Everyday Patriotism in Contemporary Russia
(2008-2010)

Coordinator: Svetlana Barsukova (Higher School of Economics, Moscow).
Actualization of patriotism as central ideologem of current Russian policy of identity, with little or weak consideration of its polysemy, may have unexpected and undesirable effects: authoritarianism, traditionalism, isolationism, xenophobia, etc. Practices of "patriotism" and the study of commonplace, normalized patriotic rhetoric not connected with radical political movements seek to deepen scientific understanding of the phenomenon and to prevent the threat of the aforementioned conditions in the Russian context.
Participant from CISR: Oksana Karpenko.
Supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant No 08-03-94691a/жТ).

Civil Education in Russian School
(2008-2009)

Joint project with Zentrum fuer Deutschland- und Europastudien.
Coordinators: Tatiana Zimenkova (ZDES, Bielefeld University, Germany), Oksana Karpenko (CISR).
The research, which is the preparatory stage of an international project, includes expert analysis of the situation that has developed around "civil education" (infrastructure, programs, thematization of the phenomenon in academic and public discourse, available statistics, etc.) at federal and regional (Samara, Kazan, Perm, and Irkutsk) levels.
Participant from CISR: Oksana Karpenko.
Supported by the Centre for German and European Studies (ZDES, Bielefeld/St.Petersburg), CISR.

Problematization of Social Discrimination in Russian Public Discourse
(2008-2009)

Joint project with the International Institute for Humanities and Political Studies (Moscow).
Coordinator: Alexander Osipov (CISR).
In many societies, the concept of discrimination is the focus of discourse on equality and social justice and simultaneously an element of social categorization. The project aims to study the foundations of development of this concept in Russian society and the construction of equality infringement as a social problem. Qualitative research methods used include text analysis and expert interviews. Topical questions to be analyzed: the understanding of social equality and discrimination in the context of the Russian legal system; discrimination and ethnic categorization; culturalization of the problems of equality; connection of the concept of discrimination with violence and aggression; discrimination and interpretations of social disproportions; discrimination; international relations; and the role of external actors.
Participant from CISR: Alexander Osipov.
Supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant No 08-03-00300a).

Economic Migrants from Central Asia: Research of Transformation of Identity, Norms of Behaviour and Types of Social Networks
(2007-2008)

Coordinators: Sergei Abashin (Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, RAS, Moscow), Elena Chikadze (CISR).
This international project was a study of economic migration from Uzbekistan to Russia and Kazakhstan. It aimed to investigate the formation process of a new transboundary community which has developed at the intersection of different social, political, and cultural spaces. The research focuses on immigrants' motivation and behavioral strategies, social networks and identifications, and the practices of segregation from and integration into the host society. The researchers also attempted to reveal the reverse influence which migrants' experiences exert on the social norms and on institutions of the Central Asian society. To complete the project, on May 13, 2008, CISR organized and held the workshop 'Economic Migrants from Central Asia' which was attended by researchers from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and Pskov.
Participant from CISR: Elena Chikadze.
Supported by the Open Society Institute (OSI).

Movement of the Deported Meskhetians for Repatriation to Georgia under the Soviet Rule (1950s-1980s): A Phantom or Consolidation of an Ethnic Group?
(2007-2008)

The project aimed to study materials from Russian federal archives that are related to the semi-underground Meskhetians' movement (1950s-1980s) for return to Georgia. This entailed an investigation of the public representations of the movement, viz. how the Meskhetian leaders presented their activity and how the authorities perceived them and reacted to their demands. The project made for better understanding of the role of society and the unofficial public sphere under Soviet rule, the governmental strategies toward ethnic movements and the mechanisms which formed the Meskhetian identity.
Researcher: Alexander Osipov.
Supported by the American Council of Learned Societies.

Place, Mobility and Viability in Industrial Northern Communities
(2006-2010)

This project is part of the larger international project "Moved by the State: Perspectives on Relocation and Resettlement in the Circumpolar North" (MOVE). It aims to comparatively analyze the population's mobility and the continuity of residence in North-Russian and Siberian industrial cities. The research focuses on a question actively discussed within the scientific community and by the political elite, and it discusses the sustainability and viability of northern communities.
Participant from CISR: Alla Bolotova.
Supported by the Academy of Sciences (Finland) and the European Science Foundation in the framework of BOREAS program.

TheљPolice and Ethnic Minorities: TheљInteraction Practices in Kazan' and Saint-Petersburg
(2006-2008)

Joint project with theљInstitute of Social Research and Civic Initiatives (Kazan).
Coordinators: Boris Gladarev (CISR) and Liliya Sagitova (ISRCI).
The project used a three-level analysis of police discourse that influences interaction patterns between law-enforcement officers and the population: a) official discourse (including the analysis of normative documents) that deals with (re)production of regulations for interaction between the police and the population in general; b) middle- range discourse that involves the heads of divisions and specifies general regulations determining interaction patterns with law-enforcement officers in a concrete context; c) everyday police discourse that concerns rank-and-file policemen who are in direct contact with the population. The objectives of the project consisted of the analysis of media materials that touch upon the problems of relations between the police and the population; detailed description of everyday practices in interaction that occur between rank-and-file policemen and the public; an analysis of discriminatory aspects of patrol and district police officers' activity; determination of conditions and factors that could help fight racist attitudes and stop ethnic-based discriminatory practices. A monograph based on the outcomes of the research is in progress to be completed in 2009.
Participants: Boris Gladarev, Peter Meylakhs, Viktor Voronkov.
Supported by theљJohnљD. and CatherineљT. MacArthur Foundation.

"Nomadic Home": The Concept of "Home" in the Context of Migration (A Case of Women-Guest-Workers in St. Petersburg)
(2005-2006)

The project is aimed at studying transformations in the perception of domestic space, as well as the rules and ways of organising it in the situation of migration. The research is focused on women-guest- workers, who came to St. Petersburg from the post-Soviet space more than three years ago, and have been working as vendors at the local food markets. Research methods: observation of migrant women's everyday life and in-depth task-oriented interviewing focused on their life courses.
Researchers: Olga Brednikova, Olga Tkach.
Supported by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

Between Integration and Resettlement: The Meskhetian Turks
(2004-2006)

Project of the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI, Germany).
Coordinators: Tom Trier (ECMI), Andrei Khanzhin (ECMI, CISR).
A complex comparative analysis of Meskhetian Turkish communities in 9 different countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, USA, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine). Research methods include participant observation and interviews in compact settlement areas, comparative legislative analysis and analysis of literature.
Participants from CISR: Viktor Voronkov, Peter Meylakhs, Alexander Osipov, Andrei Khanzhin, Elena Chikadze.
Supported by the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

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