SOCIAL MILIEU AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
"Collective" and "Public" in a Russian Context
(2008-2009)
Project of the European
University at St. Petersburg (EUSPb).
Coordinator: Oleg Kharkhordin (EUSPb).
This research project aims to investigate the distinctions between the concepts of
"collective" and "public", as applied to Russian society. The sociological aspect of the
project is devoted to transformation of these concepts (the case of the St. Petersburg
movements for preservation of historical and cultural heritage: the late 1980s - the early
2000s).
The project is expected to be finalized in a monograph titled "Why does Russia have so
much of the "collective" and so little of the "public"?
Participant from CISR: Boris
Gladarev.
Supported by the Dynasty Foundation (Moscow).
New gadgets and transformation of everyday life in St.
Petersburg
(2007-2008)
The project aims to explore everyday
interaction between people and a wide range of gadgets (mobile phones, video cameras,
JPS navigators, and also electronic massagers and WC pans with music and heating). The
main objective is to study the everyday practices of an individual who uses such new
technologies. The researcher used innovative methodology, combining in-depth interviews
with solicited diary.
Researcher: Boris Gladarev.
Initiative project.
Registered Cossacks in St. Petersburg
(2007-2008)
The project examined the registered Cossacks
in St. Petersburg: their lifestyles and ways of reproduction in a traditionally non-Cossack
region. The process of constructing the community was analyzed in three aspects: 1)
lawmaking activity of the state determining the areas of the community's
institutionalization; 2) activity of the very Cossacks who were officially registered; 3) public
discussion revealing attitudes towards the registered Cossacks. The research was conducted
in the form of case study and employed the methods of observation, interview, and text
analysis.
Researcher: Elena
Bogdanova.
Initiative project.
Place, Mobility and Viability in Industrial Northern
Communities
(2006-2010)
This project is part of thešlarger international
project "Moved by thešState: Perspectives on Relocation and Resettlement in
thešCircumpolar North" (MOVE).
Participant from CISR: Alla
Bolotova.
Supported by thešAcademy of Sciences
(Finland)
and thešEuropean Science Foundation in thešframework of BOREAS
program.
BAM Builders and BAM: ThešHistory of thešLast Project of
Socialism
(2006-2007)
Thešproject is devoted to thešresearch of
thešsocio-cultural consequences of thešBaikal-Amur railroad building for thešregion and for
thešBAM-builders. Thešresearch is focused on thešideological discourse of thešlast project of
socialism, as well as on thešindividual stories of BAM builders represented in their
biographies. Main method of thešresearch is biographical interviews with St.šPetersburg and
Moscow inhabitants - former BAM-builders. Important task of thešproject is investigation of
theševeryday life of thešBAM Builder's settlements, as well as thešsocial effects of
thešinitiation and expansion of BAM construction in theš1970s, its influence on thešfate of
thešbuilders.
Participants from CISR: Olga Tkach, Elena Bogdanova.
Supported by thešAmerican
Council of Learned Societies.
"Street Economy" and its Participants in Contemporary
Russia and Germany (AšComparative Study of Street Vending in St.šPetersburg and
Berlin)
(2006-2007)
Thešidea of thešresearch project is to
investigate and compare thešsocial phenomenon of street vending - as anšaspect of
informal economy - in contemporary Russian and German societies. Thešperception of
informal economy phenomena in thešsociety and thešway they are treated there reflects
thešwider social processes characteristic for this society. Flea markets will be taken as
examples for this investigation. One can observe here, at flea markets and in street vending
in general, ašlot of exciting social activities: strange economic relations, gender relations,
inter-generation relations, ethnic relations, intensive interpersonal communication, leisure
time activities and even public debates. Participant observation and interviews will be
thešmain methods employed in thešproject. One of the results of the research project became an exhibition
The Window into a City's Sole. Berlin and Petersburg Through the Prism of Flea Market (flyer).
Researcher: Oleg Pachenkov.
Supported by thešAlexander von Humboldt Foundation (German Chancellor
Scholarship Program for Prospective Leaders from thešRussian Federation).
Alternative Education: Availability of Choice, Social Niche
for "Marginal" Children or Institute of Inequality Reproduction? ThešStudy of Private
Schools in St.šPetersburg
(2006)
Joint project with thešEducational center
"Uchastie".
Coordinator: Mikhail Epshtein (Educational center "Uchastie").
Thešproject is aimed at studying of thešsituation and thešperspectives of alternative
education in thešcase of private (non-state) schools in St.šPetersburg, potential and
activities of these schools for thešproblem-solving of thešeducational system in general. It
seems important for us to analyze in what degree thešnon-state school education becomes
ašmechanism of social inequality reproduction and reproduction of elite in Russia. Is it
possible for thešprivate schools in thešnearest future to become anšalternative for thešstate
schools which fail to fulfill their task to provide up to date high-quality educational services
or to compensate in ašcertain degree for ašdeficiency in such services?
Participant from CISR: Irina
Olimpieva.
Supported by thešIndependent Institute for Social Policy (Moscow).
Mechanisms of Support of Families and Children in
Difficult Situation
(2006)
Joint project with thešEvery Child (Great
Britain), thešSt.šPetersburg Non-Profit Organization "Doctors to
Children".
Coordinator: Oleg Pachenkov
(CISR).
Thešsociological investigation is ašpart of thešlarger applied project oriented towards
improvement of thešsystem of
social care of thešfamilies and children in difficult situation. Thešproject is supposed to work
out recommendations
for interdisciplinary, case oriented and child protectionist approach. Thešsociological
investigation was aimed to find out,
describe and critically analyse thešexisting mechanisms in concern to decisions made about
thešchildren in contemporary
Russian legislation and practice (case of St.šPetersburg). Research methods were in-depth
semi-structured interviews and
questionnaires.
Participants from CISR: Lubov Ejova,
Oleg Pachenkov.
Supported by thešTACIS Programme of thešEU.
Programs for thešPrevention of thešSocial Orphanage in
thešLeningrad Region: ThešBarriers and thešNew Possibilities (In thešContext of
thešRealization of Local and International Programs for Regional Development)
(2006)
Joint project with thešSt.šPetersburg Early Intervention
Institute.
Thešsubject of thešproposed research is thešprocess of thešrealization of thešprograms for
thešprevention of social orphanage and of institutionalization of care for children from
problem families in Leningrad region. Thešprograms in particular are those being realized in
three municipal districts of Leningrad region: Priozersky, Gatchinsky and Slantzevsky.
Thešresearch seems to be of present importance, since such problems as thešsocial
orphanage, thešdeprivation of parents of their parental rights, thešplacement of children
into thešchildren houses and other institutions of boarding-school type, thešdefects of
thešway state institutions are taking care of children they are responsible for, and thešlack
of real alternative to those institutions are starting to bear great importance for
thešcontemporary Russia. Thešgoal of thešresearch is to define and analyse thešprocess of
realization of thešsaid programs, of their potential and of thešproblems and complications
arising in thešprocess of realization. Thešspecial attention would be given to thešdivision
between central and regional functions and to thešpotential of thešregional development
concentrated on thešlocal and thešmunicipal level. Thešother important aspect in
thešresearch will be thešcooperation of thešdifferent agents involved in thešregional
realization of complex programs - of thešgovernment officials of different levels and
different departments, of thešrepresentatives of NGOs, of foreign experts etc. Thešproposed
projects are closely related to thešother big regional project that is realized on international
level: SPRILO. Thešthree programs thešrealization of which will be thešsubject of our study
are sponsored by thešgrant program of SPRILO project.
Participant from CISR: Oleg
Pachenkov.
Supported by thešIndependent Institute for Social Policy (Moscow) with financial
support of thešJohnšD. and
CatherinešT. MacArthur Foundation.
Responsibility and Power in Secondary School:
Construction of Ageism
(2006)
Secondary school as anšinstitutional agent of
socialization plays ašgreat role in construction of thešage identity and its status significance.
Special school lessons such as class meetings, 'political information', 'ethics and psychology
of family life' in thešsoviet period and 'social studies', 'right studies' nowadays have
thešstrong moral background. All these subjects are devoted to thešforming of so called
'right' personality according to common sense of ašschool teacher, administration and
ministry bureaucracy. In fact ašchild strongly depends every day on her/his teacher in
behaving, thinking and emotionally. When her/his trying to guess thešright answer, pose,
gesture, sentence thešchild always faces thešnormative control of adults, for instance, of
school stuff, parents of her/his friends and first of all of her/his teachers. Methods of
thešfield part of this project are visual observation with taping on camera school lessons
and problem-oriented in-depth interviews with teachers in groups and individual.
Thešsubjects for thešvisual observation are 'social studies' and 'right studies' mentioned
above. All video records will be transcribed and analyzed in detail, thešmost noteworthy
scenes will be selected for presenting at workshops and discussing together with
thešparticipating schoolteachers.
Researcher: Sergej Damberg.
Supported by thešSmolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (St.šPetersburg), thešSaint-Petersburg State
University.
ThešPolitics of Friendship
(2005-2007)
Joint project with thešEuropean University at
St.šPetersburg.
Coordinator: Oleg Kharkhordin (European University at St.šPetersburg).
Thešproject is devoted to sociological insufficiently explored subject - thešattitudes of
friendship. For thešfirst time thešRussian research group has addressed to thešanalysis of
historical and social genesis of concept friendship, to perusal of political measurement of
friendship and thešsociological analysis of modern friendship practices. Thešfriendship in this
project is considered as thešsignificant form of social attitudes penetrating all social
structure from thešstate up to thešindividual.
Participant from CISR: Boris
Gladarev.
Supported by thešEuropean University at St.šPetersburg and thešDynasty Foundation.
Comparative Analysis of Begging in St. Petersburg and
Berlin
(2004-2007)
The phenomenon of begging in St.
Petersburg and Berlin is the object of the investigation. Begging is analysed not as a
phenomenon of poverty, but as a symbolic and economic practice which varies with specific
cultural and historical contexts. It is suggested that the comparison of the practices of
begging in two different cultures can more clearly answer the question, who is defined as
"destitute" in each society, and how are the forms of begging dependent on structural,
socio-economic and cultural factors. The research employs qualitative methods:
observation (including participant observation), and interviews.
Researcher: Maria Kudriavtseva.
Supported by the Hans
Boeckler Foundation.
Support for Poverty Reduction in Leningradskaya Oblast'
(SPRILO).
Social Exclusion: Children and Families at Risk
(2004-2007)
Joint project with the St. Petersburg Early Intervention Institute and the Standing
Committee for Employment and Social Protection at the Leningrad Region
Government.
Coordinator: Oleg Pachenkov
(CISR).
The purpose of intervening in the social care for children and families - within the
framework of the Programme's overarching poverty-reduction strategy - is to improve the
quality, effectiveness and accessibility of services for at-risk groups. The sociological
investigation includes: a detailed description of the status of care and services provided by
the Leningrad Regional authorities, NGOs and community-based services for children and
families at risk of social exclusion; the identification of the causes underlying the social
exclusion of those groups; the identification of the factors that lead to low quality and
inefficient care and services; and the development of conclusions and subsequent
recommendations to facilitate the achievement of SPRILO's objectives: the reduction of
poverty and social exclusion, particularly among children from vulnerable groups.
Participants from CISR: Oleg
Pachenkov, Olga Brednikova.
Supported by the
Department for International Development (DFID, UK).
Rights and "The Law" in Modern Country Life:
Social Transformations in Rural Communities in the Krasnodar Region
(2004-2006)
Project of the Centre for
Anthropological Studies (Krasnodar).
Coordinator: Alexander Manuylov (Centre for Anthropological Studies).
The main purpose of the project is to observe and analyse the conflict between official
legislation and rules (i.e. ordinary rights) established by new rural economic actors.
The project sets out to study modern rural life using three approaches:
a) field research in rural communities in the Krasnodar region (e.g. participant observation,
expert interviews, etc.) aims to discover the new actors that have appeared during the
process of transformation, what rules they have established in the rural communities and
what problems have arisen as a result of interaction between these new rules and existing
legislation;
b) social expertise of the legislation issues really or probably concerning the transformation
of rural life;
c) research of local mass media discourses aims to discover whether they support or
threaten new rules produced by new rural actors.
Special attention is also paid to the feedback mechanism - how the actors influence the
discourses.
Participant from CISR: Oksana
Karpenko.
Supported by the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Specialisation and Diversification of Enterprising during
Transition
A Comparative Study of Development in Estonian and Russian Countryside
(2004-2006)
Ðroject of the Aleksanteri Institute
at the University of Helsinki.
Coordinator: Alla Bolotova (CISR).
This study analyses rural areas in Russia and in Estonia from the viewpoint of continuities
and economic strategies of rural enterprises. The subject in the analysis is different types of
enterprises, their potentials and dependence on the environment where they act.
Diversification and specialisation are opposite strategies, both of which can be found in
post-Soviet areas: the former one especially in Russia and the latter one in Estonia.
Detailed analysis on the local level aims at highlighting reasons and mechanisms producing
such opposite strategies from seemingly similar historical background. The focus is firstly
on the analysis of the relations between enterprises and local administration. Secondly, the
focus is on the analysis of communities and their changing role in the process of transition,
during which the Soviet type of collective farms have lost their dominating role in the local
life. The study is conducted in Karelia and Nizhny-Novogorod region in Russia and in
Estonia in Polva county and in Jarva county.
Participants from CISR: Alla Bolotova,
Tatiana Safonova, Anastasia Zolotova.
Supported by the Academy of
Finland.
Life with the Mobile Telephone: New Technologies in the
Space of the Everyday
(2003-2006)
This project investigates the everyday
practices of mobile telephony. The research question this project asks is: how does the
organisation of the everyday change for the person who is deeply involved in new
communication technologies? Innovative research methods are employed, such as in-depth
interviews, solicited "mobile communication diary" and the analysis of these documents of
the everyday as notebooks of the mobile telephone.
Researcher: Boris Gladarev.
Supported by the CISR and the European University at St. Petersburg.
Workers' Dynasty as a Mechanism of the Reproduction of
the Social Structure of Russian Industrial Enterprise
(2000-2006)
The project is devoted to the study of the
workers' dynasty as one of the social mechanisms for the reproduction of social structure in
Soviet and post-Soviet industrial enterprise. The main research methods are discursive
analysis of official documents about workers' dynasties and the study of family genealogies
based on biographical interviews with workers. This data allows us to trace the social
trajectory of the institution of the workers' dynasty and examine its role in the corporate
structure.
Researcher: Olga Tkach.
Supported by the
European University at St. Petersburg and the CISR.
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