European Sociologist · European Sociologist Number 4 page2. ... 191002, St.Petersburp-Z PO Box 55...

Bulletin of the European Sociological Association (ESA)

Number 4 Summer 1996

European Sociologist

Please disseminate or pass this bulletin on to interested colleagues.

contents

3rd EuropeanConference ofSociology

Research NetworkUpdates

European Union SocialScience Research

Report of ESA ExecutiveCommittee Meeting

The British Council,Sociology and Social

Development

Greek Sociology: Does itreally exist ?

Registration Forms

3rd EUROPEANCONFERENCE.OF SOCIOLOGY

"20th Century Europe:Inclusions/Exclusions"CALL FOR PAPERS

The European Sociological Association hosts its ThirdEuropean Conference on August 27 -301997 at theUniversity of Essex in Colchester, north of London. Theconference theme is 20th Century Europe: Inclusions!Exclusions. The theme will be explored focusingparticularly on the issues of gender, ethnicity, class andage in the restructuring of European societies throughoutthis century and the role of European sociological insights inthe understanding of inclusionary and exclusionarychanges. Sessions will be organized around the followingthemes:

Revisiting Classical TheoryModernity and Post modernismFeminist Theory Meets the ClassicsA Sunset of Socialism?

Work, Welfare and CitizenshipWelfare States, Welfare SocietiesGender and CitizenshipInclusions/Exclusions: Power and sthnlcityResearch Network: Gender Relations in the Labour Marketand the Welfare StateResearch Network: Industrial Relations, Labour Markets,Institutions and Employment

Inequalities Old and NewNew Forms of PatriarchyGenerational Contracts and ConflictsA Fbtdi e fOi Seeial Glass?Ethnlcttles, Racism and NationsResearch Network: Youth and Generations in Europe

South EuropeanSociety & PoliticsThe European Sociological Associationhas secured reduced subscription ratesfor its members who take this journal.

SUbscription Rates: 3 issues per yearIndividual: £35, $45 (£30 or $36 forESA individual members). Whenapplying for subscription, state that youare a member of the ESA. (To avoidembarassment, please do not claim thediscount unless you are an ESAmernber.)

Institutional: £90 $135

For subscriptions (except for NorthAmerica), contact Frank Cass & Co.Newbury House890-900 Eastern AvenueNewbury Park, llford. EssexIG" 7HH United Kingdomtel: +44(0)1815998866Fax: +44 (0)181 5990984e-mail: [email protected]

Up to date information on the journaland subscription can also be madethrough the Frank Cass home page onthe WoridWideWeb:hyyp :I/www.frankcass.com/jnrslsesp.htm

For SUbscriptions in North America,contact: Frank Cass & Co.Cia ISBS, 5804 NE Hassalo StreetPortland, OR97213-3644U.S.A.tel: (800) 944 6190Fax: (503) 280 8832e-mail: [email protected]

and addresses listed in thisnewsletter). Queries about starting anew Research Network or generalitems about Networks can be madeto the ESA Secretariat or to:

Martin KohliInstitute for SociologyFree University of BerlinBabelsburger Strasse 14·160-10715 Berlin Germanytel: +493085002210Fax: +493085002205e-mail: [email protected]

Finally, if you wish information on the3rd European Conference ofSociology, to register, or to submit anabstract, contact: ConferenceOrganiser "ESA ConferenceDepartment of SociologyUniversity of EssexWivenhoe ParkColchester, EssexC043SQ United KingdomFax: +44206873410e-mail:[email protected]

If you wish to join the discussion listof the European SociologicalAssociation, send the followingcommand [email protected]

join european-sociologistyourfirstname(s) yourlastname

As well as its e-mail facility, the ESAalso maintains pages on theWorldWideWeb. Their entry-leveladdress is:http://www.qub.ac.uk!socscilrniI!erlesaintro.html

In order to facilitate communicationamong members of the ESAExecutive between Committeemeetings. an e-rnaifllst for theExecutive Committee has beencreated. ESA members or otherswho wish to bring items to the directattention to the ESA ExecutiveCommittee are invited to "post"material directly to this list at:

[email protected]

(Please do not join this list yourseif;as it is intended to be a "closed"discussion list for the ExecutiveCommittee.) Queries about specificResearch Networks should be madedirectly to their convenors (names

The European. SociologicalAssociation invites scholarsworking on European questionsto submit ideas for papers(Abstracts 01250 words due by15 January 1997) andexpressions ofinterest to:

Organiser - ESA ConferenceUniversity ofEssexWivenhoe ParkColchester, EssexC043SQ United Kingdom

Fax: +441206873410e-mail: [email protected]

Other activities will include:• Lunchtime "roundtables";• "Meet the Authors" of new books;• Workshops on specific skills such

as SCROLL, Internetcommunications,. software, theEssex Data Archive and otherEuropean data archives;

• Meet the European researchfunders (e.g., EU, ESRC):

• Researcher "roundtables" onEuropean research projects;

• a Collaborative research"marketplace";

• a "British Panel" discussion.

Suggestions are welcome for the"round tables" and workshops.

Globalizations c. .Globalization, Social and Economic ommunlcatingRestructuring • h hMigration and Fortress Europe Wit t e ESAGlobalization~ Environment I ~ F ...h."",

T'r, I;... t ..t',-" The ESA maintains its Secretariat atEuropean Processes, Boundaries SISWO, the Dutch social scienceand InstitutionsEast Meets West research support organisation, in

Amsterdam. Normal enquiries,Social Rights and Economic Power applications for membership in the

f" "'-,f'" ; ... Europe of the Regions ESA, materia! being submitted forJ')".,... .. J;J ~ Social Movements,. this newsletter etc should all go

Democracy in Europe: Institutionsdirectly to the Secretariat at the

and citizenship following address: Secretariat ESACultures and Identities Bernard Kruithof/Monique van derSexual Citizenship Laan, SISWOCultural Identit¢~nd Plantage Muidergracht 4Homogenisation? NL·1018 TV Amsterdam,Technology and Culture • The NetherlandsEuropean Valuec~ I' T .....,n-v- tel: +31 205270646Research Network: Biographical Fax: +31 206229430Perspectives On European,Societies e-mail: [email protected] Network: Familyttecidlogy e:~." Co [email protected] Network: Sociology ofConsumption In addition to its printed form, theResearch Network: Sociology of the newsletter is set up as a discussionMass Med~ and Communication list supported by the MAILBASEf( /12' a.::;: (""h.. _ ,.. 'S"H ""!'r- service at Newcastle University,

~fV. '-', +&..f, b ~ (t_~~ Au .....The main activities at the Conference r::.. United Kingdom To receivewill be Plenary and semi-Plenary """'1nformatlon about Mailbase andsessions and up to five "working abautjoining discussion lists, sendgroup" sessions in which papers will the following command in an e-mailbe presented. message to

[email protected]

send mailbase user-guide

European Sociologist Number 4 page 2

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION20th Century Europe: Inclusions/Exclusions

European Sociological Association 3rd ConferenceUniversity of Essex, August 27-301997

NAME

INSTITUTION

ADDRESS

CITY

POSTAL CODE

FAX

COUNTRY

PHONE

E-MAIL

I would be interested in receiving further information about theEuropean Sociological Association 3rd Conference.

I anticipate presenting a paper.

oo

Preliminary Title _

Which would be appropriate for the following theme(s)

Return to:

orqentser , ESA ConferenceUniversity of EssexWivenhoe ParkColchester, EssexC043SQ United Kingdom

Fax: +441206873410e-mail: [email protected]


The previous number of EuropeanSociologist gave information aboutthe Research Networks that hadbeen approved by the ESA ExecutiveCommittee and also about otherNetworks that had been proposed butnot yet accepted. Below. we repeatthe name and contact address of thefirst-listed Convenor of eachResearch Networks and, for thosethat have sent in reports. updates ontheir activities since the last edition ofthe newsletter. Readers may wish tonote that Reseach Networks will beallocated up to five slots plus a timefor business meetings in thetimetable of the 3rd EuropeanConference of Sociology that will beheld at the end of August 1997.

Family SociologyJean KellerhalsDepartment of SociologyUniversity of Genevablvd. Carl Vogt 102CH·1211 Switzerlandtel: +41 1227058309Fax: +411227814100

Biographical Perspectives OnEuropean SocietiesJ.P. RoosDepartment of Social PolicyUniversity of HelsinkiP.O. Box 25 (Frauzeninkatu 13)FIN·00014 Finlandtel: +358 0 1911Fax: +35801917019e-mail: [email protected]

The Network will be organising anInternational Workshop on:

"Biographical Perspectives On PostSocialist Societies"

with the assistance of the Centre forIndependent Social Research,St.Petersburg, Russia (CISR) andMacArthurs Foundation, USA

The workshop will be held at theCISR, St.Petersburg. Russia.November 13·17th 1996.

Some key themes for the workshopare:


biographical method: materials(types of human documents).analysis, translation;analyzing single case vs. multiple

cases analysis;the past and present of life historyresearch: is the boom over? andwhat are the trends?;the making of a person in variouscultures in life stories;gender and sexuality in biography;biographies of men and women:autonomy vs. relaticnaiity:crucial events as described in thelife story;generations and family histories;special topic: the 60s generationin East and West;gUilt, violence and shame,discussed in life stories;special topic: repression in thesocialist countries in life stories;private secrets and public secretsin life stories;framing and shaping of destiniesin life stories.

The list is descriptive and goodpapers on other issues arewelcomed.

Organizing Committee of theworkshop: D.Bertaux; E.HaavioMannlla; J.P. Roos; A.Rotkirch;V.Voronkov; E.Zdravomyslova.

Those wishing to give papers shouldsubmit abstracts immediately. Fullmanuscripts are required by the endof October, 1996.

Contact person:Viktor Voronkov,Centre for Independent SocialResearch191002, St.Petersburp-ZPO Box 55 Russiae-mail: [email protected]: +(812)3211 066

Youth and Generations in EuropeJean Charles LAGREE(CNRS . France)London School of EconomicsEuropean Institute

Houghton StreetLondon WC2A 2AEUnited Kingdomtel: +44 171 9557538Fax: +44171 9557546e-mail: [email protected]

Gender Relations in the LabourMarket and the Welfare StateEva CybaInstitute for Advanced StudiesStumpergasse 56A·1060 Wien,Austriatel.: +43159991213Fax: +43 1 5970635e-mail: [email protected]

Industrial Relations, LabourMarket Institutions andEmploymentFranz TraxlerInstitute of SodologyUniversit~ ()f ViennaBruenneiStrasse 72'A· 1210 Vienna.AustriaFax: + 43 1 291 28544e-mail: traxler@sq6.:"bwl.univie.ac.at

Sociology of Mass Media andCommunications[This Network was approved at theMarch 1996 meeting of the ESAExecutive Committee.]Peter GoldingDepartment of Social SciencesLoughborough UniversityLoughborough,LeicestershireLEll 3TU,United Kingdomtei: +44 1509 223390Fax: +441509239277e-mail:[email protected]

The Network been compilingexpressions of interest into adatabase (well, register would bemore accurate and less pretentious).Thank you for your interest. -PeterGoldinq

Sociology of Consumption[This Network was approved at theMarch 1996 meeting of the ESAExecutiveCommittee.]Kaj limonenUniversity of .JyvaskylaDepartment of Social SciencesP.O. Box 35F-40351 Jyvaskyla, Finlandtel: +35841 602922Fax: +35841 603101e-mail: [email protected]

The Network will be sponsoring aConference on: "The Sociology ofConsumption" at Tallinn, Estonia, 29August - 1 September 1996.

Proposed themes:

Consumption as an integral partofmodern life;Urbanism and consumer culture;The social dimension ofconsumption;Consumption and everyday life;Pleasures and routine activities inconsumption;Their relationship to thereproduction of social order (ofgender, age, religious groupings,race etc);Their relationship to time andspace;Theoretical discussions of theseareas.

Those interested in participating inthe conference should contact Kajl1monen immediately.

PROPOSED NETWORKS

Economic SociologyGy6rgy LengyelBUdapest University of EconomicSciencesDepartment of SociologyBp. Fovarn t. 81093 BUdapest,Hungarytel/Fax: [email protected],hu

Sociology of EnvironmentJon Mulberg13 Manor Park GardensEdgeware, MiddlesexHAS 7NB,UnitedKingdom+44 (181) 952-5094[Name of contact person maychange]

e. • c :;;J '" e.<.; '';) if

Sociology of DisastersNicos Petropoulos,DirectorEmergencies Research CenterDryadon 39Galatsi 11146Athens,Greecetel: +30 1 601 6376Fax: +30 1 222 0043

Sociology of EducationHenk KleljerSISWOPlantage MUidergracht 4

NL-101B TV Amsterdam TheNetherlandstel: +31 205270646Fax: +31 206229430e-mail: [email protected]

Nicos GousgounisPedagogical Institute of AthensSolomou 41P. Pelchlco154 52 AthensGreecetel: +3066.24.554Fax: +3064.60.658[through Fontas Kavouris]e-rnatt [email protected]

OTHER NETWORKS

Southern Regional NetworkGabriella Lazaridis

Chair, Regional Network on SouthernEuropean Societies.Department of Political Science &Social PolicyUniv. Of DundeeDundee 001 4HN United Kingdomtel: +44 1382 344656fax: +44 1382 344675e-mail: [email protected]

Alexandros KyrtsisThe University of AthensDepartment of Economics8 Pezmazoglou str.105 59 Athens,Greece,tel: +301 3236527Fax: +301 3225542;e-mail; [email protected]

Clarissa de WaalDepartment of Social Anthropology,Free School Lane,University of Cambridge,Cambridge CB2 3RFUnited Kingdom

tel: +44 1223 358493 or 335729;Fax: +44 1223 514717.

The Network, which at present hasaround 120 members, wassuccessfully launched at theConference on 'Nation and Migrationin Southern Europe' which took placeduring December, 1995 at theUniversity of Greenwich, U.K,

In collaboration with the GreekNational Centrefor Socia! Researchthe Network is organising aConference on'Social Research and Social Policy inSouthern Europe';which will take place at the Universityof Athens on 13-14 September 1996,

Conference Themes:

European Socia! Policy;National Welfare Regimes;Social Protection (including SocialSecurity Systems, Pensions, Carefor the Elderly, Disabled People,Health Care);Personal Social Services;Family Policies:Social Exclusion and Inequality(inclUding Gender and Welfare,Unemployment, EthnicMinorities);Deviance;Comparative Social Research.

Organising Committee:Prof. Nikiforos Oiamandouros(Director) and Dr, 10anna Tslgganou,both of the Greek National Centre forSocial Research,Mesogion 14·16,Athens 115 10, Greecetel; +301 7489131Fax: +301 7489127;

Prof.Alexantiros Kyrtsis;University of Athens,Department of Economics,8 Pezmazoglou Street,105 59 Athens,Greece.tel; +301 3236527;Fax; +301 3225542 ;e-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Gabriella Lazaridis, RegionalNetwork on Southern EuropeanSocieties (Chair)Department of Political Science and

Social Policy,University of DundeeDundee, 001 4HNUnitedKingdom

tel: +441382 344205;Fax; +441382344675;e-mail: [email protected]

Those Wishing further informationand/orwishing to submit a papershould contact loannaTsigganouImmediately.

Methods of Comparative Researchon Europe (RENCORE)

Nigel GilbertDepartment of SociologyUniversity of SurreyGuildford GU2 5XHUnited Kingdom

email: [email protected].: +441483259173Fax: +441483306290

Members of Research Networksarerequested to join the EuropeanSociological Association as individualmembers if they already have notdone so.


Chinks in the wall

European Union SocialScience Research:

by Nigel Gilbert *

The European Union sets aside largeamounts of money to supportresearch and research relatedactivities: over 13,000 million ECUover the five years, 1994 to 1998. Ofthis total, only a small amount goesto social science research, and only afraction of that is for sociologicalresearch, but the amounts of moneyare so large that even small fractionsamount to sizeable sums. This noteplots the main areas of EU funding ofsocial science research and lookstowards the likely future shape of thesocial science within the EU researcheffort.

The overall research programme ofthe EU is called the Framework.There is a new Framework agreedeach five years, with the current one,the Fourth Framework Programme(FPIV), scheduled to continue until1998. Each Framework programmehas differed sflqhtly from itspredecessor, with the general trendbeing towards growth in terms of theamounts of money and the number ofprojects supported, wider coverage ofthe sciences, and support of evermore policy oriented work. The fifthFramework programme is now in theprocess of being developed, but it isstill too early to say what it will looklike.

The Framework Programme as awhole encompasses four 'activities':

research and development itself,which is by far the largest of thefour;

cooperation with non-EUcountries, supporting variousfellowships and joint projectschemes primarily with Centraland Eastern Europe and Japan;

dissemination;

and finally the Training andMobility of Researchers (TMR),which funds doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to spendtime in another EU country.


The first activity, the one thatsupports research, is in turn dividedinto seven 'themes':

Information and CommunicationTechnologies;

Industrial Technologies;

Environment and Climate;

Life Sciences and Technologies;

Energy;

Transport;

Targeted Socio-Economicresearch.

The last of these, the TargetedSocio-Economic Research (TSER)programme, is the one mostobviously of interest to soclolcqists,but it is also by a considerablemargin the smallest and the newestof the programmes. with a totalbudget of 147 miliion ECU. Althoughthe other themes may look as thoughthey are for scientists and engineersonly, sociologists do haveopportunities in these also. WhenFPIV was set up, there was somedisagreement between the EuropeanCommission and the EuropeanParliament about its content. One ofthe outcomes was that theParliament insisted that all FPIVprogrammes should be required toconsider the social and economicimpact of the research. Exactly whatthis might mean was never madevery clear and in practice differentprogrammes have interpreted thisrequirement in different ways. Onecommon practice is to demand thatall research proposals have a sectionwhich demonstrates how the socioeconomic impact of the work will beassessed; however, in projectsstaffed by engineers or scientists,these assessments are often eithernot done at all or done poorly.Nevertheless, there are sometimesinteresting opportunities to join crossdisciplinary teams to strengthen thisaspect of a project. In addition, someprogrammes have sections which arespecifically aimed at social science

research. The most notable ottheseis the section on the 'humandimension of environmental change'within the Environment and Climatetheme, where social scientists figurelargely within the approximately 20million ECU budget. Other areaswhere social science input has beensignificant are in the industrial andmaterial technologies theme(research on organisational factors inproduction systems, andtechnological and socio-economicrisks of industrial developments) andin the Aqriculture and Fisheriesprcqramme (FAIR) within the LifeSciences theme.

These secondary and rathersubservient ways of involving socialscientists were all there in previousFrameworks, but as a result of agreat deal of lobbying, FPIV hasincluded a programme specifically forsocial science: Targeted socioeconomic Research. Thecumbersome name is significant.The Commission is very reluctant tofund research which could andperhaps should be tunded bymember states and:would ideallywish to support only research whichis targeted to its particular policyconcems. This means that theprogramme focuses on three areasthat are considered to have directpolicy relevance and which have aEuropean dimension: science policy:education; and social exclusion.

So far, TSER has had its first call forproposais, in March 1995, and thefirst batch of projects have juststarted. A second call is expected inSeptember or October 1996, andthere will be a third cal! about a yearlater. The first call was greatlyoversubscribed (With about 7proposals to each one accepted inthe science policy area, and about 9proposals to each one accepted inthe other two areas) and the secondcall is therefore likely to be evenmore tightly focused to reduce thenumber of proposals received.

TSER is managed by Commissionofficials in DGXII, one of the morethan twenty Directorates-General(DGs) of the Commission. However,the work programme, that is, thespecification of the research which isto be funded, is agreed with aProgramme Committee made up ofnominated delegates from each EUcountry. Relations between theCommission and the ProgrammeCommittee have not always beenentirely smooth. The first call was

delayed because the Committeerejected a draft of the workprogramme put forward by theCommission, a most unusualoccurrence. One of the problems isthat there is relatively little socialsciences expertise within DGXII.Moreover, the ProgrammeCommittee is mainly composed ofcivil servants from the ScienceMinistries of the EU nations whoselinks to the social sciencessometimes seem tenuous.

The Programme Committee does notevaluate proposals directly.Proposals are first checked foreligibility by the Commission (theremust be at least three partners, fromat least two EU states, and variousother forma! criteria have to besatisfied). Then proposals areassessed by a panel of evaluators,brought together for most of a weekin a Brussels hotel. (In the case ofthe TSER first call, this evaluationcoincided with the hottest week of1995, so it is rumoured that tempersgot very short among the evaluators).The evaluators assess the proposalsfor their technical and scientific merit,and rate them on a scale from A to C.Proposals ranked C are rejectedimmediately, but the remainder arebrought to the ProgrammeCommittee. The Committee seesjust the rating, a brief summary of thereasons for the rating, a one pagesummary provided by the proposersof the project, and the names of theinstitutions involved (and thecountries in which they are located).Then the haggling starts, as there arealways more good proposals thanmoney available, so some jUdgementhas to be made about which are tobe funded. Equity between thecountries and the balance of theprogramme are used as well as thegradings of the evaluators in arrivingat a decision. Finally, theCommission tries to negotiate withproposers to reduce the cost of theirprojects (in the case of TSER, thisresulted in some savage cuts) andthe project is finally approved andunderway.

What impact does FPIV fundinghave on the social sciences?

Direct impacts on disciplines are hardto identify, because TSER is too newto have had much influence. But theencouragement of comparativeresearch, especially research carriedout collaboratively, is bound topromote 'big' social science, involvingteams of researchers in several

countries, above the small scale, oneperson research which has beentypical of much empirical sociology.If you are applying for EU researchfunding it generally helps if:

you already know colleagues fromother countries with whom youcan join to make a research team;

you are already well informedabout the mechanics of EUfunding;

your interest is in policy-orientedresearch;

and you have access toquantitative data which has beencollected in a number of EUcountries to enable comparativeanalyses.

The danger is that EU fundedresearch will become the prerogativeof a small band of social scientistswhose research and experience fitsinto this mould. There is also adanger that TSER will become aghetto, unrelated to the rest of theFramework programme, or even thatthe slim foothold which the socialsciences have obtained in FPIV willbe lost in the Fifth Framework. Thechallenge for sociologists is to makethe argument that the discipline isimportant even in the somewhathostile environment of the EU.

Further reading:

The EU and member states producea variety of brochures about theFramework programme. Eachcomponent programme alsopublishes a summary of the projectsit funds. These can be obtained fromlocal Information points in eachcountry.

The Commission has recentlypublished a very useful digest of allthe projects throughout FPIV whichare concerned with socio-economlcresearch: European Commission(June 1996) Socia-EconomicActivities undertaken within thespecific programmes of the IVthFramework Programme During 1995(Brussels: European Commission,DGXII-H).

• Biographical Nole:

Nigel Gilbert is Professor ofSociology at the University of Surrey,United Kingdom.

He has received funding from the EUfor projects under the ESPRIT, SEERand Human dimensions ofenvironmental change programmes,and is the UK's nominated expert onthe TSER Programme Committee([email protected]).

"GLOBALIZATIONAND THE NEWINEQUALITY"20-22 November 1996

Utrecht, The Netherlands

The Netherlands School for Socialand Economic Policy Research(AWSB) announces an InternationalConference, "Globalization and theNew Inequality". The Conference willfocus on the social, cultural andeconomic consequences ofglobalization processes with anemphasis on the problems of old andnew forms of social exclusion andinequality.

Keynote Speakers.-Alain Touraine;Goren Therborn; Saskia Sassen; SidTarrow.Aorarn de Swaan: PiotrSztompka; Alejandro Partes: BennetHarrison; Richard Falk

Workshops will be held on thefollowing themes:

Globalization and organized classrelationships;Postindustrial economy and thefragmentation of family patterns;European welfare states;Migration, ethnicity and exclusion;Globalization and the distributionof incomes and wealth;Divided cities and new forms ofurban marginality;Globalization and economic order:the role of Corporatism;Higher education;Globalization, law and criminality;Development studies;Globalization and culturalprocesses.

The cost of the conference will beapproximately 100 ECU. This willinclude registration fee, lunches anddrinks.

For information and registration,please contact:

Bart van SteenbergenChair, Executive Committee AWSBIASWUniversity of UtrechtHeidelberglaan 23584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlandstel: +31 302535472 (secretary)2539220Fax: +32 30 2534733e-mail: [email protected]

European Sociologist Number 4 page7

Members of the Executive at work: Bernard Kruithof & Monique van der Laan (bothof ESA Secretariat), Sylvia Walby (President). Thomas Boje (Treasurer).

Report of ESA ExecutiveCommittee Meeting,Paris, 1-2 March 1996

The main item of business of themeeting was planning for the 3rdEuropean Conference of Sociology.The conference: "20th CenturyEurope: Inclusions/Exclusions", willtake place 27-13 August 1997 at theUniversity of Essex. United Kingdom.A report of conference planning todate is given elsewhere in thisnewsletter.

Other items of business included:

plans for increasing membershipin the ESA. Crucial to this are theprovision tacifities for prospectivemembers who wish to pay bycredit card and the need to ensurethat members of the ResearchNetworks join the ESA itself.(Credit card payment facilities arenow available and details areincluded on the MembershipApplication Form in thisnewsletter.);

Research Networks. Two newESA Research Networks wereapproved: the Sociology ofConsumption and the Sociology ofMass Media Communications.(An update on the activities of theResearch Networks is given in thisnewsletter.) The Executive alsoconfirmed acceptance of theSouthern Regional Network andagreed that other regionalnetworks may be accepted ifapplications come forward;

neqiotiations with publishers werediscussed. The next newsletterwill contain a report of thepubllcatlcns plans of the ESA.


The BritishCouncil,Sociologyand SocialDevelopmentAnn Keeling,Social Polley and Gender Consultant,British Council

The British Council is better known inmany overseas countries than it is inBritain, largely because the majorityof Council activity and expendituretakes place overseas. This articleaims to explain what the Council isand does overseas and howsociologists might become involvedin Council programmes outsideBritain.

The British Council was establishedby the British Government in 1934 topromote educational, cultural andtechnical co-operation betweenBritain and other countries. TheCouncil is Britain's principal agencyfor cultural relations and is an integral

part of the UK's overall diplomaticand aid effort. The Council is both anon-departmental public body and acharity. It receives governmentgrant-in-aid equal to 34% of its fundsand earns revenue for, amongstother things, teaching English andmanaging major aid projectsoverseas for other agencies. TheCouncil's work is designed toestablish lonq-terrn and world-widepartnerships to improve internationalunderstanding. Much of what theCouncil does involves bringingpeople together across internationalboundaries to share skills andexperiences, in the expectation thatall nations including Britain gain fromsuch exchanges.

The British Council in 1995/6:

had staff in 228 towns and cities in109 countries;

funded over 9,060 scientific visitsand supported more than 1,300reseaichhnks:organised 98 internationalseminars which attracted over2,000 participants:

handledover 3O-~000 enquiries inthe Central Bureau on educationalvisits and exchanges;

administered over 400,000 Britishprofessional 'and academicexaminations;

ran 185 library and informationcentres which had 500,000members;

implemented 375 projects onbehalf of overseas governments,private sector and bilateral andmultilateral agencies;

ran 95 centres teaching English to120,000 trainees and students.

What does the British Council do?

Council strengths are generaHyconsidered to be education andtraining, arts, information and Englishlanguage but it is difficult togeneralise about Councilprogrammes overseas. The activitiesfunded by the Council in one countryvary quite Widely from those inanother because the operatingcontexts in say, Sudan, Spain andSlovakia are so very different.Priorities for each Council office aredecided with local partners within abroad policy framework negotiated atheadquarters with the Council's mainsponsors (the FCO and OverseasDevelopment Administration) andother UK stakeholders. Council

offices in developing countries, forexample, will have programmessupporting British aid policiesincluding a strong commitment tohuman resource development, skillstransfer and strengthening of localinstitutions. The mix of partners theCouncil works with overseas alsovaries between countries. Partnerswill generally include governmentagencies, non-governmentalorganisations (NGO's), the privatesector and academic institutions butin a particular country, the Councilmay decide that working with NGO'srather than the government is morelikely to lead to sustainabledevelopment.

Typical Council activities in educationand training overseas include:

organising seminars within acountry or region and internationalseminars in UK on key topics.Within a country, the Council maybring together representativesfrom government, the voluntaryand other sectors to learn fromeach others' experiences in aparticular field;

specialist study tours to Britain foroverseas decision-makers toinstitutions and individuals workingin a related field;

supporting joint internationalresearch, curriculum developmentand teaching projects;

encouraging internationaleducational exchanges throughthe Central Bureau;

managing training programmes forgovernments, funding agencies,institutions and individuals;

providing information aboutdevelopments in Britain andBritish education through itsoverseas network;

in developing countries inparticular, funding long-termprogrammes focusing on humanresource development, skillstransfer and strengthening of localinstitutions.

Sociology, Social Policy andSocial Development

Joint academic links programmesand exchanges in sociology fundedby the Council are more common inWestern European countries thanelsewhere. In Western Europe, theCouncil has also funded Britishsociologists to speak at Councilseminars on European social trends.Recently, these have included

seminars on UK trends in ethnicity,migration, multiculturalism, equalopportunities and a seminar in Japanon gender, employment and thefamily. Typically. speakersrecommended by the Council wouldbe academics from teaching andpolicy research institutes and"practitioners" from the governmentand voluntary sectors.

Programme priorities for the formerSoviet Union, East and CentralEurope and middle income countriesin Latin America and East Asia differfrom those in wealthier countries.With the "economies in transition",social policy issues centred aroundthe restructuring of social welfaresystems and labour markets havebeen the most pressing areas forcollaborative work. Academic linksbetween Britain and these countrieshave covered social planning, therole of NGO's (particularly inpreviously centrally plannedeconomies where NGO's are arelatively new phenomenon), socialresearch methodology and labourmarket research, Sociologists havealso been involved in Councilprogrammes in middle incomecountries working on health and legalprogrammes, for example, with streetchildren and prisoners.

The majority of countries the Councilworks in are low-lncorne ordeveloping countries, For thesecountries, the Councll is looking morefor social development specialists(many of whom started out associologists or social anthropologists)than sociologists knowledgeableabout Britain. Although aspects ofthe British experience, such as theestablishment of women's refuges,have proved of great interest toparticular low-income countries,social structures and politicalpriorities are so different that differentskills and experience are needed.The priority in Council programmes indeveloping countries is to find themost relevant expertise, which maywell be in a neighbouring countryrather than Britain. The Council alsoaims to strengthen local capacity bytraining and using local consultants inits programmes in low-Incomecountries wherever possible.

Seeking Council funding foroverseas activities

Generally in the Council, bUdgets foroverseas activities are held by theoffice in that country and decisions

are made there. Very littleoperational money is held bydepartments in headquarters andrequests for funding received in theUK will almost certainly be referred tothe overseas office concerned. Anyspecific requests for funding,therefore, should be' addressed to theCouncil director of the countryconcerned. Contact details forCouncil overseas offices can beobtained from the InformationCentres in Council offices inManchester and London (Tel: +44(0)161 9577755). Council funds inmany countries are now very limitedas the Council is undergoing majorrestructuring following 1996/97budget cuts. Many offices are likelyto be prioritising existing programmesrather than funding new activity. It isalso worth adding that the Councilhas an eighteen month planningcycle and funding requests tooverseas offices giving short noticemay find that Council funds are fullycommitted.

It is highly unlikely that Counciloffices will be able to-fund thefollowing:

research by British researchers,whether in the UK overseas,unless as part of a joint project;

visits by British academicsoverseas, including conferenceattendance, unless part of a widerCouncil programme of activities inthe country;

activities in Britain;

activities overseas not requestedby a local partner;

activities in countries in which theCouncil does not operate.

Consultancy work with the BritishCouncil

Sociologists, social policy and socialdevelopment specialists interested inbeing considered for short-termconsultancies overseas with theCouncil, should send a curriculumvitae (noting key fields and strengths,nationality and foreign languagesspoken) to:

Social Policy ConsultantConsultancy GroupBritish CouncilMedlock StreetManchesterM154AA

European Sociologist Number 4 page9

Greek Sociology:Does it really exist?

Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis,University of Athens.

Heinz Maus in his Short History ofSociology, published forty years ago,dedicates a small paragraph to Greeksociology. He notices in condensedform the important role of theories ofsocial policy and the influence of the'Kathedersozialisten', and mentionstwo figures of the interwar period,Professors Panayiotis Kanellopoulosand AvroleJis Fleutheropoulos, thefirst to occupy the chairs of sociologycreated around 1930 in the lawschools of the Universities of Athensand ThessalonikL Maus in additionindicates the main contours of theirtheoretical approaches:Kanellopoulos as a disciple of GeorgSimmsl and Eleutheropoulos as aopponent of every approach whichemphasized collectiveconsciousness. Nothing more thanthis extremly brief reference to thetwo German influenced intellectualsappears as a contribution of modernGreece to sociology. Does Greeksociology deserve more? Does itreally exist? Is there somethinggoing on which could be added tothis rather disappointing note?

Although the history of theimportation of sociological ideas toGreece during the first half of thiscentury is more interesting than onecould assume (it was tightly boundwith the emergence of ideologies ofmodernization and theircontradictions), we will focus uponthe second half of the century in thisarticle. Concerning the period, onething is certain: During the last twodecades, sociologists in Greece havereached the necessary critical massto constitute a valid scientificcommunity. Sociologically mindedpolitical scientists and socialhistorians, social anthropologists,even some economists andrepresentatives of literary criticismand educational science enlarge thecircle of sociological literates.However, despite the fact that thereis nowadays a fertile social field forthe constitution of sociologicaldiscourse, the institutional past has


been extremely adventurous as aconsequece of sociopoliticalperturbations. Kanellopoulos died in1986 and Eleuteropoulos in 1955.But long before that, the careers ofboth of them had been suspended forpolitical reasons. Kanellopoulostaught in Greece for two years (19331935) and Eleutheropoulos from1929 to 1937. After them there wereno positions for sociologists in Greekuniversities for almost forty years,although some law professors,psychologists and philosopherspresented fragments of sociologicalthought to Greek students.

Social science appeared again inhigher education only after theabolishment of the dictatorship in1974. But was ten more yearsbefore the first sociologydepartments in Greek history werefounded at the Panteios University ofSocial Science in Athens and at theUniversity of Crete. Due to the mixedacademic backgrounds of those inthe Panteios deparmtment and thedistance of Crete from the Greekmainland, however, the consolidationof Greek sociology has not beencentred in these departments. Theirgraduates find it difficult competingfor access to the more interestingsociological jobs with their colleagueswho have studied abroad. This ishowever not all one could say aboutsociology at the Greek universities.Most Greek sociologists arescattered in a great variety ofdepartments. Many law schools andeconomics departments have in thelast years aquired at least oneposition for sociology as an integralpart of their undergraduateprogrammes. There are sociologistsin the Technical Universities ofAthens and Crete, the Schools ofArchitecture as well as in thePolytechnics, some of which haveDeparments of Social Work. TheDepartment for Social Policy andSocial Anthropology at PantiosUniversity is sociological in spirit. Alimited number of sociologists canalso be found in medical schools andin management departments. Thelargest and relatively the most

coherent group are in educationdepartments. The Sociology ofEducation has become one of thestrongest sociological subdisciplinesin Greece. This is not only due tothe vast interest in educationalissues, but also to the fact thatsenior Greek sociologists likeConstantine Tsoukalas and JaneLambiri-Dimaki have produced majorcontributions to this field. Thesecond largest group can be found inthe politics departments, where theboundaries between political scienceand political sociology are fuzzy. Inaddition, the departments ofcommunication founded in thenineties as a consequence of theexplosion of electronic mass mediain Greece are a favourable workingplace for social scientists of allpossible persuasions.

The fact that sociologists areemployed in a variety of departmentsdoes not describe a unique Greekphe'n'om'e'noh. Similarsituationscould be observed in the UK, in theUS and Germany, to name but a fewcountries. Howsver.jhe inability ofthe Greek sociological departmentsto contribute to academic discourseand research networks, creates aproblem of having in Greece asociological web with important knotsmissing. Transdepartmental informalalliances which also embrace socialscientists working outside theuniversity prevail. That means thatthe true dynamics of contemporaryGreek sociology, although carriedout to a great extent by sociologistsworking at a university, must befound elsewhere.

Research interests unite intocommon networks the second majorgroup of social scientists in Greece,those who are working in researchcentres, and mainly at the NationalCentre for Social Research. Theimportance of this institution is muchgreater than in countries with a morenormal academic history. Althoughexpelled from the universities andexperiencing an openly hostiletreatment by the academicestablishment during the two and ahalf decades folliowing the civil war(1946-49), socloloqy found a shelterin the Social Science Centre (as itsname was then), founded in 1960 byUNESCO in Athens. The Greekgovernment, although reluctant to doso, finally undertook its funding. TheCentre, under the direction of theBritish educated Cypriot Professor ofSociology and Social AnthropologyJohn Peristiany, succeeded in

establishing collaboration with manywell known sociologists and has alsobeen the place where almost all thesenior sociologists and other socialscientists who occupy importantacademic and research positionstoday made their first steps.(Peristiany left the Centre in 1967when the Colonels came 10 power.)Many of the social scientists whobelong 10 the founding generation,along with those who studied abroadand returned after the fall of themilitary regime in 1974, still maintaintight relations with the Centre, whichhas produced more than a hundredmostly empirical mongraphs onGreek society, carries out a greatnumber of projects and publishes theGreek Review of Social Research.This image, however, does not implyany exceptional dynamics. Majorcontributions to sociology aremissing, despite the fact thatinteresting empirical studies,especially on Greek society, havebeen produced there. The core ofNCSR researchers, empirical andethnocentric in their approach, havenot followed new trends in theshaping of the soclal-sciantiftccommunity in Greece.

As Lambiri-Dimaki points out in herrecently-published essay in SouthEuropean Society & Politics (Vol. 1,No.1 ,1996) (where interestinginformation on the dominant thematicaxes in Greek sociology can befound) younger Greek sociologistsare less empiricistic, moretheoretically inclined and lessethnocentric. French intellectuals ofGreek origin, like Nicos Poulantzasand Cornelius Castoriadis, whogained contact with the Greek publicafter the abolution of the dictatorship,and Nlcos Mouzelis' role as adistinguished scholar at the LondonSchool of Economics where manyGreek social scientists studied, haveboth exercised a visible impact on theyounger generation. Tsoucalas'contribution to historical sociologyhas been equally influential.Following the above, we can note ashift from sociodemographic andsurvey analysis to more synthetic andtheoretical works, published either inbook form or in established socialscientific journals.

To these journals belong besides theGreek Review of Social Research,the Greek Political Science Review,Axiologica, speclallzinq in social andpolitical theory, and SynchronaThemata, a review hosting scientificcontributions along with comments

and lighter essays from representatives of all human sciences(Synchrona Themata is participatingin a network directed by P.Bourdieu, aiming at the promotionof the exchange and translation oftexts on social ideas which appearin european reviews). Furthermore,it is worth mentioning the series ofvolumes published by institutionssuch as the Sakis KaragiorgasFoundation and the Society for theStudy of the Human Sciences whopublish the series Topica, whichalso contains original foreigncontributions translated into Greek.

The Greek language, however, is asevere handicap to thedevelopment of Greek sociology.Although Greeks are informedabout what is being written inEnglish, and also in French andGerman, their texts, due to thelanguage barrier, stay out of reachof the foreign sociologist. Many ofthe papers appearing in the majoracademic languages from youngersociologists who live and work inGreece lack a sharpness ofargument and literary style, and areadapted to a great extent to whatare perceived as the conventions ofrefereed journals. There is thus asplit. On the one hand there arelocal discourses which . althoughinspired by streams of thoughtemerging in the countriesconsidered as sociological greatpowers - are taking shape in theGreek context and on the basis ofcultural elements imposed by theuse of the Greek language. On theother hand there are moreethnocentric works which are at thesame time easily accepted by nonGreek soclologlsts, who considerthem as an exposition of exoticsociological images. Thus, localnetworks are often moreinternationalized than thetransnational ones. This is partlydue to the fact that transnationalsociological networks themselvestend to be conglomerates ofethnocentrisms.

Our initial question was whetherGreek sociology really exists. Iwould say that it does, in a doublesense. There is a Greek sociologyproduced by Greeks who belong totransnational sociological networks.This enables the transmission ofideas and methodologicalapproaches, but at the same timecontributes to a segmentationcaused by the identity of theirsources. This goes hand in hand

with an insistence on ethnocentricproblematiques, which results in anAmerican, a British. a German, aFrench etc way of analyzing Greeksociety. AI! of these perspectivesinevitably rely and promote asynthesis of the dominantsociological approaches: struturalfunctionalism; historicism;deconstructionalism; several versionsof marxism etc. Nevertheless, thereare also Greek sociologicaldiscourses, which are inspired bothby these streams and modern socialphilosophy, adapted to the localsetting of provincialism and ofmechanical imitation of foreign styles.Still local discourses do have adynamic to become the basis forcreativity and the internationalexchange of ideas. Bearing in mindthat the Greek language will nevergain an international status, it isimportant for Greek social scientiststo create a local/global nexus, inorderto transfer the dynamics of theirlocal community to internationalsociological fora and to integrate intothe community of Greek. but notethnocentric, discourses thoseforeign colleagues who do not preferfolkloristic and ethnocentriccuriosities.

Work, Employment

and Society.... is one of the two journals of theBritish Sociological Association. Itstitle describes the material publishedin it.

The Editorial Board of the journalrecently have taken a decision toaccept material written in Europeanlanguages other than English forprovisional consideration in advanceof the normal refereeing process.This is to assist those authors who donot want to incur the expense oftranslating their work before knowingwhether they have a reasonablechance of securing publication.Articles which are likely to beconsidered then can be translatedbefore being SUbject to the fullreviewing process.

Those who wish to submit materialfor consideration should contact:Paul Edwards, EditorWork, Employment and SocietyIndustrial Relations Research UnitUniversity of WarwickCoventryCV47AL United Kingdomtel: +44203524270Fax: +44203524184


EUROPEANCONSORTIUMFORSOCIOLOGICALRESEARCH(ECSR)WORKSHOPBERLIN,

26-27 AUGUST 1996

Following the workshop of theEuropean Consortium for SocialResearch (ECSR) in Oslo, August1995, a new workshop will be held inBerlin in August 1996, at the MaxPlanck Institute for HumanDevelopment and Education.

The ECSR workshops aim to developinternational contact and cooperationbetween social scientists in themember institutions of the ECSR andother interested academics.

The workshop will be organized assessions where participants presentpapers. The suggested topics for thisyear are as follows:

Employment and Unemployment.Coordinator: Duncan GaWe,Nuffield College, Oxford:

Family and Work, Specialsessions on part-time work andmotherhood in a comparativeperspective. Coordinator: AnneUse Ellingsaeter, Institute forSocial Research, Oslo;

Transition in Eastern Europe.Coordinator: Paul Niewbeerta,University of Utrecht

For further information and/orapplication, contact:

Heike SolgaMax Planck Institute for HumanDevelopment and EducationLentzealle 94D-14195 BerlinGermanytel: +49 (030) 829 995 383Fax: +49 (030) 824 99 39e-mail: solga@mpib-berlin_mpg.de


Conference "Strategyand Tactics of PostSocialist EconomiesReform"

October 17-18, 1996,Tbilisi, Georgia

Organizer:·Georgian Academy ofEconomic Sciences

Information:-LeoChikavaGeorgian Academy of EconomicSciences5, Pushkin Str.380007 Tbilisi,Georgiatel: +99 532-933693Fax: +gg 532-983195

36th EuropeanCongress of RegionalScience Association

August 26-30, 1996,Zurich, Switzerland

Organizer: RegionalScience Association

Topics include:

Federalism;

subsidiarity and regions;

the regional dimension ofenvironmental policies;

regional and national planning inthe new European context;

European integration and thefuture of border regions;

regional labour markets

language: English

Information:

Angelo RossiERSA - Congress 1996ORl-lnstituteETH HoenggerbergCH-8093 Zurich,Switzerlande-mail:[email protected] page: httpi!www.orl.arch.ethz.chfFBo ekono mlefcong ress

3-6 March 1997SoftStat 97: 9thConference on theScientific Use ofStatistical SoftwareHeidelberg, Germany

Contact:ZUMAPostfach122155D 68072 MannheimGermany

10-12 October 1996

Workshop onStrategies for DataAnalysis'

Augsburg, Germany

The workshop aims to suggest andassess strategies for data analysisusing the study of real datasets, totest out in comparison modernstatistical research software and towork out principles for the nextgeneration of statistical software.The workshop will have two mainthreads: the presentation of currentstatistical research software byexperts (mainly by the authorsthemselves) and the joint analysis insmall groups of previously circulateddatasets (provided by the participantsthemselves}.

For further information, see:http://www1.math.uni-augsburg.de/-theusIWorkshopJINorkshop.html

or contact:Antony UnwinProfessor of Computer-OrientedStatistics and Data AnalysisMathematics InstituteUniversity of Augsburg86135 AugsburgGermanytel: +49 821 5982218Fax: +49821 5982280e-mail: unwin@uni-augsburg~de

Introducing the... EUROPEANGROUP FORTHE STUDY OFDEVIANCE ANDSOCIALCONTROL

The European Group for the Study ofDeviance and Social Control (EG)held its first conference in Italy in1973 on the theme Deviance andSocial Control in Europe: Scope andProspects for a Radical Criminology.Since then, an annu.al conferencehad been held.

A Brief History

Severa! European criminologistsdecided in the early 19705 to form abreak-away European alternativecriminology that was neitherdominated by American academicsnor by conservative, positivistic, orfunctionalist orientations withincriminology and sociology. Radicaland alternative criminology haddeveloped during the 1960s, iinkedwith the struggles, for example, of theNorwegian prisoners' movement, theFrench mental patients' union, theGerman radical lawyer's group etc.Throughout its history, the EuropeanGroup has sought to overcomevarious national, linguistic, class,ethnic, sexual, and gender barriers inan effort to develop a critical,emancipatory, and innovativecriminology. One goal of the grouphas been to highlight social problemsin the field of deviance and socialcontrol which are under-exposed byso-called 'establishment','administrative', or 'governmental'criminology; thus, create a forum notcommonly provided at otherconferences and an internationalnetwork for academics, practitioners,and activists working toward socialjustice. The EG has had varyingsuccess in these areas, but continuesto place these aspirations high on theagenda at the annual conferences.

The conference themes during theearly and mid-1970s reflected andhelped legitimate the centralconcerns of the growing radical,critical, and "new" criminologies:crimes of the powerful, the

relationship between economics andlegal control, the demasking of thepolitical nature of criminal law andlegal force, the role of prisoners' andpatients' movements in penal andpsychiatric reform, police violence/repression. Towards the late 1970s,the concept of power and itsmanifestations were analysedtheoretically and identified in specialcontexts: terrorism and state violenceas well as various and fluctuatingforms of discipline in our societies(Foucault inspired). Other traditionalinterests of critical criminology havebeen treated at later conferences. Atthe Hamburg conference in 1985 on"the expansion of European prisonsystems", certain trends wereidentified: harsher sentences forsome groups and for some crimes,longer pre-trial detentions, increaseduse of life imprisonment, additivesentences for already imprisonedpersons, and use of short sentencesfor increasing numbers of offenders.In many cases, it was shown thatwomen prisoners were affected to aneven harsher degree than men.Likewise, trends in criminalisationand decriminalisation were the focuson the Viennese conference in 1987.In 1990 (Haarlem), representatives ofmany penal reform groups in Europeparticipated in a panel discussion onsetbacks, possible points forinternational cooperation, and theramifications for penal reform of the"integration" of Europe.

The history of the European Groupcan also be highlighted by thoseconferences where the Groupsucceeded in closely matching theconference theme to local events inthe host country, such as the meetingin the North of Ireland on The Politicsof Internal Security which took placeduring the final phase of theRepublican prisoners' hunger strikein protest of the presence of Britishtroops and British policies in Ulster(1981). Another was the meeting inWales, 1984, where the generaltheme of The State of informationwas applied to the expanding use ofnew technologies to pollee strikingcoal miners.

THE XXIV ANNUAL CONFERENCEOF THE EUROPEAN GROUP FORTHE STUDY OF DEVIANCE ANDSOCIAL CONTROLwill be held at

THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES,BANGOR

12-15 SEPTEMBER 1996

REGULATING EUROPE:CRIMINOLOGY, CAREAND CONTROL

Major themes:

the criminological enterprise inEurope

the new European order

constructing policies and problems

institutional violence

Contact person for the conference:

Chris PowellSchool of Sociology & Social PolicyCollege RoadBangorGwyneddNorth WalesLL57 2DG

For more information about theEuropean Group:

Karen LeanderStockholms lane landstingSamha!!smedicinska divisionenSocialmedicln Kronari:Skadepreventive enthatenSturegatan 2, 6 tr172 83 SundbybergSweden

International CongressEUROGRAD'96

October 21-24, 1996

Munich,Germany

Languages: German, English,Russian

Information:

Natalia Kostyleva, BorisZhikharevichEurograd InstituteIzmailovskiy pr., 14198052 St. Petersburg, Russiatel: +7812-1126478 or 1671574Fax: +7-812-1126506e-mail: [email protected]


ESRC Crime andSocial OrderResearchProgrammeConferenceCRIME AND SOCIAL ORDER INEUROPE:Political Economy, Transnationalityand Community Safety

7·10 SEPTEMBER t996 UMIST,MANCHESTER

The primary objective of thisconference is to encourageawareness and exchange on newissues and concerns in the areas ofcrime and social order in Europe. Itsmain themes are likely to include thecriminological consequences ofeconomic integration; the implicationsof the current developments in theEuropean Union for policing,punishment, intelligence, civil libertiesand human rights and the impact onthe European Union of conflict andchange in neighbouring states to theEast and South.

A secondary objective is to providethe opportunity for research-activesocial scientists from differentEuropean states to obtain a closerknowledge of current developmentsin Britain, including (but not confinedto) those associated with the ESRCProgramme.

The organising committee is alsomindful of the newly emergingpossibilities for collaborative researchin crime and related areas, not leastthrough the European Union's FourthFramework Programme, the ForeignOffice's 'Know-How' Fund and theESRC's 'Risk' and 'East-West'Initiatives. The conference isintended to provide an opportunity forexisting pan-European researchpartnerships, as well asencouragement to the formation offurther such developments.

The working themes of theconference, and the topics we wouldhope to see covered, include:

(a) SOCIAL EXCLUSION

The impact of de-industrialisationand unemployment acrossEurope, and directly associatedpatterns of criminality.


The "gender order" in differentEuropean societies and its relationto patterns of sexual crime andprivate violence.

European citizenship, guestworkers, race, refugees, gypsiesand migrants: crimes of racialviolence, smuggling of refugees,and other related topics ofcriminalisation.

The return of public poverty andthe pattern of underclass formation(begging, homelessness etc) andits relation to the construction ofEuropean citizenship.

Circumpolar indigenous peoples inEurope, customary law, alternativeconcepts and practices of socialcontrol, and their exemplarypotential at local level.

(b)TRANSNATIONALITY

The limits of the nation state andnational systems of social controlin a European market. Theimplications of Maastricht in thespheres of transnational corporateand professional crime.Criminological implications of theabolition of border controls withinEurope; and the shared frontiers ofthe Community and EasternEurope.

Criminological implications ofglobal communications systems(internet, satellites) for policing.

Analysis of the Shengen and Trevisystems of policing of transnationalmigration of peoples and goods.

Social scientific evaluations ofproblems and possibilities ininternational cooperation betweennational police forces, nationalgovernments and other nationalinstitutions.

Organized crime as a Europeantransnational presence.

The international political economyof crime.

(c)THE DISCIPLINARY CRISIS:MANAGEMENT CRISIS ORLEGITIMATION CRISIS?

Analysis of the scale and effects ofthe escalating populafion inWestern and Eastern Europe.Fiscal and legitimation problems ofthis disciplinary explosion, andimplications for civil society inEurope.

The state of play in the movementfor prison attrition and/or abolition.Critical discussion of alternative

models of accountable systems 01punishment.

Analysis of the pattern andsubstance of disciplinarydiscourses at the level of theCommunity, individual nationstates, and locality in Europe.

Examination of alternativesystems of punishment, correctionand re-inteqration in differentEuropean societies (thereconfiguration of Welfare, Lawand Justice).

(d) TRANSFORMATIONS IN THESTATE AND THE MARKET

The technological revolution, theinformation superhighway andtransformations of crime andpolicing: jurisdictional implosionand complexity.

Structures and patterns of the,hidden economy of crime across

E~rop~,~

Cross-overs between the hiddeneconomy, the formal economy andthe State: the issue of "corruption".

Analysis of transformations ofcitizenship and the welfare stateacross Europe: criminologicalimplications of the withdrawal of"the safety net" and the rise ofindividualism.

The transformation of the labourmarket, 'jobless growth',unemployment and the rise of newforms of livelihood strategies inEurope.

(e)COMMUNITY SAFETYTheorising crime dangers and riskfor the European Community.Critical appraisal of existingEuropean initiatives for thedefence and maintenance ofpersonal and community safety.Contemporary programmes ofsocial defence and social crimeprevention: theoretical andempirical appraisal.Male violence as a problem forcommunity.Privatization of economies,policing, security and socialprovision; implications for crimeand the public life of thecommunity across Europe.

This is an initiative of a subcommittee of the Crime and SocialOrder Research Programme of theBritish Economic and SocialResearch Council (ESRC). Theinitiative was launched with a view tofacilitating contacts among European

criminology scholars andpractitioners, to establishingresearch networks, and finally toencouraging interest in respect of aConference to be held inManchester on 7-10 September1996. Details regarding theconference can be found in the backpage of this newsletter.

We would like to stress theimportance of this networking activitywhich we hope will result incomparative work, joint-researchprojects and cross-country fundingapplications. In this respect, weintent to provide an initial vehicle forEuropean collaboration in the formof a European Handbook ofCriminology, which will include someof the more relevant papersdelivered at the Manchesterconference. Negotiations with aleading international publisher areunder way.

Colleagues who would like to attendthe conference are invited to contactthe conference administrator:

Mr Christopher LoxleyDepartment of SociologyUniversity of SalfordSalford M5 4WTUnited Kingdom

ESRCECONOMIC & SOCIALRESEARCH COUNCIL

The Conference OrganisingCommittee consists of ProfessorRod Morgan, Chair (University ofBristol), Mr Keith Hellawell (ChlefConstable, West Yorkshire), Dr TimHope (ex officio, ESRC Crime andSocial Order Research ProgrammeCoordinator, Keele University), DrElena Larrauri (Univsrsita Autonomade Barcelona), Dr VincenzoRuggiero (Middlesex University),Professor David Smith (University ofEdinburgh), Dr Nigel South(University of Essex), Professor IanTaylor (University of Salford) and DrLucia Zedner (University of Oxford).

Offers of papers, with a 250 wordprecis, should be sent to theConference Organiser:

Dr Vincenzo RuggieroFaculty of Social ScienceMiddlesex UniversityQueenway, EnfieldMiddlesex, EN3 4SFEnglandTel: 00441813625477Fax: 00 441818050702

Address byDr. Arpad Goncz,President ofthe Republic ofHungaryto the 2nd EuropeanConference of Sociology

Budapest, August 30, 1995

(continued from page 16)

Anything you See in this country is atthe same time a cause and a result.It is worthwhile to compare it withdeveloped civll societies, where youalso find elements of disintegration,even more so because I dare saythat today the whole of Europe issailing in the same boat, the ageingof societies and the decrease ofeconomic competitiveness is thesame in all groups of countries, andwe can only turn these processesaround together. We have to preparefor the fact that in the next ten totwenty years we can pull each otherdown, or we can lift each other up.We have to prepare for the fact thatthe illnesses of society move likewaves from one side to the other andthen back again. We inherit theinsecurity of existence from marketsocieties, which we are notaccustomed to; you inherit the legacyof a socialism which has explodedand which broke down, theroughness of conflict management,violence, an aggression which inHungary we traditionally turnedagainst ourselves, as our suiciderates are ever so high, and theviolence which we once again turnagainst ourselves when we try tosolve local conflicts through violenceas a result of the insecurity of ourexistence, not to speak aboutpoverty.

At the same time let me saysomething that might give us reasonfor hope. The change which tookplace in the post-communistcountries during these five years intotally unparalleled. The worldexpects these countries to pullthemselves out of the swamps bytheir own hair like Baron vonMOnchausen. It is watching eagerlyfrom the outside to see whether ornot they are successful. Let me tellyou that we are successful to quite alarge extent. Llfe is sometimesstronger than facts, and the instinctfor life is stronger than whatever is

trying to suppress it. Hungary hasten million inhabitants, and thenumber of entrepreneurs today isone million two hundred thousand.Five or six years ago I could havedefined this figure as almost zero,Societies in this country as well as inall the other post-communistcountries take advantage of the mostimportant legal institution: 'legalvacuum'. This road on which thesecountries are catching after a delayof about a hundred years in someway or another, is quite unique.

It would be very interesting to listento all the lectures, since everythinghas been affected; from sexualpractices to religious traditions andchanges in agricultural productiontechniques. God gave you enoughintellectual power to put this mosaictogether. Maybe those who arewatching from outside and fromabove can see-the outline moreclearly tha~ those who are living in it,and probably drowning. Try to lookunder and behind the surfaces ofphenomena. And if the scientitlcnomenclature proves insufficient, andthe concepts found}o-'be slipping,consider this as a sign that thesesocieties are living not in a valuelessbut in an inter-value period. Thevalues learnt and socialised duringthe last forty or seventy yearssuddenly became useless andinvalid, new values have not takenshape. Yet in society we witness thesimultaneous existence ofunbehavable solidarity and atendency for self-assistance, as wellas dull individualism leading up tomurder.

I ask the organisers of theconference to send me the volumewhen the lectures are ready. I wouldhave liked to sit here for the whole ofthe congress, for I am greatly excitedby it. I am afraid my obligations willnot permit me to do that. So itremains that I will receive the sum ofyour intellectual work...

(Switches back ro English)

... and I will be very-very grateful forit. I wish you all the best here. J

would like to say, have a very nicestay here in Budapest. I think thatBudapest isn't the ugliest city in theworld. I wish you very goodmeetings, I wish you very goodconnections, I wish you a great manynew friendships, and, as I have said,I wish YOU'll have a very nice stayhere!

(translated by Zoltan Pogatsa)


Address by

Dr. Arpad Canez,President of the Republic of Hungary

to the 2nd European Conference of Sociology

Budapest, August 30, 1995

(In English)

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen,my friends,

First. I would like to ask for yourpardon because I will not speak inEnglish. The first reason for this isthat as a head of state I have anobligation, I have to speak in mymother tongue, the other is that myEnglish is inferiorto my Hungarian,definitely speak much betterHungarian and I am not aprofessional sociologist. so I am notfamiliar with your professionallanguage and vocabulary, So it ismuch better, because I do not wantto have inferior feelings, I will speakin Hungarian and I hope that thetranslation will be much better thanmy original.

(In Hungarian)

I should like to start by saying that Ihave looked through yourprogramme. You have put together awonderfully rich programme and arange of topics which deal with boththe societies of western countries,and the societies of the postcommunist countries. The problemsof the embourgoised societies ofWestern Europe are different fromthe problems of those societies in theEast which have only recentlybecome bourgeois, or whoseembourgeoisement was broken, Thetitle of this conference "Fusion orfission?" is therefore totallyappropriate.

It is my impression that in oursocieties - and when I speak aboutour societies, I mean primarily thesocieties of post communist countries


• disintegration and integration arepresent simultaneously. In thepolitical, economic and socialinstitutional systems there are oldand new elements at the same time,and in certain cases the old and thenew exist side by side in the sameinstitution, and neutralise each other.Among us, you are here in a societyin transformation. You are stUdying aprocess either from the outside, or, ifyou have come from our world, fromthe inside + a process which isunfinished in the sociological sense.I think I could describe our situationby telling you that we lack two things.In our recent past, there was a lack offreedom, and our existence today isdetermined by a lack of security aswell as a lack of equality, a valuewhich we missed during the last fortyyears, but the demand for which,became deeply embedded in theconscience of people.

These post-communist countrieshave a more or less clear vision oftheir future, in which they try to formthemselves according to what theyimagined the western model to belike. On the other hand, they do nothave a vision of tomorrow, They donot know if they will still have a jobtomorrow, they do not know whetheror not they will break away from themain body of society for good, theydo not know how long the temporaryopportunities of financialimprovement will last, what theyshould do with the wealth thusacquired, whether they should spendit on luxury consumption or invest it.Our conscience is thereforedetermined by a pair of shortages,opposed to each other, acting inopposite directions, and the ratio ofthe components of our conscience

changes from moment to moment.The situation of cities is determin.edby pauperization, and the socialsitucttion ofpsople in t.~~, villages isdetermined by the fact that in the lastfive years a land property reform hasbeen carried out in Hungary whichoverturned an aqriculturat system inwhich private intere-stand workintensive small property livedtogether in peace and in a very finecalibration with larqe-scale farmingwhich required considerable capital.This property reform, which had beencarried out inevitably in a dull way,only took the sacred nature of privateproperty into consideration, but forgotthat both soli and the equipmentused in cultivating this soil are morethan just private property: they arefactors of production. As far as theeconomic sphere is concemed . andhere 1am compelled to use a Marxistterm- it can be said to be in the stateof the primary accumulation ofcapital, and as always, the primaryaccumulation of capital is to thedetriment of the poor. I amcompelled to say that whenapproaching the present situationwith sociological methods, one cannot really rely on sets of statisticaldata. In some occasions a casestudy of a family or an individualreveals much more about this societythan the longest and most carefullyfiltered sets of data.

It is not my intention to destroy yourinterest in your profession, as I cannot imagine a task which is moreexciting than examining a changingsociety through a microscope or withthe help of an X-ray machine.

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European Sociologist · European Sociologist Number 4 page2. ... 191002, St.Petersburp-Z PO Box 55...

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