Invited lecturers

INFORMATION ABOUT THE LECTURERS

Hermann Dülmer is a well-known methodologist. He is currently Private Lecturer at the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, at the University of Cologne. He is an expert on factorial design, multilevel analysis, multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel structural equation modeling and specializes among other areas in norms research. He was also the head of Data Archive for the Social Sciences in GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences.

Boris Sokolov is Research Fellow at the LCSR HSE, Saint Petersburg. He has PhD in Political Science from Saint Petersburg State University and he is currently working as lecturer at the Department of Sociology, HSE Saint Petersburg.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE KEY SPEAKERS

Ronald Inglehart is famous American political scientist. He was the President of World Value Survey Association in 1988 – 2013. He is also the winner of the 2011 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science (together with Pippa Norris). Now he is Amy and Alan Lowenstein Professor in Democracy, Democratization and Human Rights at the University of Michigan and Professor at the Higher School of Economics, and also the Scientific Supervisor of the LCSR.

"Subjective Well-being and Societal Collapse: the Case of Russia"

Abstract: Previous research has concluded that economic growth does not improve a country’s level of subjective well-being, which shows little or no change over time—possibly reflecting biologically-shaped set-point levels. Since happiness fluctuates around set-points, neither individuals nor societies can lastingly increase their happiness. Dramatic changes in happiness and life satisfaction levels experienced by the Russian people in the last three decades suggest that these claims need to be reassessed. The people of rich countries generally show higher levels of subjective well-being than those of poor countries, and in 1982 the Russian people ranked about where their level of economic development would predict. But with the subsequent collapse of their economic, political and belief systems, subjective well-being in Russia fell to levels never seen before, reaching a low point in 1995-99 when most Russians described themselves as unhappy and dissatisfied with their lives as a whole. Most of this decline occurred before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, which suggests that a sharp decline in subjective well-being may be a leading indicator of political collapse. Considerable recovery occurred after 1999, but in 2011 life satisfaction in Russia was still below its 1982 level. Contrary to set-point theory, the collapse of communism was linked with a drop in subjective well-being that has never been fully recovered, especially among older cohorts.

Joshua Dubrow is Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS-PAN). He is also a lecturer at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Warsaw and in the Graduate School for Social Research (IFiS-PAN).

"Is Political Inequality Rising, Falling or Staying the Same? Towards a Cross-national Measurement"

Abstract: Political inequality refers to the unequal influence over decisions made by political bodies and the unequal outcomes of those decisions. Political inequality is a subtype of power inequality, visible within the political processes of all kinds of political structures. In modern democracies, political inequality is simultaneously a dimension of democracy and a dimension of stratification. Two key theoretical and empirical questions are: How much political inequality is there? and is political inequality rising, falling, or staying the same? The answer to these questions requires us to specify the kind of political inequality – voice, response, and their subtypes – and whether we mean equality of political opportunities or of political outcomes. I argue that we need to understand better the form, duration, magnitude and direction of political inequality within and across nations. This presentation will explore ways to measure political inequality cross-nationally using existing data from surveys, official statistics and other sources.

Patricia Dowden is president and CEO of the Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, and managing director of the Russian Compliance Alliance. She is also the former co-chair of the Eurasia Civil Society Partnership Program Business Ethics and Compliance Working Group and a blogger on stakeholder trust for the Russian International Affairs Council.

Philip Nichols is Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Chair Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Nichols is currently Director of the Law Program, and Director of the Social Impact and Responsibility Program at Wharton.

"A basic duty of every organization is to earn stakeholder trust" (Patricia Dowden and Philip Nichols)

Abstract: coming soon...

Mohammed Mohieddin is Director of Family Research Division at the Doha International Family Institute. He is Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Menoufia University.

"Doha International Family Institute: An Assessment of its Contribution to Family Studies in the Arab Countries"

Abstract: Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) was established by Her Highness Shiekha Moza Bent Nasser in 2006 as an NGO operating under Qatar Foundation. This presentation addresses the stages of development through which DIFI had gone since its establishment, its internal structure, vision, mission and objectives as well as its current research activities. In doing so it reviews changes in its mandate as well as those of its respective divisions (research, policy and communication and out-reach) stressing its unique role in promoting and producing policy oriented research on family issues at the national (Qatar), sub-regional (the GCC countries) and regional (Arab World). The presentation presents as well synopsis of the ongoing research at the institute on issues such as celibacy, mixed marriage, divorce, parenting, elderly and childcare among other topics. It also elaborates on the role of the newly launched annual international conference on Arab Family and assesses its merits. The presentation indicates also to the opportunities available to researchers on researching Arab Family issues via various programs of funding either from DIFI or through collaboration between DIFI and QNRF or separately via QNRF. In addition, it addresses the role of DIFI in the international arena, especially the formulation of the 2015 sustainable Development Goals to be endorsed by the world leaders in September of this year.

Bogdan Voicu is principal research fellow at the Research Institute for Quality of Life of the Romanian Academy of Sciences and Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology of Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu. He is also a member of the Romanian Group for the Study of Social Values. 

"Attitudes towards emigration. A Quantitative Approach"