INION and director of the Centre for Development of Political Science and Constitutional Law 4 Prof. A. Sungurov is president of the St. Petersburg Center “Strategy”

18 NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003

The Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe originated from the genuine effort of people and institutions from the region to share the knowledge and skills and unite the effort to cope with present and future challenges in the field. The thorough and appropriate identification of the present and prospective needs of member institutions along with the effective means of their satisfaction is the most crucial element of the success of the organisation. The execution of NISPAcee´s mission will be based on five fundamental functions • Networking • Facilitating training and education

Fostering research • Developing consultancy • Supporting advocacy Main objectives of the organisation are associated with these fundamental functions. NISPAcee plans to continue the activities already started and develop new projects which should be directed to meet those needs of its members which are shared ones and can be more gratifying with a joint effort. The Steering Committee sees the need for these activities to be still funded by western philanthropic or governmental sources until the regional economies are stronger and the network is self-sustaining. Therefore the implementation of the listed activities will depend in a great deal on the success of the organisation and the active participation of the membership in this matter as well. Core NISPAcee activities include: • Annual Conferences • Workshops and Training Programmes

Publications • Exchange Programmes and Development of

PA Programmes • Research • Civil Service Forums • Information Services and Public Relations

Alena Brunovska Award Contact: Mrs. Ludmila Gajdosova, Executive Director Hanulova 5/B, P.O.Box 163, 840 02 BRATISLAVA 42, Slovak Republic E-mail: Gajdosova@nispa.sk Internet: http://www.nispa.sk/

The Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe

The Knowledge Base Social Sciences in Eastern Europe is designed to provide an ongoing overview of the development of social sciences in Central and Eastern Europe. It

intends to offer a living and long term mapping of the disciplines in the region. It gives access to facts and background information and serves as a meeting point for experts. Content: • Reports and reviews from the printed

version of the publication »Three Social Sciences in Central and Eastern Europe. Handbook on economics, political science and sociology (1989-2001)

• Journals and bibliographical references • Most important actors: persons and

institutions • Internet resources • Scientific events Objectives: • The knowledge base aims to support East-

West scientific communication and cooperation via:

• information exchange • scientific discussion • bottom-up networking on the European level Target Group: • social scientists, students and professionals

as well as science politicians, funding organisations

• all users interested in the development of social sciences in Central and Eastern Europe

The Knowledge Base is maintained by the Social Science Information Center, GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe, Berlin in cooperation with the Collegium Budapest and the Foundation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris. In its initial phase the cooperatio project was supported by the European Commission. The Knowledge Base is available at http://www.cee-socialscience.net/

NEWSLETTER Social Science in Eastern Europe, September 2003 19

Contact If you wish to obtain further information on the contributions, journals, institutions, conference announcements, etc., included in this Newsletter, please, let us know. Material will be sent to you on request. Furthermore, we are grateful for remarks and criticisms. Those who are interested in subscribing the Newsletter on a regular basis are asked to send us an informal note. You can get an e-mail subscription through: • listserv@listserv.bonn.iz-soz.de

with: • “subscribe oenews” (no quotes) in the body

of the message You can also find all issues at the GESIS-Internet site:

http://www.gesis.org/GESIS_Aussenstelle Further information on services of GESIS is to be found at:

http://www.gesis.org Subscription is preliminarily free of charge. Attention! We have changed our name! Informationszentrum Sozialwissenschaften, Ab-teilung Informationtransfer Osteuropa in der GESIS (Gesellschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Infrastruktureinrichtungen e. V.) Servicestelle Osteuropa (Social Science Information Centre, Department Information Transfer Eastern Europe at the GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe) Schiffbauerdamm 19, 10117 Berlin, Tel.: + 49-30-233-611-311 Fax: + 49-30-233-611-310 e-mail: iz@berlin.iz-soz.de