Newsletter - Social Science in Eastern Europe 2001- 3
Russian Federation
From August 1999, the EUSP(European University in St. Petersburg) has been
running a program, "Promoting Social Studies on Education in Russia",
the main purpose of which is to establish a network of specialists working in
the fields of history, sociology, ethnology, and economics of education. The
aims of the program include * financial support of young scientists in the
fields mentioned above, advanced education of young scientists, and promotion of
new trends in research
* support of scholarly associations, formation of a scientific community in
the field of social studies of education
* development of international exchange and links in the field of social
studies of education.
An annual All-Russian open competition of research projects is held - in the
framework of the program - in history, sociology, ethnology, and economics of
education.
Winners of the All-Russian open competition are awarded grants of two types:
(1) scholarships to write the thesis (the grants are intended for full-time or
part-time, postgraduates about to complete their dissertations) and (2)
individual grants to support post-dissertation research after the defence of the
thesis (the grants are intended for young scholars who have just got their
academic degrees). The competition committee also selects candidates for
seminars at the summer school - for discussing problems of education.
The range of themes in the applications is extremely wide, covering various
aspects of history, sociology, and economics of education. A great number of
applications deal with urgent problems of improving education in today's Russia.
Moreover, the program includes the organization of scientific conferences on
educational problems. The first conference was held in July 1999, with the motto
"The State of Higher Education in Russia: What do we know about it? How can
we assess it?". The second conference, "Social Studies of
Education-2000" was held in June 2000.
The Spencer Foundation in Chicago, USA, ensures financial support of the
Program.
Director - Daniil Alexandrov (spencer@eu.spb.ru)
The University Information System Russia (UIS RUSSIA) is created and maintained
as a base of electronic resources for curriculum and research projects in the
field of the social sciences and humanities. UIS Russia covers electronic
versions of primary sources according to agreements with owners of resources -
information partners - and includes the collections provided on a regular basis.
* official data and documents (laws, presidential decrees and directives,
government enactments, acts and regulations) since 1991;
* resolutions and stenogramms (daily records) of plenary meetings of the
State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the RF;
* statistics of Goscomstat (State Committee on Statistics) and election data
of Centrizbircom (Central Elections Committee) since 1993;
* mass media sources (newspapers and information agencies);
* databases, reports and publications of leading research centers;
* scientific publications ("Expert" journal)
* extended reference information on the Russian Federation.
The information system offers the advanced retrieval tools. Alongside with
traditional search methods, search in hierarchically connected terms with due
regard for a synonymy on the basis of the Thesaurus on modern life of Russia as
well as specification of search and ranking of documents are provided.
Access to resources is open to all universities and high schools for usage in
educational and research programs. Access is free-of-charge; the password is
given after the application submission by rectors.
http://www.cir.ru/eng/
Publications online
The Moscow Carnegie Center (http://www.carnegie.ru/)
offers new full text publications on-line:
Petrov, N. 2000, Russian Regions in 1999: An Annual Supplement to
"Russia's Political Almanac".
The publication is the next issue in a series of yearbooks put out by
the Moscow Carnegie Center, which is an independent reference and analytical
publication, on the one hand, and a supplement to an earlier publication, Political
Almanac of Russia 1997, a two-volume encyclopaedia devoted to the
socio-political life of the Russian regions, on the other.
Full text in Russian:
http://pubs.carnegie.ru/books/2001/01np
Contents and summary in English: http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/books/2001/01np
Malashenko, A. 2000, Islamic Factor in the Northern Caucasus.
Throughout the 1990's, the Northern Caucasus has been witness to a revival of
Islamic influence in both political and social ideology. Islamic Factor in
the Northern Caucasus outlines how the turn to Islam may largely be
explained as an alternative to failed reforms, government corruption, and lack
of faith in local and federal elites. The author analyses four levels of
existence of the Islamic project - local, national, subregional, and regional.
The Introduction and Chapter 1 look at the continuity of the Islamic presence in
the Northern Caucasus and address the roots and causes of Islam's renaissance.
Chapter 2 explores Islam's worldview and ideology while Chapter 3 investigates
the Islamic identity. In Chapters 4 and 5 Islam's ability to consolidate
society, and the specific demands of the Wahhabis are discussed respectively.
The author concludes that Islam's potential role as an ideological guide and
political tool within the Northern Caucasus is very much alive.
Full text in Russian:
http://pubs.carnegie.ru/books/2001/03am
Contents and summary in English:
http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/books/2001/03am
Trenin, D. 2001. The End of Eurasia: Russia on the Border Between
Geopolitics and Globalization.
This book, authored by Dmitri V. Trenin, is a study in contemporary Russian
and Eurasian politics, which raises the question of the meaning of
"Russia" today, its place in the world, and the possible evolution of
both, for Russia at the start of the third millennium. It maintains that the era
during which Eurasia was synonymous with Russia is over. This work is divided
into three parts. Part One is devoted to Russia's historical experiences both
imperial and post-imperial, comprising chapters on the historical patterns of
Russian territorial state formation and their relevance for any future attempt
to restore the imperial territory as well as the implications of the break-up of
the Soviet space. Part Two is regionally oriented, seeking to define the
challenges and opportunities that Russia faces along its three geopolitical
fronts, the West (Europe), the South (Muslim world), and the East (Asia).
Finally, Part Three addresses the issue of integration. Within this section,
Chapter VI deals with the territorial organization of Russia itself and the
potential for Russia's further disintegration and Chapter VII examines the link
between borders, security and identity. It discusses various options for
"fitting Russia" into the wider world, noting the implications for
Russia of the enlargements of NATO and the EU, the challenge of Islamic
militancy, and the rise of China.
Full text in English:
http://pubs.carnegie.ru/english/books/2001/03dt
Place of publication: Moscow, Russia
Publication dates: since 1996, quarterly
Published by: Moscow Carnegie Center
e-mail:journal@carnegie.ru
Internet:http://www.carnegie.ru/english/Projects/pro-et-contra.htm
Editor- in-chief: Marina Pavlova-Silvanskaya
Subject area: Each issue is devoted to a central theme focusing, in
turn, on either the international or domestic affairs of Russia and the CIS
countries. The journal offers readers a diverse collection of articles and
essays, which deliver sophisticated, in-depth, and incisive assessments of
contemporary policy issues. Pro et Contra also features profiles of
political leaders, journalistic essays, book reviews, and letters from readers.
Each issue - including English-language summaries of every article - is posted
in its entirety on the Moscow Carnegie Center's web site.
Contents of vol. 6, Nos. 1-2. Winter-Spring 2001 as an example:
Articles
Russian Foreign Policy in the 1990s: A New Player in the Making. By Nikolai
Kosolapov
The Crisis of Russian Foreign Policy: A Conceptual Aspect. By Yuri Fyodorov
Multipolarity - an Unreliable Strategy. By Dmitry Trenin
The Integration of Russia into the World Economy (The Results of the Decade).
By Ivan Korolyov
Russia and the CIS: An Unsuccessful Marriage of Convenience. By Yuri Shishkov
The Slav Triangle (Ukraine and Belarus in Russian Foreign Policy in the
1990s). By Arkady Moshes
Profile
Five Syndromes of Boris Yeltsin and Five Images of Vladimir Putin: A
Retro-perspective View of Personal Diplomacy in Russia and an Outlook for the
Future. By Alexei Bogaturov
View from outside
* Living with Russia. By Zbigniew Brzezinski
* Where Does Russia Belong? By Stephen Sestanovich
Letters to the editor
* The Creation of Russian Social Theory is Still a Long Way Of. By Boris
Firsov
* A Methodological Crisis or Latent Degradation? By Nikolai Grekov
Book reviews
Our authors
Contents and summaries
The number of Internet users in Russia is about 6,9-7,1 million persons, and the
amount of registered users runs to 2,6-2,7 million as of July, 2000.
There is an increase of corporate and individual users, using Internet on a
constant basis (virtual clients of Internet providers) owing to the decrease of
"random users" joining the network through computers of friends,
Internet-cafe etc.
Most of users come from the European part of Russia (34 % - Moscow and Saint
Petersburg) and their share in a common audience has been increasing in
comparison with Ural, Siberia and the Far East. This can be accounted by more
intensive development of telecommunications resources in this region and by a
higher educational level of the population.
The year 1999 gave rise to regional activity in the Internet. In May 93% of
the Internet audience lived in city settlements, in August - 89%. In May 7% of
the Internet audience (about 300 thousand persons) were inhabitants of rural
settlements, and in August, their share was already 11% (approximately 670
thousand persons). Moscow and St. Petersburg conceded the first place to the
regions. By the end of 1999, the situation began to vary.
Having good economic conditions and financial resources Moscow and Saint
Petersburg practically reached the level of the regions (34% against 36%). The
share of the Internet audience in cities with the population less than 300
thousand and in a countryside decreased. There a ratio of means and demand is
much less than one unit, therefore the reduction of regional finances led to the
decrease of the Internet audience.
Young people represent the main part of the Internet audience - in the age of
18-24 years - 37%, in the age of 25-34 years - 27%.
Practically one year after the last survey (1999) there was some growth of
absolute quantity and of a share of the Internet audience in the age groups:
18-24 years and 25-34 years by four and three percents accordingly. Decrease of
users of 35-44 years and 45-59 years testifies inertness of this category being
part of potential audience. These users of the Internet are motivated by
professional necessity. People of the age group 60 and older constitute 3% of
the Internet audience. It is necessary to note, that the "senior"
group includes 0,3% of retirees, whose standard of living on the average is the
lowest in the country. Therefore, most users of this age group are people
working as scientists, writers, teachers etc. having Internet access at their
working place.
More than one third of all Internet users - 36,7 % - are qualified
professionals with higher education and employees. Students and pupils (27,5%),
and managers of high level use the Internet most frequently.
Areas of interest:
|
Internet users 2000 in %[2]
|
Political and economic news
|
27,7
|
Music, video
|
26,8
|
Software
|
26,2
|
Computer games
|
25,7
|
Entertainment
|
25,0
|
Techniques
|
15,1
|
Wares and services
|
15,0
|
Erotic
|
11,6
|
Sport
|
11,5
|
Online press
|
11,1
|
E-commerce
|
10,1
|
Job search
|
9,9
|
Weather
|
8,8
|
Arts
|
8,3
|
Science
|
6,9
|
Medicine
|
4,7
|
Other
|
32,2
|
Source:
Regional Public Centre of Internet Technologies
Analytical Report (short summary)
http://www.rocit.ru/inform/index.php3?path=report_s1
[2] muptiple choice
|
Issue