WiP: Uncertain Returns: Meskhetian and Ahiska Turks in Georgia and Azerbaijan (facebook.com)

(facebook.com) Mittwoch, 2. Juli, 18:15 - 19:30

Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Georgia
#3, Kavsadze Street, 0179 Tiflis 
facebook.com/Eurasia-Partnership-Foundation-Georgia

American Councils, CRRC and ARISC present the 20th talk in the Spring 2014 Works-in-Progress Series!

"Uncertain Returns: Meskhebi and Ahıska Türkleri in Georgia and Azerbaijan"

Irina Levin, New York University

The focus of Ms. Levin’s current project, which also encompasses field sites in Turkey and Azerbaijan, is issues of law, citizenship, and property in the daily lives of Ahiska Turks and Meskhetians. Deported from southwestern Georgia in 1944, this population has had a dedicated return movement since the 1950s. Today, this movement engages with local, national, and international human rights legal regimes in its efforts to give deportees and their descendants a way home. What do these efforts mean for regular Ahiska Turks and Meskhetians? Further, what do the everyday legal struggles of these regular people mean for the return movement? Broadly put, the aim of this study is to augment our understanding of long-term adaptation and return processes among a forcibly displaced population.

In this talk, Ms. Levin looks to reflect on some key ethnographic moments from her fieldwork so far in the context of current frameworks in legal anthropology and citizenship studies, as well as insights from the anthropology of post-socialism. She welcomes your questions, comments, and suggestions.

Irina Levin is a doctoral candidate in New York University's Department of Anthropology. She received her BA from Washington University in St. Louis and her MA from New York University. She has been a recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including the SSRC Eurasia Pre-Dissertation Grant and the Fulbright IIE Research Grant, and has conducted fieldwork in Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. She is currently conducting her dissertation fieldwork in Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia, supported by grants from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the Eurasian Partnership Foundation at Kavsadze St. 3. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.

The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to natia@crrccenters.org.

WORKS: Henry Hale - Constitutional Design and Democracy in Tbilisi (crrccenters.org)

Wednesday , 19th June 2013 
 
18:15 bis 19:30 ISET/CRRC Georgia, Zandukeli St. 16

(crrccenters.org) American Councils, CRRC and ARISC are proud to present the 19th talk of the Spring/Summer 2013 season:

Henry E. Hale, George Washington University

“Constitutional Design and Democracy: Georgia in Comparative Perspective”
The speaker will present findings from a comparative analysis of how constitutions function in what he calls “patronalistic” countries, where ideology and the rule of law are weak and politics tends instead to revolve strongly around extended personal networks. In such conditions, characteristic of most of the former communist world, comparative experience shows that presidentialist constitutions tend almost always to “regime cycles”: periods of growing political closure that can be regularly interrupted by revolution. Pure parliamentarism has not proven much better. More promising, but also fraught with some danger, may be a “divided-executive” constitution such as Georgia’s new constitution. Other postcommunist cases of divided-executive constitutions will be discussed and the experience related to Georgia’s current situation.

Henry E. Hale (PhD, Political Science, Harvard 1998) is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He is the author of the books Why Not Parties in Russia? Democracy, Federalism and the State (Cambridge, 2006), a winner of the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award for 2006-07, and The Foundations of Ethnic Politics: Separatism of States and Nations in Eurasia and Beyond (Cambridge, 2008). His current projects include a book manuscript in progress, Great Expectations: Patronal Politics and Regime Dynamics in Eurasia, as well as others books and articles on political party development, Russian politics, and ethnic politics. He co-directs the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia) and served as director of the Elliott School’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies during 2009-12.

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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the International School of Economics (ISET) building (16 Zandukeli Street). It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.

The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to natia@crrccenters.org.

more: crrc-caucasus.blogspot.de 

RESEARCH: The 2012 Caucasus Barometer Is Now Available! (crrccenters.org)

(crrccenters.org) CRRC’s 2012 Caucasus Barometer (CB) regional dataset is now available on the CRRC website. The survey was conducted between October 26 and November 29, 2012 and consisted of a representative sample of 6,715 respondents in Armenia (2,384), Azerbaijan (1,829), and Georgia (2,502).

In addition to the CB’s annual questions about political, social and economic attitudes,  the 2012 survey asked new questions about opinions towards Stalin as part of a project with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace entitled, “The Stalin Puzzle: Deciphering Post-Soviet Public Opinion.” A presentation of the project’s publication, co-authored by Thomas de Waal, Lasha Bakradze, Lev Gudkov and Maria Lipman, was held in Washington DC on March 1, 2013. An English version of the publication is available at the link above and Russian and Georgian versions will soon be available online.

In addition, Dr. Robia Charles of CRRC gave a presentation of general CB 2012 results on February 22, 2013 at the Center for Black Sea-Caspian Studies at American University in Washington DC.  Local presentations of the CB 2012 in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will be announced shortly.

To access the new dataset in SPSS, please visit the CRRC website here. The questionnaire in English and Georgian, as well as the show cards are available here.

Additionally, CB 2012 data will be available on CRRC’s Online Data Analysis tool within the next few months.

WiP: Integrated Conservation: Heritage Management and Urban Planning in Tbilisi, Tbilisi, Georgia, November 28 – Angela Wheeler (ENG)

(crrccenters.org) CRRC, American Councils and ARISC are proud to present the 10th talk of the Works-in-Progress Series for the Fall 2012 Season!

Angela Wheeler

"Integrated Conservation: Heritage Management and Urban Planning in Tbilisi"

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 6:15pm

ISET/CRRC Georgia, Zandukeli St. 16, Tbilisi, GEORGIA 

The future of Old Tbilisi's architectural heritage has become an increasingly contentious subject of public debate in recent years. While many residents lament the destruction of historic landmarks like the iconic Lermontov House, others argue that the dilapidated old buildings only hinder Tbilisi's economic growth. This presentation will examine how the rehabilitation of architectural heritage should be a key element in urban economic development, rather than an opponent of it. Angela will review international standards for architectural rehabilitation, the unique challenges presented by Tbilisi's architecture and social/political issues, and case studies of two recent programs in Tbilisi's historic districts: "New Life for Old Tbilisi" and "Betlemi Quarter Revitalization Programme." 

Angela Wheeler holds a BA in Cultural and Historic Preservation and a BA in International Relations from Salve Regina University ('12). After working on projects in Georgia in 2010 (historic cemeteries) and 2011 (Dmanisi Archaeological Field School), she currently works in Tbilisi as part of the Fulbright US Student Research program. Her host institution is ICOMOS Georgia (International Council on Monuments and Sites), one of three NGOs that advises UNESCO on cultural heritage management. The aim of her project is to promote the integration of architectural conservation into urban economic development plans. Angela hopes to continue her studies as a graduate student in the fields or urban planning or public policy.

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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the International School of Economics (ISET) building (16 Zandukeli Street). It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.

The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to natia@crrccenters.org.

WORK IN PROCESS: Dr. Thomas Wier, Free University "Do 'Caucasian' languages really exist? Areal features (or the lack thereof) in the languages of the Caucasus" (linguistics.rice.edu)

(linguistics.rice.edu) ISET/CRRC Georgia, Zandukeli St. 16 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 

6:15pm until 7:30pm 

more in: facebook.com
 

Since the Middle Ages, when Arab geographers would call it the 'Mountain of Languages', the Caucasus has always stood out for its linguistic peculiarities, but almost always in a negative sense: for what they were not, rather than for what they were for. In this talk, I would like to lay out the state of the art in area studies of the Caucasus and challenge the notion that any such thing as a 'Caucasian language' exists. We will frame the talk by juxtaposing two ends of the debate: Klimov (1965) and Chirikba (2008) on the one hand, who argue that as many as four dozen features identify the Caucasus as a linguistic area or Sprachbund; and Tuite (1999) on the other, who argues that the only feature that properly identifies the Caucasus as a Sprachbund is glottalized consonants.

Of course, both cannot be true. I will argue that, while the truth lies somewhere in between, in a larger sense, treating the Caucasus as a single, coherent unit reflects outdated 19th- and early 20th-century Orientalist attitudes towards the Caucasian languages and peoples, and prevents us from fully understanding the linguistic complexity of the region.

Thomas Wier has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Chicago and is Assistant Professor at the Free University in Tbilisi.

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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the International School of Economics (ISET) building (16 Zandukeli Street). It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.

The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to wip@crrccenters.org

SEMINAR: Stalin as Revolutionary: 1905 and the Formation of a Professional Revolutionary. By Ronald Suny (crrccenters.org)

June 11, 2012

CRRC will be hosting a public seminar “Stalin as Rovlutionary: 1905 and the Formation of a Professional Revolutionary” by Ronald Suny.

International School of Economics of Tbilisi (ISET)/CRRC Georgia

Zandukeli St. 16, downstairs Conference Hall

Tuesday, June 12, 2012 – 18:00 – 19:00

For the last quarter century Ronald Suny has been working on the history of Georgia and a biography of the young Stalin. In this talk he shows how Stalin’s participation in the revolutionary events in 1905-1907 in Georgia were formative in his personal and political experience. The young Koba who emerged from these turbulent years had become a hardened revolutionary, a man prepared to use violence and terror to achieve the goals of Marxism. In this talk personality combines with circumstances to produce a mature political figure about to embark on a larger career that will lead him to Baku, St. Petersburg, exile, the first socialist government, and ultimately absolute power over the USSR.

TALK: WiP - Social Capital in Georgia - Hans Gutbrod (crrccenters.org)

Wednesday, March 30 · 6:00pm - 7:30pm

ISET Lecture Room, Zandukeli St. 16, Tbilisi, Georgia American Councils and the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) present the 10th talk in the Spring 2011 Works-in-Progress Series:

... Dr. Hans Gutbrod, CRRC Regional Director "Social Capital in Georgia"

Social bonds between friends and family in Georgia are incredibly strong. In more institutional ways, however, social capital is poorly developed. This can be seen in every corner of Georgian society, from the failure of farmers to act collectively in buying and selling, to the crumbling stairwells in apartment blocks. Based on extensive CRRC research, the presentation will show the ways in which social capital is important and highlight how to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of further collaboration: apathy, distrust, reluctance to institutionalize, and social economic challenges. The presentation will also touch upon broader recommendations for how social capital can be developed in Georgia. Anyone wishing to receive the report with findings from the research in advance of the presentation should send an email to wip@crrccenters.org by Tuesday, March 29 (COB).

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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place every Wednesday at the International School of Economics (ISET) building (16 Zandukeli Street). It is co-organized by CRRC and the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region. Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to wip@crrccenters.org.

SCIENCE: WiP Session 6: An Archaeological Survey of the Vani Site

Wednesday, March 2 · 6:00pm - 7:30pm

ISET Conference Hall, Zandukeli 16, Tbilisi

NOTE: This talk starts at 6:15 PM !!!

Ryan Hughes, PhD Candidate, University of Michigan

"An Archaeological Survey of the Vani Site"
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This session is an "encore presentation" from last season. Since it was one of the best presentations last year, and few were able to attend because it took place at the height of the fall conference season, we have asked Ryan to present again. This is a very well presented talk with fascinating visuals about the really remarkable things that have been discovered in Vani and about the technology and methodology used in current and future work there, so we encourage everybody to attend!

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The W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place every Wednesday at the International School of Economics building (16 Zandukeli Street). The purpose of the series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining to Georgia and the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to wip@crrccenters.org .

The Works-in-Progress series is co-sponsored by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) and American Councils for International Education. It is free and open to the public, and all interested persons are welcome and encouraged to attend.

CONFERENCE: Works-in-Progress: Economic conditions of households in Georgia (crrccenters.org)

Wednesday, February 23 · 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Location ISET conference room (1st floor)
16 Zandukeli Street

At this week's Works-in-Progress (W-i-P) session Thea Goginashvili and Vazha Burduli will present their research on the economic conditions of households in Georgia. Their research offer an insight into the living conditions of Georgian households and their financial situations. The findings are based on data from the Caucasus Barometer (CB) - The Caucasus Research Resource Centers' (CRR...C) annual nationwide household survey.

Date: February 23, 2011
Time: 18:15 – 19:30 (Note the change of time this semester)
Location: 16 Zandukeli Street, ISET building, the conference room (1st floor)

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The W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place every Wednesday at the International School of Economics building (16 Zandukeli Street). The purpose of the series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining to Georgia and the Caucasus region.

Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to wip@crrccenters.org.

The Works-in-Progress series is co-sponsored by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) and American Councils for International Education. It is free and open to the public, and all interested persons are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Website: www.crrccenters.org

TBILISI EVENT: Overcoming Negative Stereotypes in the South Caucasus

New and Social Media in cross-border communication and conflict reporting

Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) is hosting a talk on Thursday, October 28 at 18:00 by Onnik Krikorian. It will take place at Zandukeli St. 16, in the same building as the International School of Economics of Tbilisi (ISET) in the basement conference room. All are welcome to attend.

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in bitter conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and open communication and cooperation between the two sides remains problematic. In some cases it is even impossible, but can new and social media bridge the communication divide, especially for journalists and activists? Can it also lead to greater understanding and communication between individuals, groups and organizations in the region?

Drawing upon extensive work in this area, as well as referring to studies and research undertaken by CRRC, the talk will include an open discussion on the potential for new and social media to not only assist civil society in cross-border cooperative projects and activities, but also to amplify the voices of marginalized groups in society and the mainstream media.

Onnik Krikorian is a British journalist of part-Armenian descent and the Caucasus editor for Global Voices, a leading citizen media site established at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He also writes for the London-based Frontline Club and has covered the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh since 1994.

For the past 2.5 years his work has particularly focused on the potential for new and social media to contribute to more informed and objective conflict reporting as well as actual resolution.

BUSINESS: WHAT IS GOING ON? INSIGHTS FROM CRRC SURVEY DATA IN GEORGIA AND THE CAUCASUS (investor.ge)

By Julia Hon and Tamuna Khoshtaria

Politicians and pundits are happy to tell us what they think is going on in the Caucasus. We may try to draw our own conclusions as well, based on our own observations, what we read, or anecdotes we hear from friends or coworkers. These personal insights are valuable, but they don’t allow us to generalize in any reliable fashion. In more extreme cases, people in discussions can end up talking at cross-purposes, unable to agree on any of the facts. How, then, can we really find out who people in the Caucasus are, what they do, and how they think? Survey data from the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) offer a window into the lives of people in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. CRRC’s yearly Data Initiative (DI) is the largest annual coordinated data-gathering effort in the Caucasus – and one of the few surveys providing quality data on a wide range of political, economic, social and cultural issues.For the DI 2008, nearly 6000 face-to-face interviews were conducted using nationally representative samples from the three countries to collect data; the Politics and Protest survey was carried out across Georgia with a total of over 1800 respondents. This article presents some snapshots from the 2008 DI, as well as the CRRC’s May 2009 survey on politics and protests in Georgia. Both, however, are broader instruments than is reflected here.

[...]

Looking forward
Despite these sobering numbers, Georgians have hope in the future of their country. When respondents were asked whether they thought their children would be better or worse off than they are, many respondents were uncertain, but only 2% thought that their children would be worse off, and 50% saw a brighter economic future for their children. Although the data cannot predict exactly what the future will hold, it can tell us that, when it comes to the long term, many Georgians have a positive outlook.
The future of the region also depends on the attitudes and behaviors of its citizens; CRRC’s data-gathering efforts endeavor to gauge them accurately. The data presented in this article is just the tip of the iceberg. Our respondents have told us about everything from what they think about the media, to whether they pray, to how often they smoke cigarettes, to what they think about their country’s foreign policy. Much of our data is publicly available at http://www.crrccenters.org/ – and we offer trainings on how to analyze data. Moreover, CRRC will soon have a web interface that allows you to check data online. You have a question about social, political, or economic developments? Explore the dataset (if you already know how), or get in touch with us at nana@crrccenters.org to find out more about the data and how to use it.
Julia Hon and Tamuna Khoshtaria are Research Fellows at the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC). CRRC is a joint program of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and has worked with many major international organizations on various research projects, ranging from surveys and focus groups to complex mapping projects. CRRC data is regularly presented to members of AmCham at luncheons and other events. More information online at www.crrccenters.org.

full text >>>

BLOG: Prof. Neil MacFarlane on the August war and its implications (crrc-caucasus.blogspot.com)

How has the politics in the region changed after the August war? Professor Neil MacFarlane gave a public lecture at the Center for Social Sciences of Tbilisi State University on May 13, 2009. His lecture was devoted to the Implications of the War in Georgia for the International Relations of the Caucasus.

According to Professor MacFarlane, the war has fundamentally changed international relations in the South Caucasus. He noted that although it is too early to draw final conclusions, but some shifts following the war can be highlighted already.

more >>>

SCIENCE: Georgian Asylum Applications Rise: Significance

In several surveys , we have asked the question: "would you leave Georgia if you had the chance?" We believe that this question is a good measure to gauge people's perception of their current situation.

more >>>

BLOG: PhD thesis: What are the Motives for Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan? (crrc-caucasus.blogspot.com)

The perception that the global rise of Islamic activism is nurtured by a phenomenon depicted as “Global Jihad” is contested in a recent PhD dissertation titled "Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan: Repression and Mobilization in a Post-Soviet Context". Dr. Sofie Bedford focused upon the growing Juma (Shiite) and the Abu Bakr (Sunni) mosque communions in Baku and argues in her thesis that they are, by and large, being nurtured by politics on a national level. The mobilization of Islamic activism in Azerbaijan can be understood as a result of:

(a) The younger generations wish to break ties with Soviet institutional structures, in particular those that are characterized by authoritative measures towards individual choice
(b) Discontent with societal development after Azerbaijan’s independence

Azerbaijan, considered as one of the least religious nations in the world, has since the end of the 1990’s experienced repressive state measures towards domestic Islamic movements. The pretext for state sanctioned clampdowns against the growing national opposition with distinguishable Islamic features required, according to decision makers, unorthodox countermeasures.

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ECONOMY: Banking and Financial Services in the Caucasus | CRRC Data

Have banking and financial services penetrated most households in the South Caucasus? Due to the topicality of finance news, an investigation on the usage of banking and financial services in the Caucasus seems justified. As banks fall, get nationalized and panic is spreading, our DI data on the usage of banking/financial services can be useful to understand the 2007 baseline. For instance: How many households in the South Caucasus have saving accounts that could, theoretically, be frozen if the financial situation further deteriorates?

full article >>>

EDUCATION: Carnegie Research Fellowship Program!

CRRC is happy to announce the Carnegie Research Fellowship Program (CRFP). The program offers exceptional research opportunities in the United States for scholars from the South Caucasus.

Author: Nana

Date of Publishing: 16 March 2009

Direct link

Tuesday 24 March 2009, by Emanuele G. - 6 letture

Specifically, scholars in the social sciences and the humanities may apply for individual, non-degree research opportunities at universities and institutes in the United States. The program is directed at advanced researchers that already have a demonstrated track record in research. The research period lasts up to a full semester (4 months), starting either September 2009 or January 2010. In 2008-2009, two fellows from Georgia and one from Armenia have been sent to Harvard University, University of Chicago and University of Washington to do their research.

Individuals who are eligible to participate in the fellowship program:

Citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

Advanced graduate students, university faculty and scholars at any stage in their careers who have not recently conducted research projects at U.S. institutions.

Scholars who hold a “Kandidatskaya” degree or higher, or who are working towards a “Kandidatskaya” degree at the time of application.

Scholars who have publications (advanced graduate students may cite papers presented at academic conferences) in a particular field.

Scholars who have a level of proficiency in written and spoken English that is sufficient to conduct independent research and engage colleagues.

Scholars who are able to receive and maintain a United States J-1 visa.

Scholars who are able to begin the CRFP in the United States in September 2009, or January 2010.

NCEEER, the American Councils, and the CRRC do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, national or ethnic origin, and disability. For more information please visit NCEEER website.

Applications need to be submitted in a hard copy to your local CRRC office. Deadline for applications is April 30, 5 p.m., 2009. We suggest applicants to study details in the guidelines and the application form closely, and in good time, to avoid disappointment. We will be accepting applications in the social sciences and the humanities. All costs for the scholars are covered, including round-trip airfare.

Presentation

The Carnegie Research Fellowship presents an extraordinary chance to researchers that can advance their work through a period of self-directed study in the US. Note that the application process is very competitive, since a concise research proposal is expected.

In order to get application materials, go to CRRC website. If you are interested in getting further training on how to improve your application, please email nana+nceeer@crrccenters.org with ’interactive online trainings’ in the subject line.

For further information: Crrc Blog