Questions & answers

In this section you can find answers to the following questions:

What is ENRI-East?

ENRI-East is an international research project dedicated to the study of socio-ethnic identities in East European countries. This is a study with equally strong theoretical, methodological and empirical components and deploying methods and approaches of a variety of social sciences. By and large, this is a pilot scientific effort: no study like that has been ever done before in terms of its geographical coverage, thematic scope as well as variety of research tools and methods.

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What is understood under “Identities” in this project?

First, we must clarify that in the ENRI-East project we study “Identity” as a social phenomenon in a variety of its aspects. In general terms of social science, the notion of social identity is defined as the way that individuals label themselves as members of particular groups (e.g., nation, social class, subculture, ethnicity, gender, etc.) [see for instance a good overview of this term in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_(social_science) or in Cote, James E. and Charles Levine (2002). Identity Formation, Agency, and Culture. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.]

The project team departs from this very broad and generic definition and shall be exploring structures and different aspects of social identities (such as ethnic, cultural, political, etc. “self-attribution”) of groups that belong to “split nations” or “divided nations” across the modern East-West division lines.

In our study we consider mainly the four elements of identities that shall be scrutinized in the course of empirical surveys, as originally conceptualized by Prof. Andreas Wimmer (UCLA, AJS, 2008 and adapted for the ENRI study by Dr. Florian Pichler, University of Aberdeen). These elements are:

  • Political salience of identities
  • Social closure of identities
  • Cultural differentiation within identities
  • Strength and stability of identities

Read more about the Main research themes of the project

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Why study the interplay of identities in Eastern Europe?

Research on identities in Europe has established considerable knowledge about different kinds and relationships between various forms of belonging in modern European societies.

The main goal of the ENRI-East project is to acquire new knowledge and a deeper understanding of the ways in which the modern European Identities and regional cultures are formed and inter-communicated in the Eastern part of the European continent.
Read more about the ENRI-East project goals and objective

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How is the ENRI-East project organised?

The project is conceptualised as an interdisciplinary and comparative study, which shall be implemented by a consortium of 11 partners (read more about the project consortium). The overall strategy of the work plan is to combine theoretical and empirical studies, splitting the project into 5 main research work packages, accompanied with a separate work package to administer the fieldworks (new quantitative and qualitative surveys) as well as dissemination and training packages and a work package embracing consortium management activities.
Read more about the ENRI-East project components and work packages

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Why the project slogan is “Moving peoples and moving borders”?

This slogan reflects a highly dynamic social and political landscape of the Eastern Europe. One can observe that in a very short historical perspective, for instance, during the last 20 years, new countries may emerge (such as Macedonia or Estonia), while other countries may change their geographical outlines (such as Serbia or Germany). On the other hand, the massive migration flows (regardless of their legality or illegality, peaceful or violent historical epochs, political or economic migration reasons) do influence heavily cultural or social infrastructures of both receiving and issuing countries. The ENRI-East project as aimed at the detailed study of the impacts of these two “moving” factors on the everyday lives of peoples and their feelings of “belongness” or social affiliation.

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What are the main research themes of the ENRI-East project?

The ENRI-East research project is structured along four cross-cutting research themes that shall be explored as important theoretical issues.

  • Interplay of identities and cultures
  • Nations between the states
  • Self-organisation and representation of ethnic minorities along the East European borderland
  • Historical paths, collective memories, present status and expected dynamics of split nations in Eastern Europe.

Read more about the four main research themes

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What are the main research tools of the ENRI-East project?

The project employs both theoretical and empirical research tools. It starts with a critical review of literature on identities and verification of existing statistical and sociological data sets. As a next step, we shall design a series of sociological surveys that should bring new knowledge to the main research themes of the project.
Altogether 7 types of surveys will be undertaken. Among them are classical methods like a large-scale quantitative survey, expert interviews and content analysis, but also essays written by teenagers and two innovative and experimental pilot studies (Musical survey and musical focus groups.) All of these instruments shall provide data for each of the four project cross-cutting themes.
Read more about the main research tools of the project

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What is the geographical scope of the ENRI-East project?

The geographical coverage of the project includes four regions that are located along the line that divides (or unites!) the European continent into its “Western” and “Eastern” parts. Such line has may dimensions, such as historical (it is a constantly moving borderline), political (power games, geopolitics, wars and peace) or social (peoples’ habits, cultures, religions)… Thus, in order to better understand what exactly is uniting or dividing peoples of Europe along and across this line, we have designed the ENRI-East project and have selected four regions for an in-depth analysis. These regions are conventionally labeled as “Baltic region”, “Eastern Europe”, “Central Europe” and “Carpathian basin”.
This will include the following states: Poland, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland and Germany as well as their corresponding national groups living on either side of the borders.
Read more about the geographical scope of the project

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How the project results and findings shall be communicated & disseminated?

We consider the following target groups for the communication & dissemination of project results:

  • academic communities (researchers, university teachers, consultants, etc.)
  • governmental officials dealing with the minority, migration and integration issues in the Eastern Europe and national, international, regional and local (municipal) levels
  • leaders and experts of NGOs that are active in this sector an these regions.

The project promotion and dissemination shall be mainly achieved through this website, a series of print products (newsletters and leaflets), a chain of regional workshops and a final conference. Additional impacts shall be secured through attending thematic relevant conferences and reaching the public through different media groups and companies.
Read more about the project dissemination and target groups

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What is the general project timeline?

The whole project lasts three and a half years, 2008-2011. We have been designing the project in the Spring 2007 and the official commencement day is 1st April 2008. Having accomplished a number of preparatory efforts, such as preliminary analysis of literature, adjustment of theoretical frameworks, statistical studies and survey design (by the Spring 2009), the consortium shall implement a series of innovative international sociological surveys. First project results combining the newly gained empirical knowledge and the agglomerated background knowledge shall be published in 2010. At the final stage of project implementation (Winter/Spring 2010/2011) we organize a chain of workshops in the four selected regions and a concluding open conference in Vienna (Spring 2011).
Read more about the general project timeline

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Who takes part in the ENRI-East research consortium?

The project is implemented by an international network of researchers (consortium) that includes eleven teams embracing more than 50 scientists from ten EU and CIS countries. These teams are from the leading national universities (University of Aberdeen in the UK, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Poland, University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Slovakia, Kharkiv National Univesrity in Ukraine, Moscow State Lomonosov University in Russia, Belarusian State University), or research institutes (Institute for Advanced Studies in Austria, Osteuropa Institut in Germany, Institute for Social Research in Lithuania) or private research companies (TARKI I Hungary or Oxford XXI in the UK).
Read more about ENRI-East consortium members

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Who is coordinating and funding the project?

Coordination:
The project is being coordinated by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Austria, Vienna. Principal Investigator - Prof. Hans-Georg Heinrich, Project Coordinator - Dr. Alexander Chvorostov

Learn more about the institute and the coordinators in the Consortium section.
Learn more about the coordinating team in the Contact section.

Funding:
The project is funded by the European Commission through an FP7-SSH Grant #217227 with a total value of € 1.5 mln. Total planned costs for the core components of the project are estimated at € 1.7 mln.
Co-funding for possible project extensions is sought from various national, international and private sponsors.

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