This document summarizes Andrey V. Rezaev's comparative analysis of the everyday life practices of transnational labor migrants in Athens, Greece and St. Petersburg, Russia from 2009-2012. The study used methods like observation, group discussions, interviews and case studies to understand and compare the experiences of migrants in both cities. Preliminary conclusions found that migrants' everyday life practices can promote both social exclusion but also social inclusion if transformed. There is also a need for more inclusive policies and language regarding transnational migrants.
Direct democratic choices have been of great importance in Central and
Eastern European countries since they have marked the key steps on those states’
paths to democracy. Direct democracy – particularly referenda – is arousing increasing interest among politicians and the electorate, which is manifested in the ongoing
public debate on the role of civil participation in decision-making processes, as well
as in the increase in the number of national referenda held in Europe and worldwide.
Hence, studies on referenda in Central and Eastern Europe seem to be a very interesting and academically important task worthy of further exploration. The main research
aim of this paper is to answer the question of the role of nationwide referenda in the
political practice of Central and Eastern European states, as well as the question of
the future prospects for the use of referenda. More emphasis is placed on referenda
conducted after 1989. On the basis of these research results, referenda are divided
into three categories: independence referenda, so called “deepening” referenda and
accession referenda.
Unconventional research in USSR and Russia: short overview by Serge KernbachAlex Krol
This work briefly surveys unconventional research in Russia from the end of the 19th until the beginning of the 21th centuries in areas related to generation and detection of a ’high- penetrating’ emission of non-biological origin. The overview is based on open scientific and journalistic materials. The unique character of this research and its history, originating from gov- ernmental programs of the USSR, is shown. Relations to modern studies on biological effects of weak electromagnetic emission, several areas of bioinformatics and theories of physical vacuum are discussed.
Direct democratic choices have been of great importance in Central and
Eastern European countries since they have marked the key steps on those states’
paths to democracy. Direct democracy – particularly referenda – is arousing increasing interest among politicians and the electorate, which is manifested in the ongoing
public debate on the role of civil participation in decision-making processes, as well
as in the increase in the number of national referenda held in Europe and worldwide.
Hence, studies on referenda in Central and Eastern Europe seem to be a very interesting and academically important task worthy of further exploration. The main research
aim of this paper is to answer the question of the role of nationwide referenda in the
political practice of Central and Eastern European states, as well as the question of
the future prospects for the use of referenda. More emphasis is placed on referenda
conducted after 1989. On the basis of these research results, referenda are divided
into three categories: independence referenda, so called “deepening” referenda and
accession referenda.
Unconventional research in USSR and Russia: short overview by Serge KernbachAlex Krol
This work briefly surveys unconventional research in Russia from the end of the 19th until the beginning of the 21th centuries in areas related to generation and detection of a ’high- penetrating’ emission of non-biological origin. The overview is based on open scientific and journalistic materials. The unique character of this research and its history, originating from gov- ernmental programs of the USSR, is shown. Relations to modern studies on biological effects of weak electromagnetic emission, several areas of bioinformatics and theories of physical vacuum are discussed.
In her cross-border debate with Chinese anchor Liu Xin, Trish Regan, an American anchor, behaved differently than what she had done in her previous commentaries. This paper explores the attitudinal differences evinced by Trish Regan on different occasions from a linguistic perspective. Based on the Appraisal System, especially the Attitude subsystem (Martin and White, 2005), this paper examines the attitudinal resources utilized by Trish Regan in her two news commentaries and her online debate with her counterpart Liu Xin—a set of texts which provides a longitudinal account of how Trish has changed her attitude. By annotating the attitude resources used by Trish, positive and negative evaluations are expected to be clarified, with detailed analyses of subsystems in the Attitude System to be given. The results suggest that Trish’s attitude towards China has changed a lot in her commentaries and the debate with Liu Xin—from negative to partly positive. It also appears that Trish maintained a positive attitude towards the United States while she changed her positive attitude towards the trade war into a negative one in her debate with Liu Xin.
The article aims to trace the dynamics of contention in austerity-driven Slovenia, explain why it ended, through the processes of demobilization, despite the protest movement’s initial successes, and verify the explanatory power of Charles Tilly
and Sidney Tarrow’s theoretical framework of demobilization. The analysis applies the
method of source analysis, conceptual qualitative content analysis, and the conceptual
framework of contentious politics. In doing so, it addresses the research problems of the
dynamics of contention in Slovenia and why the contention resulted in demobilization.
The article argues that after mass mobilization an upward scale shift appeared. The shift
moved the contention beyond its local origins in Maribor, touched on the interests and
values of new subjects, and involved a shift of venue to sites where the demands might
have been met by state institutions. The dynamics of contention was a cycle of active
and passive contentious episodes. The movement identity shift and successful recognition of its claims influenced the performances and episode sequence. The processes of
demobilization started when people stopped attending protests, organizing particular
performances, and implementing innovations to modular performances instead. Demobilization occurred when most of the protesters became discouraged from protest
through boredom and a desire to return to everyday routines.
International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHAS)ijfcst journal
Humanities, Art and Social Studies Of International Journal (IJHASS)is an open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of humanities, art and social science. The journal focuses aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social science and become the leading journal in humanities and social science in the world. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on areas of literary and social studies for a cross cultural exploration and subsequent innovation of subjects concerned and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles for the development of humanities and social science fields.
The article has three dimensions: methodological, theoretical, and empirical. A point of departure for the methodological remarks is a characterization of the
three main approaches in the vibrant interdisciplinary research field dealing with the
phenomenon of conspiracy theories. In this context, the content analysis method is
discussed as a promising approach to gain new data on conspiracy narratives. On the
theoretical level, the concept of conspiracy narratives is discussed in reference to the
popular understanding of the conspiracy theory. The main aim of the empirical part is
determining to what extent the media are saturated with different kinds of conspiracy
narratives. The analysis covers over 200 articles from two popular Polish news magazines (Sieci and the Polish edition of Newsweek) which occupy positions on opposite sides of the political divide in a society polarized, inter alia, by a conspiratorial
suspicion that in 2010 an airplane carrying President Lech Kaczyński on board was
deliberately crashed in Russia.
International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHASS)ijfcst journal
Humanities, Art and Social Studies Of International Journal (IJHASS)is an open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of humanities, art and social science. The journal focuses aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social science and become the leading journal in humanities and social science in the world. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on areas of literary and social studies for a cross cultural exploration and subsequent innovation of subjects concerned and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles for the development of humanities and social science fields.
Culture Shift in the Context of Language Shiftinventy
Research Inventy : International Journal of Engineering and Science is published by the group of young academic and industrial researchers with 12 Issues per year. It is an online as well as print version open access journal that provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as: civil, mechanical, chemical, electronic and computer engineering as well as production and information technology. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published by rapid process within 20 days after acceptance and peer review process takes only 7 days. All articles published in Research Inventy will be peer-reviewed.
The motivations of Romanian migrants from the qualitative research carried out by the Romanian project team under the Work Package 4 of the international research project “Growth, Equal Opportunities, Migration & Markets” (GEMM), founded by the European Commission under the HORIZON 2020 program.
Research Methods in Anthropology Part 1 Discuss the strengths .docxverad6
Research Methods in Anthropology
Part 1: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative field research, highlighting the ethical issues involved in using these methods. Describe how reliability and validity relate to qualitative field research. Are focus groups relevant in field research? If yes, how?
Part 2: Describe and compare the 3 unobtrusive research designs: content analysis, analysis of existing statistics, and historical/comparative analysis. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of each and describe how reliability and validity relate to each.
Reading and Reference Links
In addition to the readings in Week 4 Learning Resources, read the following:
· Chapters 12 and 13 in the Social Science Research Methods e-Text
· For reference: Title: Research Methods in Anthropology: http://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_476_0.pdf (NOTE: This is a lengthy textbook and may take time to open.)
The article Participant Observation on the Wikipedia website is used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.Participant observation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Participant observation is one type of data collection method typically done in the qualitative research paradigm. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly cultural anthropology, less so in sociology, communication studies, human geography and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time. The method originated in the field research of social anthropologists, especially Bronisław Malinowski in Britain, the students of Franz Boas in the United States, and in the later urban research of the Chicago School of sociology.
Contents
· 1 History and development
· 2 Method and practice
· 2.1 Types of participant observation
· 2.1.1 Impact of researcher involvement
· 3 Ethical concerns
· 4 See also
· 5 References
· 6 External links
History and development
Participant observation was used extensively by Frank Hamilton Cushing in his study of the Zuni Indians in the later part of the nineteenth century, followed by the studies of non-Western societies by people such as Bronisław Malinowski,[1]E.E. Evans-Pritchard,[2] and Margaret Mead[3] in the first half of the twentieth century. It emerged as the principal approach to ethnographicresearch by anthropologists and relied on the cultivation of personal relationships with local informants as a way of learning about a culture, involving both observing and participating in the social life of a group. By living with the cultures they studied, researchers were able to formulate first hand accounts of their lives and gain novel insights. This same method of study has also been applied to gro.
In her cross-border debate with Chinese anchor Liu Xin, Trish Regan, an American anchor, behaved differently than what she had done in her previous commentaries. This paper explores the attitudinal differences evinced by Trish Regan on different occasions from a linguistic perspective. Based on the Appraisal System, especially the Attitude subsystem (Martin and White, 2005), this paper examines the attitudinal resources utilized by Trish Regan in her two news commentaries and her online debate with her counterpart Liu Xin—a set of texts which provides a longitudinal account of how Trish has changed her attitude. By annotating the attitude resources used by Trish, positive and negative evaluations are expected to be clarified, with detailed analyses of subsystems in the Attitude System to be given. The results suggest that Trish’s attitude towards China has changed a lot in her commentaries and the debate with Liu Xin—from negative to partly positive. It also appears that Trish maintained a positive attitude towards the United States while she changed her positive attitude towards the trade war into a negative one in her debate with Liu Xin.
The article aims to trace the dynamics of contention in austerity-driven Slovenia, explain why it ended, through the processes of demobilization, despite the protest movement’s initial successes, and verify the explanatory power of Charles Tilly
and Sidney Tarrow’s theoretical framework of demobilization. The analysis applies the
method of source analysis, conceptual qualitative content analysis, and the conceptual
framework of contentious politics. In doing so, it addresses the research problems of the
dynamics of contention in Slovenia and why the contention resulted in demobilization.
The article argues that after mass mobilization an upward scale shift appeared. The shift
moved the contention beyond its local origins in Maribor, touched on the interests and
values of new subjects, and involved a shift of venue to sites where the demands might
have been met by state institutions. The dynamics of contention was a cycle of active
and passive contentious episodes. The movement identity shift and successful recognition of its claims influenced the performances and episode sequence. The processes of
demobilization started when people stopped attending protests, organizing particular
performances, and implementing innovations to modular performances instead. Demobilization occurred when most of the protesters became discouraged from protest
through boredom and a desire to return to everyday routines.
International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHAS)ijfcst journal
Humanities, Art and Social Studies Of International Journal (IJHASS)is an open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of humanities, art and social science. The journal focuses aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social science and become the leading journal in humanities and social science in the world. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on areas of literary and social studies for a cross cultural exploration and subsequent innovation of subjects concerned and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles for the development of humanities and social science fields.
The article has three dimensions: methodological, theoretical, and empirical. A point of departure for the methodological remarks is a characterization of the
three main approaches in the vibrant interdisciplinary research field dealing with the
phenomenon of conspiracy theories. In this context, the content analysis method is
discussed as a promising approach to gain new data on conspiracy narratives. On the
theoretical level, the concept of conspiracy narratives is discussed in reference to the
popular understanding of the conspiracy theory. The main aim of the empirical part is
determining to what extent the media are saturated with different kinds of conspiracy
narratives. The analysis covers over 200 articles from two popular Polish news magazines (Sieci and the Polish edition of Newsweek) which occupy positions on opposite sides of the political divide in a society polarized, inter alia, by a conspiratorial
suspicion that in 2010 an airplane carrying President Lech Kaczyński on board was
deliberately crashed in Russia.
International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies (IJHASS)ijfcst journal
Humanities, Art and Social Studies Of International Journal (IJHASS)is an open access peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles which contribute new results in all areas of humanities, art and social science. The journal focuses aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social science and become the leading journal in humanities and social science in the world. The goal of this journal is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on areas of literary and social studies for a cross cultural exploration and subsequent innovation of subjects concerned and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to this journal by submitting articles for the development of humanities and social science fields.
Culture Shift in the Context of Language Shiftinventy
Research Inventy : International Journal of Engineering and Science is published by the group of young academic and industrial researchers with 12 Issues per year. It is an online as well as print version open access journal that provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as: civil, mechanical, chemical, electronic and computer engineering as well as production and information technology. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published by rapid process within 20 days after acceptance and peer review process takes only 7 days. All articles published in Research Inventy will be peer-reviewed.
The motivations of Romanian migrants from the qualitative research carried out by the Romanian project team under the Work Package 4 of the international research project “Growth, Equal Opportunities, Migration & Markets” (GEMM), founded by the European Commission under the HORIZON 2020 program.
Research Methods in Anthropology Part 1 Discuss the strengths .docxverad6
Research Methods in Anthropology
Part 1: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative field research, highlighting the ethical issues involved in using these methods. Describe how reliability and validity relate to qualitative field research. Are focus groups relevant in field research? If yes, how?
Part 2: Describe and compare the 3 unobtrusive research designs: content analysis, analysis of existing statistics, and historical/comparative analysis. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of each and describe how reliability and validity relate to each.
Reading and Reference Links
In addition to the readings in Week 4 Learning Resources, read the following:
· Chapters 12 and 13 in the Social Science Research Methods e-Text
· For reference: Title: Research Methods in Anthropology: http://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_476_0.pdf (NOTE: This is a lengthy textbook and may take time to open.)
The article Participant Observation on the Wikipedia website is used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.Participant observation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Participant observation is one type of data collection method typically done in the qualitative research paradigm. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly cultural anthropology, less so in sociology, communication studies, human geography and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time. The method originated in the field research of social anthropologists, especially Bronisław Malinowski in Britain, the students of Franz Boas in the United States, and in the later urban research of the Chicago School of sociology.
Contents
· 1 History and development
· 2 Method and practice
· 2.1 Types of participant observation
· 2.1.1 Impact of researcher involvement
· 3 Ethical concerns
· 4 See also
· 5 References
· 6 External links
History and development
Participant observation was used extensively by Frank Hamilton Cushing in his study of the Zuni Indians in the later part of the nineteenth century, followed by the studies of non-Western societies by people such as Bronisław Malinowski,[1]E.E. Evans-Pritchard,[2] and Margaret Mead[3] in the first half of the twentieth century. It emerged as the principal approach to ethnographicresearch by anthropologists and relied on the cultivation of personal relationships with local informants as a way of learning about a culture, involving both observing and participating in the social life of a group. By living with the cultures they studied, researchers were able to formulate first hand accounts of their lives and gain novel insights. This same method of study has also been applied to gro.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL3Research proposalCompare and contra.docxgholly1
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
3
Research proposal
“Compare and contrast society during the early Renaissance in Europe to contemporary society”
In the fourteenth and fifteenth century, Europe experienced significant changes in history. This marked the rebirth and intellectual growth of Europe since many changes were realized during the people. Renaissance was the word used to describe the rebirths that occurred. Renaissance marked the time of significant changes in cultural, literature, philosophical, and art revolution in other nations in Europe (Kaufman, 2012). The change started in Italy and expanded to other areas in Europe. During the early Renaissance, the society had unique characteristics. However, after the occurrence of changes, contemporary society or the current society was developed. The contemporary society is also characterized by unique features compared to the early Renaissance. However, the two types of society are characterized by features that are similar, while others are different. This research is guided by a thesis statement indicating that similarities and differences between the two spread across all aspect of life, including the education system, cultural practices, and economic inventions, among others.
According to Guarnieri and Negro (2012), the difference in the two societies is marked by changes in the spread of knowledge whereby during the early renaissance society information was spread through handwritten forms. Renaissance left to the invention of the printing press. This also reformed the education system since in the ancient times, education was reserved for the rich people, but the rebirth led to the middle class and low classes are educated. This has led to early discoveries and the spread of information. Currently, society spread written material through online press whereby it reaches many people as compared to contemporary society. Renaissance has also facilitated the rise of Humanism. In the early Renaissance era, people were devoted to living a religious life. This was accompanied by fulfilling their spiritual purpose of life. In contemporary society, humanism raised such that people are now interested in filling their interests rather than religious demands. The modern society emphasize more on worldly presses as well as studied classic texts from scholars and philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato to obtain aspirating. People have developed an increased desire to travels and acquire knowledge (Kaufman, 2012).
The goal of the paper is to deeply study the two societies “to compare and contrast society during the early Renaissance in Europe to contemporary society.” To achieve this goal, the researcher will strive to meet various objectives, which include identifying characteristics of religious and cultural practices in early renaissance society and contemporary society. The study seeks to examine the changes in the education system between the two societies. The researcher will also determine the chan.
Транснационализм и современная трудовая миграция: проблемы теории и методолог...comparsociology
Резаев Андрей Владимирович
д.ф.н., проф., зав.кафедрой сравнительной социологии СПбГУ, со-руководитель международной исследовательской лаборатории СПбГУ «Транснационализм и миграционные процессы: сравнительный и институциональный анализ»
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
A Survey of Techniques for Maximizing LLM Performance.pptx
Comparative Analysis of Transnational Labor Migrants Everyday Life Practices in Athens, Greece and St. Petersburg, Russia
1. Andrey V. Rezaev
Comparative Analysis of Transnational Labor
Migrants Everyday Life Practices in Athens,
Greece and St. Petersburg, Russia
in 2009-2012
41st IIS World Congress,
Uppsala, June 10, 2013
ANO: InterComCenter. Russian Humanitarian Scholarly Foundation (RGNF) 10-03-
00911а/Г.
The co-Project with Greek Foundation CARI
2. Rationale,Objectives and Goals
• This is a multi/inter/cross-disciplinary project
oriented towards dynamic use of comparative
methodology in sociological studies and policy
analysis, and, second, the use of the most recent
contributions in contemporary migration studies
in Russia and Greece.
• The Project seeks to promote theoretically
grounded empirical research in transnational
migration.
4. Survey procedure
Time: 2009-2012
Research methods: observation, group discussions, semi-structured interview, in-depth
interview, case-study
Sample: observation - 10 persons in Athens and 10 persons in St. Petersburg
Group Discussion: 118 migrants in St. Petersburg, 93 migrants in Athens
Participant observation (2010 – Greece; 2011-2012 St. Petersburg)
Semi-structured interviews - 10 persons in each city
Stages of the study:
- 2009 desk research and a pilot project in St. Petersburg
- 2010 networking, observation
- 2011 scaling, studying value orientations of migrants
- 2012 Case-studies
5. The number of migrants in
Greece and Russia
Greece Russian Federation
Population, in
thousands
~ 10 800 ~ 145 200
Migrants, in thousands ~ 1 200 ~ 12 000
Number of migrants to
1000 citizens
111 82
• Migrants in Russia - 12 million people
• Migrants in Greece - 1.2 million people
6. Research questions
• The basic research questions of the Project:
• what are the similarities and differences in
everyday life practices of transnational labor
migrants in Athens and in St Petersburg during
the years of financial and economic crisis 2009 -
2012?
• Can everyday life practices be considered as a
barometer for participation of migrants in social
protests activities?
7. Paradigmatic turn in social
analytics
1. A number of recent and influential works of sociology deal with the
seemingly trivial phenomena of everyday life. The standard mass surveys
are being replaced by in-depth, interpretative, and qualitative procedures
that focus on the visual surface of society.
2. We observe a shift in sociological method from the quantitative mass
surveys that for many decades dominated sociological research toward
more qualitative approaches: observation, case studies, in-depth
interviews, the interpretation of „ego documents‟, i.e. spontaneously created
personal records of experience (letters, lifestories, family photographs), and
the analysis of the social iconosphere as a particularly interesting novelty.
3. The „third sociology‟ takes as its ultimate object of inquiry social events:
human action in collective contexts, constrained on the one hand by the
agential endowment of participants and on the other hand by structural and
cultural environments of action. (Piotr Sztompka, ISA Presidential address)
8. Theory, Methodology and Empirical
Analysis
• The theoretical and methodological part of the Project
sets out to discuss more general issues regarding
definitions of the major concepts such as “migrants”,
“transnational migrants”, “affirmative action”, “social
inclusion and exclusion” and so on, discussion of Post-
communist migration flows, incentives, trends, and
categories as well as migrants’membership and sense of
belonging. In order to be able to carry out this task, I
considered how the postcommunist period of Russia
provides a fruitful terrain for the study of migration by
challenging well-established paths in this area, and
bringing forth – among others – a category of migrants
hardly explored so far: students.
9. Theory, Methodology and Empirical Analysis
Part of the empirical analysis relies on data collected in St.
Petersburg in July 2011 - February 2012 by means of
ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, and
“informal discussions” (Roger Brubaker classifies informal
discussion as “variant of the focus group” yet given the
more informal and interactive nature of the setting and
conversation usually engaging friends or acquaintances, the
author puts it separately. See, in Rogers Brubaker et al,
Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a
Transylvanian Town Princeton University Press, 2006.)
with migrants from Vietnam. In total there were conducted
twelve in-depth interviews and six discussions.
10. Theory, Methodology and Empirical Analysis
The interview questions revolved around the following topics: reasons
for migration and experience abroad; first impressions in St.
Petersburg and Anthens; encounters with neighbors, friends,
colleagues, and strangers; academic life; jobs and opportunities;
administration and public offices; future perspectives; perceptions
about host and home countries; and leisure time and holidays. The
discussions covered similar areas, with sustained interaction between
the participants, who knew each other very well, some being
roommates who voluntarily offered to participate. In general, the
atmosphere in both interviews and discussions was rather casual and
informal. A limitation of this study is provided by the sample itself, the
absence of experts’ interview and shortcomings of comparative
methods. The Project is an attempt to overcome these and other
limitations as well as an attempt to prepare and to conduct a more
detailed field research in the future
11. Theory, Methodology and Empirical Analysis
In the preparatory phase of the Project three working
hypotheses were formulated. However, the questions
for the focus groups and the semi-structured
interviews were developed in a way which gives room
for the incorporation of unanticipated issues and
topics that might arise during the interviews.
12. Debate on Comparative Analysis in the Social
Sciences I
Classic approaches to comparative sociology
- The logic of comparison developed by John
Stuart Mill
- The Verstehende comparative practice of Max
Weber.
- Emil Durkheim: “Comparative sociology is not a
particular branch of sociology; it is sociology itself,
in so far as it ceases to be purely descriptive and
aspires to account for facts”
13. Debate on Comparative Analysis in the Social
Sciences II
Very general and concise definition of the
comparative analysis for this study
“Comparative socio-analysis encompasses a
broad range of practices that focus on the
juxtaposition of cases or aspects of cases to one
another, and the use of either inductive or
deductive logic in relation to those
juxtapositions, either to test theoretically
derived hypotheses or to produce bounded
generalizations and "rules of
experience."”( John R. Hall)
14. Opposing views: What is a “Migrant”?
According to Thomas Faist, “person who moves
from one country to another with the intention
of taking up residence there for a relevant
period of time. All those are migrants who
reside and stay abroad for more than three
months, be they primary migrants – those
migrating for the first time - return migrants, or
circular and recurrent migrants.”
Thomas Faist, The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration
and Transnational Social Spaces, Oxford: Claredon Press, 2000, p.
18.
Thomas Faist
15. Opposing Views: What is a “Migrant”?
According to the UNESCO Migration Glossary
The term migrant can be understood as "any person
who lives temporarily or permanently in a country
where he or she was not born, and has acquired
some significant social ties to this country." However, this
may be a too narrow definition when considering that, according to some states' policies,
a person can be considered as a migrant even when s/he is born in the country.
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=3020&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
16. Commission on Human Rights Definition
“The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights has proposed
that the following persons should be considered as migrants:
(a) Persons who are outside the territory of the State of which their are
nationals or citizens, are not subject to its legal protection and are in the
territory of another State;
(b) Persons who do not enjoy the general legal recognition of rights which is
inherent in the granting by the host State of the status of refugee, naturalised
person or of similar status;
(c) Persons who do not enjoy either general legal protection of their
fundamental rights by virtue of diplomatic agreements, visas or other
agreements”. ( See, Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human rights in
A/57/292, Human rights of migrants, Note by the Secretary-General. 9August 2002 at
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3020&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)
17. OpposingViews: Whatis a “Migrant”?
• “The US Bureau of the Census collects data on the number of
persons who change their usual residence during a 12-month
period. If the change is within the same county, the person is
a mover, if to another country, the person is a migrant.”
The United States Government
Migration. The Encyclopedia Americana International Edition. 1994 ed.
18. So, what is a “Migrant”?
For the purposes of our study, a “migrant
shall be defined as, “One who moves
from one place, to another, for a period
of time greater than one year.”
19. What is a “Transnational Migrant”?
“The movement of a person, or people,
from one nation, to another, for duration
of time, lasting at least one year.”
20. Social Exclusion
Social exclusion as a socio-economic
and political problem came to light
recently with the events in dense
immigrant housing quarters in Paris,
France. In spring 2005 immigrant families
from the suburbs or banlieues at the
periphery of the greater Paris started to
demonstrate their demand for a solution
to their exclusion from society through
weeks of rioting.
21. Defining “Social Exclusion”
“…literature has noted that there is no
clarity on exactly what defines social
exclusion, but it‟s range can include
poverty, lack of social integration,
economic exclusion, political exclusion,
and cultural exclusion…”
Madanipour, Cars, & Allen, 1998, pp. 76-78; Mayes, Berghman, &
Salais, 2001; Percy-Smith, 2000, pp. 3-5).
22. Defining “Social Exclusion” II
“Mandanipour et al. trace the use of the term “social
exclusion” to French social policy and Percy-Smith explains
that originally it referred to a “group of people living on the
margins of society and, in particular, without access to the
system of social insurance” (Madanipour, Cars, & Allen,
1998; Percy-Smith, 2000). “
“The editors of Social Exclusion in European Cities
observe that social exclusion is a growing trend across
Europe in the areas of employment, income, education and
health. In particular, they note that: “In many cities, these
changes are especially visible in the spatial concentration of
immigrant and ethnic minority communities and in large
areas with deteriorating environmental conditions” t
Ibid.
23. Defining “Social Exclusion” III
Ali Madanipour has cautioned that the
“combination of multiple forms of exclusion becomes
a spatial reinforcement of exclusion, pushing those
individuals to the spatial edge of society. At that point
Madanipour says the exclusion can become a
conflict between „the system and actors‟ and
continues: „In such dissociation, the marginalized
people and marginalized places undermine the
legitimacy and authority of these systems and
threaten to block the route to survival. Tackling the
problems of social exclusion becomes ever more
crucial, as these areas become scenes of riots and
social unrest‟”
Ibid.
24. Defining “Social Exclusion” IV
Researcher David Mayes has defined social
exclusion as “a “process” and as a “state” (Mayes,
Berghman, & Salais, 2001, p. 6). These two aspects
of social exclusion have a direct influence on policy
response. As a “process,” Mayes notes that once
social exclusion is evident in the life of an individual,
it becomes a “vicious cycle” from which exit is
difficult or impossible. “
Ibid.
25. Defining “Social Exclusion” V
After all of this, Mayes‟ simply concludes that it
is, “more efficient and effective to prevent entry
into this cycle than to combat the effects of social
exclusion and try to exit the cycle. Thus it is
Mayes‟ prescriptive suggestion that policy
measures to encourage social inclusion address
the issue of exclusion more accurately and
efficiently than a “prevention” policy strategy
against exclusion, which Mayes describes as a
“generic” approach to the issue.”
Ibid.
26. Defining “Social Exclusion” VI
Mayes‟ view is that, “social exclusion is a
broad term that allows member states to tailor
it to fit their needs, which he sees as a pro and
a con. His criticism is that “It does not impose a
particular social model on the
members…however that very vagueness
would enable states to do very little that was
new” (Mayes, Berghman, & Salais, 2001, p.
4).”
Ibid.
29. Preliminary Conclusions I
Transnational Labor Migrants
Everyday Life Practices both in St.
Petersburg and Athens potentially can
be called as a means of a social
EXCLUSION.
30. Preliminary Conclusions II
Although forms of these „elitist
exclusion‟ by the means of everyday
life practices exist today both in St.
Petersburg and Athens the
requirements and aspirations of a
modern society urge that practices
that labor migrants experience
everyday should be transformed into
means of SOCIAL INCLUSION.
31. Preliminary Conclusions III
Taking into account that everyday life
practices have a possibility for a
twisted/double role in the process of
social exclusion and social inclusion,
policy makers should have special
attention with regards to potential of labor
migrants, youngsters and adults, to take
part in protest movements .
32. Preliminary Conclusions IV: New
Language
Scholars and policy makers are in
need to develop new language for
understanding what is „transnational
migrants‟ in the time of globalization
that foster both internationalization of
education and regionalization of
education. (According to Bologna
Process documents, a student has to
study at least on semester in another
university)
33. Preliminary Conclusions V: St
Petersburg
There is lack of political will and real specialists
who suppose to formulate politics and policies for
transnational labor migrants. The policies in St.
Petersburg are dominated by economic
rationalism and instrumentalism. Thus, those of us
who believe that quality of nowadays urban life are
not only necessary to promote but also require
constant actions must be willing to engage in the
difficult task of crafting laws and procedures (new
institutions).