( SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL)

Volume 45 / Number 4 / December 1991 • 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

The August Revolution and Soviet Studies Problems, priorities, and the Council's program for research and training

by Robert T. Huber and Susan Bronson*

The failed coup d'etat in the Soviet Union on Augu t 19, 1991 accelerated and brought into even harper focu the immen e ocial, economic, and political i ue facing Soviet ociety. The Augu t Revolution al 0 provided the American cholarly community one more jolting reminder of the need to rea e it own way of conducting re earch on the Soviet Union l

and the mean for organizing that re earch. Long before the event of thi pa t Augu t, it wa

increasingly clear that revolutionary change in the Soviet Union required a pere troika of Soviet tudie Recognizing thi need, in March 1990, the pre ident of the Social Science Re earch Council and the American Council of Learned Societie , through their Joint Advi ory Committee on International Program (JACIP) and the Joint Committee on Soviet Studie (JCSS), recommended that a panel be commi ioned to "clarify the future chaJlenge and opportunitie for the Joint Committee on Soviet Studie , and the Council more generaJly, in the field of Soviet tudie over the next five to 10 year ."2

The reque t from the Council ' pre ident al 0

tre ed that the JACIP panel provide "a clear a en e a po ible of the infra tructural or in titutional

arrangements that will fo ter re earch on the Soviet Union, maximize interaction with cholar in that

country, and with tho eel ewhere in the world who tudy the Soviet Union."3 The panel wa con tituted

in the pring of 1990 and wa headed by Blair A. Ruble, director of the Woodrow Wil on Center' Kennan In titute for Advanced Ru ian Studie .4 After a long period of con ultation with a large number of cholars in the field a well a with the member of

the JCSS, the panel relea ed it re ult in September 1990.

New challenges and research agendas

The JACIP panel tre ed that political and economic change in the Soviet Union ince 1985

• Robert T. Huber, a political scienti t, i taff a sociate to the Joint Committee on Soviet Studie ; Susan Bron n, a hi torian, rYe program as iate.

I We are u ing the tenn "the Soviet Union" to refer to the territory of the Soviet Union it exi ted before the events of Augu t. Thi i purely for convenience and for want of another ingle name for de ribing thi region .

l The Review Committee on Soviet Studie , "Beyond Soviet Studie ," a report prepared for the American Council of Learned Societi and the Social Science Re arch Council, July 1991. preface.

J Ibid.

• Other members of the review panel included, in alphabetical order, Carol Avin , Northwe tern University; Nina Garsoian, Columbia Univer­ity; Abbott Gleason, Brown University; Robert Huber. Social Science

Research Council; David Szanton, Social Science Research Council; and Myron Weiner, M chu tts In titute of Technology.

• CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE • The Augu t Revolution and

Soviet Studie , ROMrI T. HUMr nd Su an Bron on 69

Mi ion-oriented Basic Re-search , David L. F~athuman 75

A European Reflection on U.S. Social Science Research Funding, H~/ga Nowotny 78

Current Activitie at the Coun il

ew Staff Appointments Global Environment J Change Seminat

Recent Council Publication

83 83

5 87

69

were tran fonning the conduct of cholarly research on the Soviet Union. The tudy of Soviet ociety, politic, and economic could now fruitfully incorporate public opinion polling, urvey research, and new acce to hi torical and political archive . The e opportunitie have ugge ted new way for scholars to use the Soviet experience as a mean for illuminating and contributing to our understanding of core i ue in the ocial cience and the humanitie . In turn, more scholars in the field have begun to put their work in a comparative context, much like research communi tie that tudy other complex region of the world.

A a re ult of new research opportunitie and the evolution of the pere troika era in the Soviet Union it If, the JACIP panel identified eight are of tudy for further development by the JCSS and other re earch organization in the Soviet tudie field. These include:

• Reconceptualizing paths to modernity. The collap e of the Communi t Party h placed greater emphasi on the need to revise and tran cend a rigid periodization of Ru ian and Soviet hi tory that placed preeminent empha-i on 1917 a defining the Ru ia of the past and the

Soviet Union of the present. In particular, hi toriography of the pre-Soviet period mu t move away from tudie of the Ru ian revolutionary movement and the empha i on the imperial period as part of the "march to the Revolu­tion." Thi ort of teleology ha haped both imperial Ru sian hi tory and the hi tory of the Soviet period.

A the Bol hevik revolution 10 e ignificance as a paradigmatic event and a the center around which the hi tory of Imperial Ru ia and the Soviet Union has been written, hi torian are faced with tho challenge of finding new way of understanding the hi tory of the Ru ian empire. A fundamental effort at reconceptualization i in order as the very concept and categorie used as tool of analy i in hi toriography are now inevitably called into que tion.

• The truggle over the p t. The future direction of political and economic refonn i often debated with an eye toward interpretation of Soviet hi tory ince 1917. A Soviet eek to under tand the past in an effort to reclaim their hi tory, and attempt to find model upon which to con truct a future order, the danger of new myth ari ing as replacements for the old i ever pre nt. The potential for abuse of hi tory, albeit from another perspective. remain great.

Collaborative arrangement for acce to party and internal security archive may prove valuable in helping to clarify and infonn the complicated truggle over version of hi tory. The integration of Soviet cholars into the world academic community i al 0 of enonnou importance.

• Thinking about civil society. The truggle over the fonnation of political in titution was a key element in creating alternative ource of power that ultimately proved

70\ITEM

critical to the ucce of the Augu t Revolution. Nonethe-Ie ,the proce of legitimation are critical to under-tanding (1) the truggle for overeignty in the fonner

Soviet republic , (2) the authority of a bewildering array of municipalitie to exert control over economic deci ion making, and (3) the nature of party fonnation, legi lative activity, and executive-Iegi lative direction. Rigorou tudie of these factors are only now developing. Scholars hould aggre ively pursue opportunitie to tudy indice of

in titutionalization in a comparative context as well as the ociological and nonnative political foundation of

in titutionalization. • Bringing culture( ) back in. The ignificance of

culture could hardly be better tudied than in the laboratory of the Soviet Union. Until recently, out ide the field of anthropology, culture has largely been treated as are idual category, to be con idered when the explanatory value of other variable has been exhau ted. New research in ociology and anthropology which tre se the role of

cultural variable mu t be further expanded and encouraged as both local and tran national contacts, allegiance and ource of identity are redi covered and rea erted. In

addition, other discipline in the ocial cience mu t leam to incorporate culture into their understanding and interpre­tation of ociety.

• New challenges for humanistic research. The devolution of authority toward the republic and away from central government has demon trated the need for in-depth tudy of the role played by theater, literature, art, mu ic,

religion, and other fonn of human expre ion in fo tering alternative identitie that have endured, and even thrived, within the framework of a common and highly centralized political, economic, and ideological y tem. The meaning and ignificance of popular culture and its relation hip to high culture both in the pre- and po t-revolutionary period are al 0 critical area of tudy. Of particular importance are non-Ru ian literature , mu ic, art, theatre, and cinema both on elite and mas level. Finally, the relatively udden freedom from cen orship in the cultural world, accompa­nied by a corre ponding 10 of official place and tate upport for cultural enterprise , will have important

consequence and pose new challenge for cholars in the year ahead.

• Decolonization, regionalism, nationalism, and inter-ethnic relations. A foci of analy i and graduate training hift away from a Mo cow- or Ru o-centric approach, the range of i ue for cholarly con ideration i immen . The phenomena of ethnic identity fonnation and political refonn mu t be di aggregated in the non-Ru ian republic due to differing hi torical experience. ocial compo ition of ethnic group • population and migration pattern , and variegated policie of center-periphery cooperation and coercion. Studie of the e proce se mu t al 0 be undertaken with a focu on differing level of

VOLUME 45. UMBER 4

in titutional development in the variou region of the Soviet Union, the tunnoil that i likely to ari not only between Ru ian and non-Ru ian but among different non-Ru ian ethnic group , and the pro pect that the di a mbling and reas embling of political form may take many year to re olve and tabilize. Th international relation and trade policie of the newly emerging tate and their capacity for carrying on uch policie al 0 need cholarly attention.

• Transition to a market economy. The cientific challenge of developing modeling technique for the tran ition from a command to a market economy i con iderable. Theoretical development in thi area may well be advanced by a rigorou con ideration of both cI ical liberal and neo-Marxi t approache , particularly given the legacy of upport for both individual liberty and welfare tate measure that confront policy makers a they deal with the collapse of tate ociali m. Re earch on i ue uch as monetary overhang, capital formation and credit reform, and the regulation of market will benefit from comparative research not only in economic , but political cience as well.

• ew thinking in foreign policy, The remarkable change in the practical direction of Soviet foreign policy ince 1985 have hattered ideologically-b ed conception

of it "permanently operating characteri tic ." These change place new demand on the tudy of Soviet foreign policy. Those conducting re earch and training on Soviet foreign policy now need to be brought in contact with broader theoretical development in the tudy of foreign policy. Studie of new foreign policy in titution , the role of id a and belief in policy change, and the increasing intertwining of foreign policy objective with dome tic realitie and imperative will demon trably add to our understanding of the operation of Soviet foreign policy well as to our comparative understanding of the foreign policy effect of economic and political liberalization.

Recent JeSS initiatives in training, feUow hip and research

In addition to a number of ongoing research and training program, everal new JeSS initiative are de igned to begin reconceptualizing the field . The medieval Ru ian hi tory work hop has tre sed interdi ciplinary analy i of early Ru ian ociety and promote new analytical and comparative method . The goal of the work hop i to promote innovation by challenging exi ting paradigm , with particular attention to re earch incorporating i ue of gender, economy, intellectual life, the ignificance of non-Ru ian interaction with Mu covite ociety. and the integration of theoretical perspective from anthropology, ociology. semiotic, literary theory, and ocial hi tory.

The project on "Recon tructing the Hi tory of Imperial

DECEMBER 1991

Ru ia" was initiated to timulate new research and new theoretical approache in the tudy of the period. Thi project will bring together a mall working group of nior scholar to explore new conceptualization and set an agenda for future conference and work hop . The hi tory of the imperial period ume n w political ignificance today Soviets look to the p t in order to understand the present and seek model for th future.

The new work hop in ociology and anthropology w modeled after ucce ful work hop in Soviet dome tic politic • Soviet and East European economic , and Soviet popular culture and literature. The workshop are de igned to counteract the i olation felt by young cholars in the di cipline and to enhance cholarly communication and mentoring between senior and junior cholar. Participant in the ociology/anthropology work hop are conducting important research on a wid range of topic including ethnic identity and ocial movement in non-Ru ian republic , the re pon of the Ru ian di pora to national­i t re urgence in non-Ru ian are • and level and trend in infant mortality in ariou republic .

A new fellow hip program has al 0 been created to complement the three long- tanding muItidi ciplinary fellow hip competition for graduate training. di sertation write-up, and po tdoctoral research. The fir t-year fellow hip program. targeted at the di cipline of ociology and anthropology, enable universitie to apply for in titutional grant to fund incoming first-year graduate tudent with undergraduate Soviet area tudie back­

ground . These fellow hip are de igned to build a cadre of cholars who are prepared to take advantage of new opportunitie for sociological and anthropological re arch on the Soviet Union, and to addre the many new agend which have grown out of recent event there.

Finally, a new program of upport for research and development in Soviet tudie i de igned to fund meet­ing , conference • workshop • and pilot program devoted to initiative and innovation in the field. Propo al are accepted from all di cipline in the ocial cience and humanitie for seed grants which will allow organizers to focu idea on a particular project and promote u tained participation.

The JeSS i particularly intere ted in funding project which involve graduate tud nts along with nior scholars, and Soviet cholars along with We tern cholars. Among the project funded to date. one has upported the develop­ment, for both American and Soviet researchers, of reliable tati tical method for e ing Soviet election re ult ; and

another. the preparation and publication of inventorie of . variou archival material from the pre-revolutionary and Soviet period .

InCr tructural considerations and JeSS programs

The JACIP report raise very difficult, even intractable

ITEM 171

i ue of infrastructure and organization of the Soviet tudie field and of counterpart Soviet in titution which

will have to be addre d quarely. Among the mo t seriou i ue are the requirement of language compe­tence, di ciplinary and area tudie approache to knowl­edge, facilitating field acce ,and addre ing the collapse and uncertain remaking of Soviet partner in titution .

• The requirements of language competence for the changing field of Soviet tudie are impo ing indeed. The field i overwhelmingly Ru ian in it language compe­tence, and di ciplinary cholars al 0 often lack language training to ground their olid methodological background in ocial and political context.

With one republic after another declaring independence in orne form from the old Soviet tructure, cholars will find that local language kill will become even more critical. Falling back on Ru ian the lingua franca, or hoping to conduct research in Engli h will no longer uffice in the current and former republic of the Soviet

Union. Many uch republic have or likely will adopt the language of the titular nationality as the official language for tran acting bu ine ,commerce, legal relation , and cientific research. Support for cholars at all tage in

their careers for inten ive tudy of Ru ian and non-Ru ian language will al 0 be an important infra tructural priority for both re earch and teaching.

To addre critical hortcoming in training in the language of the Soviet Union, the JeSS has maintained a program to provide upport for ummer language in titute . Of particular importance ha been the increase in funding for non-Ru ian language of the Soviet Union including Azeri, Georgian, Kazakh, Kazan Tatar, Tajik, Ukrainian and Uzbek.

• Building both discipline and area-based competence in the cholarly community i clearly another important infra tructural priority. In the pa t, limited availability of data required a tre on the tudy of political personalitie and hermeneutical textual analy i . Recently, dramatically enhanced acce to data has facilitated and given life to the concept of the Soviet Union a vast new laboratory for social cience re earch. To use the a et of the laboratory require training in the tool of cience and a tre on replicability, intersubjective verifiability, and a comparative focu for interpreting re ult . Opportunitie for training in tati tic and quantitative analy i are more crucial than

ever and require funding. Over the long term, building competence in both

di ciplinary and area-ba ed kill require a commitment to the upport of young cholars at the outset of their graduate careers, particularly in di cipline like ociology and anthropology, which have typically been underrepre-ented in Soviet tudie . Such underrepresentation i in

many way an artifact of long-enforced prohibition on field acce beyond large Ru ian citie . A uch prohibi-

72\ITEM

tion are eased there i a clear need to develop u tained expertise on uch poorly understood but increasingly important i ue as ethnicity and ethnic relation , and the effects of population di tribution and ocial tructure on ocial conflict, welfare, and ocietal value in the Soviet

Union. Young cholars in graduate program will need to bring research re ult from other ocietie to bear on the tudy of Soviet ociety, and will require exten ive concep­

tual and methodological training be t initiated at the outset of a graduate career. In addition, political cienti ts, economi t and hi torian will require training and a new blend of kill in order to take advantage of opportunitie in the Soviet Union.

• With regard to field ac , the pere troika era has ended the need for American in titution to emulate centralized Soviet tructure as a mean of in uring field research opportunitie for junior and enior cholar. In recent years, an enormou number of ad hoc in titutional arrangements between American and Soviet in titution has ari en. Individual universitie -major centers a well a maller in titution -have igned agreement enabling

personnel, data, and equipment to flow in both direction, expanding definition of cholarly reciprocity. Such a development has moved the organizational pattern of cooperation in the Soviet tudie field more into the main trearn of normal cientific activity that ha been practiced in other field of international re earch. A uch, the trend i a welcome one although the field now face a variety of in titutional and ethical que tion as a re ult of thi trend.

The explo ion of new in titutional arrangement to facilitate field acce doe not eliminate the need for ome network of national. peer review, p -through mechani m to e tabli h the highe t tandard for ocial cience and humani tic re earch. Moreover, new univer ity-based pattern of cooperation do not typically upport long-term re earch for junior cholar in the ame cope and inten ity

national program . While many have expre ed relief over the collap e of

centralized tructure which controlled field acce • the e tructure have not yet been replaced with clear-cut

alternative one . A of thi writing. the USSR Academy of Science i seeking a new role for itself. At the arne time propo al for independent academie of cience at the republic level are being put forth and. in ome ca e • implemented. Finally, effort are under way to con truct a peer review national organization patterned after the U. S. National Science Foundation. On the whole, there i near unanimou agreement that whatever tructural arrangement emerge , the rapidly declining economic ituation guaran­tee ignificantly reduced funding for basic re earch.

Given thi bleak hort-term outlook, cholars in the Soviet tudie field in the We t and those wi hing to conduct re earch in the Soviet Union confront everal

VOLUME 45. NUMBER 4

dilemma . Roaring inflation and the collapse of the old infrastructure call into eriou que tion the ability of Soviet in titution to deliver ba ic ervice uch a food, hou ing, and appropriate tipend to vi iting cholars. Even in those in tance where practical con ideration are not 0

problematic, it i unclear that pon oring organization have legitimacy and authority to peak for in titution and individual they uppo edly pon or. American in titution which negotiate agreements with central Soviet in titute can no longer a ume that uch in titution can credibly peak for re earch cholars in the non-Ru ian republic .

A uch, con iderable care mu t be taken in negotiating with Soviet partners to pecify in detail the criteria for eligibility, including place of re idence and nationality. To an increa ing extent, direct, separate agreement with republic-level in titution hould be pursued, with thought given to the advi ability of quota for participation and eligibility.3

The increa ingly chaotic in titutional framework for the upport of ba ic re earch al 0 demon trate the need for

continuing national program on the American ide. To name but a few, the International Re earch and Exchange Board (IREX), the JCSS, the Kennan In titute for Ad­vanced Ru ian Studie , and the National Council for Soviet and East European Research all are capable, in varying degree , of a e ing the intellectual oundne and practical viability of propo al for collaborative re earch partner hip . Such capability become even more important given a collap ing Soviet infra tructure.

• Research materials. The internal organizational confu ion and decline in the USSR i further compounded by the lack of upport, both in the Ur.ited State and the Soviet Union, for maintaining the integrity of re earch material and enhancing the ability of re earch cholars to u e them. In the United State ,a the amount of material reaching major re earch librarie has dramatically increased in the pere troika era, cataloging backlog are reaching immen e proportion .

Slavic re earch librarie in the United State have uncataloged backlog of Soviet material e timated at 250,000-300,000 volume. Mo t of these are inacce ible, re ulting in a tragic waste of re ource and knowledge. Making uch ource available i currently ju t beyond the reach of the Soviet tudie field, due to critical funding limitation in Slavic librarie . To deal with thi problem, the JCSS, through it Subcommittee on Bibliography, Information Retrieval, and Documentation (BIRD), i in the implementation tage of a program to create a y tern of mailer grant to librarie in the United State with ignificant collection of Slavic material . A program

, For more on these points, sec Brian D. Silver and Barbara Anderson, "Concern about International Exchange with the Soviet Union," It~ms, 4S(l), page II , March 1991.

DECEMBER 1991

announcement ha been i ued announcing grant to upport funding for pecially-de ignated unit of library

personnel and equipment dedicated to making material more acce ible to u ers and developing long-term trategie to prevent recurrence of backlog .

Effort to promote bibliographic tudie , mo t notably the American Bibliography of Slavic and Ea t European Studie (ABSEES), have al 0 been tymied by chronic hortage of funding. ABSEES repre ent a unique

research tool for cholars. No other bibliography covers book chapters and collected e ay, or give uch exten ive pace to di ertation and book review .

The JCSS ha received funding to oversee the relocation of ABSEES from the Library of Congre to the University of Illinoi , and provide ABSEES with a mall taff dedicated to its compilation, an a et it has never had and which i critical to keeping ABSEES current and contem­porary. Working with the university, and the American A ociation for the Advancement of Slavic Studie (AAASS), which pon ors, upervise, and arrange for the publication of ABSEES, a long-term plan has been devi ed which will provide a current ver ion of ABSEES in printed format in 1991, and an on-line computer format in ub equent years thereafter. In addition, the univer ity will explore the po ibility of adding analytic and interpre­tive introduction to the variou ection of the bibliogra­phy, and will work toward eventual integration of ABSEES with iter-bibliographie in Europe, including Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union; the anticipated re ult being a hared databa e for u e by cholar, librarian , and all

tho e concerned with current information about the Soviet Union and Ea tern Europe.

While the everity of the tate of research material and their bibliographic control in the United State icon ider­able, the problem i truly one of cri i proportion in the Soviet Union. The decline of the Soviet academic infra-tructure, which ha been under way for everal years, has

in tum accelerated the collapse of the archival and library infrastructure. In the proce ,much of the cultural heritage of Ru ia and the former Soviet republic i being de troyed.

Condition in Soviet librarie and archive are seriou ly undermining collection around the country and collection of re earch material are literally rotting away. The main public library in St. Petersburg i in catastrophic condition and book trea ure are being de troyed due to leak and mechanical breakdown . A major fire at the Library of the Academy of Science in February 1988 re ulted in the 10 of orne 400,000 volume and water damage to another 3,500,000. The Lenin Library in Mo cow i in a critical tate of di repair and tructural renovation may force it to

clo e . The Augu t Revolution ha added further admini trative

chao to the already high level of bureaucratic incompe-

ITEMS173

~ence. The budgets of cultural in titution , including Iibrarie , have been dramatically reduced as more powerful agencie crowd them out for hrinking allocation and acce to hard currency for acqui ition . The e cutback have aI 0 led to a dramatic reduction in per onnel, re ulting in a complete breakdown of the y tern of cataloging and bibliographic control. In addition, the tran ition to new form of book publi hing has driven up the price librarie mu t pay for book .

At pre ent, an effort i under way to fund a new JCSS project aimed at improving the condition in Soviet librarie and archive . Thi project would call for joint projects between a We tern in titution and a Soviet partner to pre erve important re earch material , in ure adequate acce ,and as i t in training Soviet personnel in method of pre ervation and documentation.

Ethical Considerations

Change in the re earch environment in the Soviet Union ince 1985 have confronted We tern researchers with a

bewildering array of opportunitie for acce to data in the humanitie and ocial cience . Unfortunately, the dramatic relaxation of traditional Soviet re triction on permi ible research activitie has prompted orne We tern and Soviet researchers to engage in practice whose long-range con equence could be detrimental to the health of cholarly re earch on the Soviet Union, it hi tory and it

culture. The dramatic event of Augu t have inten ified the "anything goe .. atmo phere which has accompanied the collap e of the academic y tern.

These concern were voiced during a round table di cu ion at the Fourth Annual SSRC Work hop on Soviet Dome tic Politic and Society held in June at the Univer-ity of Toronto. Work hop participants formed a comminee

to draft guideline in the jntere t of afeguarding the long-range outlook for academic re earch. The central i ue of concern had to do with the principle of equal acce to archive , librarie , in titute , and research data. The explo ion of demand for currency and technology in exchange for acce threaten the ability of all cholars, regardle of rank or affiliation, to do re earch in the Soviet Union. Other important area of concern included the role of cholars and the importance of di tingui hing between ob erver and participant in the Soviet ociopoliti­cal arena, the principle of reciprocity, and the principle of collegiality and collaboration in relation among re earch­ers.

The e guideline , which will be di tributed widely, are intended to di courage practice which could jeopardize fair and equal acce to data for the academic community

74\ ITEM

a a whole. They are al 0 intended to highlight principle and norm of behavior deemed to be in the be t intere t of pre erving a pirit of cholarly inve tigation and collabora­tion over the long haul, through period of intense geopolitical upheaval and ocioeconomic change.

Conclusion

In many re pect ,thi article ha ugge ted that the era of pere troika and the event of Augu t have left the field of Soviet tudie in a much di array as the Soviet Union it elf. Yet we may aI 0 view the failed coup as a ignal which empha ize that the reorientation and reconceptual­ization already under way in the field were appropriate and nece ary. Both the de perate condition in the Soviet Union and the multitude of new re earch agendas confront­ing the field create enormou problem . Yet, these condition al 0 pose new opportunitie and challenge .

For hi tori an , the origin and meaning of the 1917 revolution may now be di placed a the intellectual center of the field. Acce to previou ly re tricted archive may pre ent opportunitie for entirely new hi torie to be wrinen. For political cienti t , the availability of informa­tion ha provided opportunitie for greater integration of re earch into the di cipline of political cience as a whole, while requiring a closer tudy of newly emerging political actor , in titution , and proce e . Sociologi ts and anthropologi t , unable to conduct the mo t ba ic research in the pa t can now open our eye to a whole new complex of perspective ,i ue, interpretation and information. Economi ts now have a tremendou ly important laboratory for the creation and te ting of model and for understand­ing tran ition to a market economy. Through a variety of mean de cribed in thi article, the Council and the JCSS are addre ing the e multidi ciplinary challenge . The effectivene of the e program will play an important role in orting out complex phenomena, making more informed explanation about outcome , and increasing the likelihood that cholarly con ideration of a variety of foci of analy i will make outcome Ie urpri ing and more predictable.

During the chao of tran ition, with all it accompanying trial and tribulation ,it eem that a practitioners in the field we often want to throw up our 'hand in de pair. At time ,a ort of trange no talgia for "the bad old day .. creep into di cu ion, echoing the entiment of many a Mo cow cabbie who long for the past when "at lea t we knew where we tood." A the citizen of the former Soviet territorie recon truct their ocial reality, ocial cience and humani tic research that eeks to explain that

reality mu t be recon tructed a well. •

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4

Mission-oriented Basic Research by David L. Featherman*

As we try to hape the future of social cience, and particularly the direction to be taken here at SSRC, we are increa ingly u ing the concept of "mi ion­oriented ba ic re earch." We are indebted to our colleague in the natural cience for the development of thi term.

What doe "mi ion-oriented" cience mean? Generally peaking, it i re earch in which

practical concern guide cienti t ' choice of topic . The re earch i conducted, however, in way that do not nece arily yield immediate or directly fore ee­able application . For example, mi sion-oriented ba ic re earch in in ect phy iology emphasize re earch on tho e in ect that inflict heavy damage on crop and tran mit human di ea es rather than on other in ects that are more readily tudied. But once cienti t choo e to focu on damaging in ect , they

a k fundamental que tions about the physiology of the t et e fly or the crop borer rather than, ay, que tions about the co t-effectivene s of different in ecticide .

Fir t u ed by former Council president Kenneth Prewitt in connection with the SSRC' work, the term wa intended to uper ede the ambiguou di tinction often made between "applied" and "ba ic" re earch. In Prewitt's view the di tinction wa a pecial impediment to public under tanding and appreciation of ocial cience.

Application of the idea

The concept of mi ion-oriented basic re earch de cribe much of what the ocial cience , and the SSRC, have done during thi century. They have elected for attention is ues, uch a economic

growth, the urban underclass, or international peace and ecurity, that are high on the ociety' agenda. But they have not pur ued the e i ue with an eye only on immediate policy concern -partly becau e

• Mr. Feathennan i pre ident of !he Council. 'These reflection are based on a talk delivered to the W hington, D.C. Sociological Society in May 1991. 'They draw upon ideas expre d by Kenne!h Prewitt, a fonner pre ident of the Council.

DECEMBER 1991

policy concern are tran ient and new one continu­ally ari e. They have in tead conducted re earch that ha revealed deeper ocial and behavioral proce e at work. Frequently, problem-focu ed re earch provide the eedbed for breakthrough in fundamental theory and method .

Let me illu trate what I mean. In the pring of this year, a pre conference was held at the Brooking In titution to di cu new finding about the "urban undercla ," based on re earch conducted by the SSRC' Committee for Re earch on the Urban Undercla . Christopher Jenck , co-author with Paul Peter on of The Urban Underclass (Brooking , 1991), called into que tion the u efulne of the term, "undercla ," which ha not only crept into the academic literature in ocial tratification, but ha al 0 been reified in policy circle and in the pre .

Jencks' critique was ba ed on exten ive analy e of variou national data ets in which he cro -tabulated variou attribute of the underclas , and undertook time- erie analy e of each attribute over a period embracing different pre idential admini tra­tion and different national policie vi -a-vi the poverty problem. He concluded that only a very mall fraction of the population fell into the cell with all the characteri tic of the un(iercla ,and that the trend of improvement or deterioration were not uniform or nece arily con i tent with targeted federal policie to ameliorate or, eemingly, to ignore teen pregnancy, juvenile crime, black unemployment, and the like.

Jenck' conclu ion-which ha parked intellec­tual controver y-wa that the term "undercla "wa no longer a u eful ociological concept nor a helpful policy term. By contra t, William Juliu Wil on, with whom mo t ocial cientist a ociate the mo t widely adumbrated u age of thi concept in the United State, i carefully revi ing hi well-known theory, ba ed on regional or city- pecific in tance of persi tent poverty, rather than offering a more encompa ing, nationally applicable explanation. Perhap national-level tatistic, uch as tho e analyzed by Jenck , undere timate the e putative concentrations of an undercla within a few Ameri­can citie .

.What it can/cannot do

Thi example, including the en uing debate and remaining re earch que tions, illustrates the point that mi ion-oriented ba ic re earch hould not be confu ed with a focu on policy choice or program

1TEMS175

evaluation. It i re earch that i cho en neither becau e it ha the highe t probability of an wering cientific que tion nor bccau e it i likely to re olve cientific puzzle . Choo ing to work on persi tent

poverty becau e it i high on the public agenda i a mart trategy for ocial cience. But in doing 0, we cienti t hould not fall into the trap of purporting to

be able to olve, once and for all, the problem of poverty with our re earch. It i imply not true that public policie "olve" dilemma like poverty that face u a a nation. Why, therefore, hould re earch be expected to do 0, and why hould it be ca tigated when it fail to come up with "once and for all" olution ?

We cienti t hould be held accountable, of cour e, but within a reali tic frame of reference. In the ca e of re earch on ocial problem , new an wer or finding yield new in ight , new way of framing problem , new puzzle and dilemma . There are al 0

new line of exploration to pur ue a complexitie ari e and the hi tori cal circum tance of a particular phenomenon, like crime or poverty, change.

Rationale

Why, then, hould we attach 0 much importance to mi ion-oriented ba ic re earch in charting the future of ocial cience? I ugge t two reason. The fir t i that by embedding our cience in the context of concrete ocial i ue and problem we are Ie likely to get 10 t in arcane e oterica. We avoid approache 0 highly pecialized in terminology and technology that only a very few can understand their rationale or driving que tion .

I ub cribe tenaciou ly to penetrating inquiry by many and different method , to a iduou ly careful and replicable analy i , and to relentle ,clear thinking. Specialized knowledge and experti e are e ential to cientific and intellectual progre . But the e end mu t produce widely hared rather than divided knowledge, that i , knowledge that ari e from the wide t po ible under tanding and open critici m. Science of all varietie i a ocial and cultural activity that ultimately depend on building credible argument , commonly held meaning , and conditional con en u , however tran itory or incon­clu ive that may be. Thi i no Ie true in the co mology of a tronomy than in a theory of ocial tratification in ociology.

The econd rationale for mi ion-oriented ba ic

76\ ITEM

cience i a pragmatic one. Social cience i likely to have a dimini hed role in future national cience policy if it fail to u e the mi ion-oriented trategy a a mean to pursue it cientific, intellectual objective and a a mean of building its corp of ba ic theoretical and methodological knowledge. Increa ingly, public funding of cience i tied to mar halling knowledge via cience and technology in behalf of achieving national objective . Thi i patently true acro the ix federal agencie that con titute 80% of the decentralized ba i of our national cience policy. Like it or not, it i ever more true that our one ource of funding for o-called "basic" re earch, the National Science Foundation, may be adding "program or mi ion relevance" to the criteria by which project are evaluated for funding.

A national science policy

Our nation doe not have a centralized, govern­ment-wide coordination of cience policy to create a broad political con en u about national objective . In 1789, uch centralization wa ought by Benjamin Franklin, but it wa rejected at the federal level in favor of plurali m and decentralization. After World War II, when Vannevar Bu h wa a ked to create what became the National Science Foundation, Bu h recommended to Pre ident Roo evelt that NSF be the ingle authority through which federal upport of

re earch to non-governmental in titution , including univer itie , would be channeled. Thi upport wa to be for ba ic re earch-that i , inve tigator-initiated work on topic with peer-evaluated high priority. Bu h argued that the federal government hould tay out of etting re earch priori tie in any centralized, whole-cloth way, except in the field of national defen e.

To thi day, we have a de facto cience policy, which derive from what William Blanpied of the NSF ha called the

vector um of separate re ource allocation deci ion made by competing agencie as a mean for achieving their own, individual, often relatively hort-term and politically en itive objective . Support for research as an important national objective in it own right i al 0

likely to be as igned a relatively low priority in the ab ence of ome overriding argument to the contrary.

Hi torically, thi override ha come at moment of hi torical cri i - uch a World War II, Sputnik, and

VOLUME 45. NUMBER 4

perhap in the future, an imperiled United State that ha become the weake t of three node in a global economy dominated by Japan and a united Europe.

The Allan Bromley-led Office of Science and Technology Policy eems to be moving tentatively toward a emi-coordinated national cience policy. Thi is occurring in three or four targeted area , including the environment and the economy. It i developing through a coordination of interagency budget worked out collectively by OSTP, OMB and the everal mi ion agencie working on the e priority area.

Changing priorities

But ign of change abound. We cienti t , e pecially tho e of u in the univer itie , are going to have to et clearer prioritie for our work. The e prioritie are going to have to corre pond more effectively and evidently with national need . The reason are economic, demographic, and ociological. Only about 25% of the federal budget i di cretion­ary; unle orne dramatic change in allocation for defen e occurs, there will be no greater hare for R&D expenditure than in the pa t. In addition, federal funding for academic re earch ha grown at an annual rate of only 4.3% over the past ten year , and that i far below inflation. Thi ha re ulted in a hift in relative upport for ba ic re earch from the

federal government to indu try and the univer itie them elve .

Co t of big cience, even big ocial cience, are sky-rocketing. We have had striking succe in creating large cohorts of Ph.D.' , who are, I hould note, one of the country' mo t exportable product on the world market. Tho e who remain in thi country, however, mu t compete for an e entially con tant upply of re ource . The re ulting pre ure are adding to the fru tration and alienation not only of ocial cienti t but of biologi ts and phy ici t a well. The percentage of funded grant application continues to fall; the declining value of the average ize of award frequently make it nearly impo ible

to carry out the approved work; the growing number

DECEMBER 1991

of concurrent application that we need to ubmit mean that we re earcher are u ually writing grant and not doing the re earch. All the e trend lend growing importance to the que tion of what ize and variety of re earch y tern thi nation can afford.

The e trend al 0 fo ter an environment in which univer ity admini trator , agency directors, Congre , and the American people a k cienti t for greater intellectual accountability. In other word, if cienti t wi h to take money from taxpayer to upport their work, they are going to have to work on tho e topic that are regarded a furthering national need .

I per onally do not think thi i a tragedy. The nearly 70-year hi tory of the SSRC i full of exam­ple of mi ion-oriented ba ic re earch that ha enriched academic peer-reviewed journal , informed the public, and a i ted the policy proce . But to do effective mi ion-oriented ba ic cience we hall have to modify our commitment to the preeminence of di ciplinary cience. Mi ion-oriented re earch call for interdi ciplinary cience and team rather than individual-inve tigator model of cientific enterpri e.

Our univer itie are organized along di ciplinary line ; they promote and reward individual cholar-hip. Many of our funding agencie (and here the

NSF i an unfortunate example) explicitly create, a well, internal tructure and program initiative that hi torically have given highe t priority to di cipline­ba ed cience. That mode eem inappropriate and inefficient in the face of the multifaceted character of problem like poverty or the human impact on global environmental change. Moreover, ingle-inve tigator and di cipline-ba ed inquirie may not be the mo t fertile eedbed for intellectual innovation.

I am not arguing that di ciplinary training or the organization of univer itie along di ciplinary line i without merit. What I am aying i that our future effectivene will depend increa ingly on our ability to augment di ciplinary thinking and the di cipline­ba ed profe ion. We mu t develop innovative way of creating interdi ciplinary team that focu on mi ion-oriented basic re earch. Thi preci ely the future agenda of the SSRC. •

ITEMS177

A European Reflection on U.S. Social Science Research Funding by HeLga Nowotny*

A recent vi it (March 5-8, 1991) to variou U.S. funding agencie , foundation , and the Social Science Re earch Council wa undertaken by my elf together with Dr. John Smith, the Secretary of the Standing Committee for the Social Science , on behalf of the European Science Foundation. The aim wa to fo ter ocial cience collaboration with the United State

and to explore topic of potential mutual intere t for uch collaboration. We met with everalleading

figure and gained ignificant in ights into both current re earch theme and their future development, and the mechani m according to which publicly financed agencie, uch a the National Science Foundation, and private funding bodie operate. Readers have to bear in mind, however, that both the election of in titution and per on vi ited, a well

as the topic treated in di cu ion, are directly related to the main purpo e of our vi it. It i therefore not a report about current trend in the ocial cience in the U.S., nor i it to be read a an analy i of the functioning of U.S. funding bodie . Moreover, our main intere t focu ed upon the funding and promotion of ba ic re earch in the ocial cience .

Thematic approaches

In line with our main intere t, we concentrated on learning more about:

• Current trend toward international and comparative research

• Re earch in the field of the environment with pecial empha i upon involving the ocial cience

• The identification of promi ing research theme , related either to dome tic i ue or to general theoretical and methodological concern .

Modes of operation

We were impre ed by what we ee to be the

• Helga Nowotny w Chair of Ihe tanding Committee for the Social Science. European Science Found lion, from 19 5-91.

78 \ ITEM

comparative trength of the U.S. funding y tern, namely:

• Mode for quickly building up re earch competence and cholarship in areas that have been defined as priori tie (re earch planning and implementation)

• Seeking direct link with in titution and cholars in other region of the world whenever nece itated by the topic of research (interregional research)

• Continuing to maintain pragmatic links with govern­ment and other in titution in ociety, even in areas which are part of basic research and not only in applied field (e pecially in the field of data collection and harmonization)

• Interlocking directorship and other mechani m of e tabli hing cooperation and complementarity among funding bodie .

The internationalization of U.S. social sciences

Many of our di cu ion partners emphasized the "bottom-up" approach and their principled openne toward the cientific community. Neverthele ,it wa apparent that U. S. ocial cience are entering what may become a new pha e of internationaliza­tion. Thi i perhap mo t pronounced in the ca e of the Social Science Re earch Council, where it i among the tated goal of it pre ident to promote internationalization as part of the Council' "new architecture. ,,**

Anchored in the tradition of joint committee which are explicitly de igned a a multidi ciplinary team of prominent U.S. and foreign re earch peciali t on a pecific geocultural region, SSRC i

currently preparing propo al or launching re earch program on a number of topic . Among the idea which are in a percolating tage, mention was made of the pre ent tran ition to market in Ea tern Europe, whereby one of the leading que tion hould deal with theoretical per pective and how they can be brought to bear on how market are actually orga­nized. Another idea focu e upon the old elite under a tran itional regime and the proce e through which key information i pa ed on under uch condition . Related to the e topic i a third one, dealing with the actual rede igning of in titution in Ea tern Europe, ba ed upon knowledge which i exported there from the U.S. and from We tern European countrie .

•• Described in the SSRC Annual R~port , /9 9-90 ("Annual Repon of the Pre ident" by David L. Fealherman).

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4

Comparative re earch, e pecially with Europe, has of course al 0 been going on for ome time in other in titutional context than the SSRC. The Ru ell Sage Foundation with it long- tanding intere t in the tudy of poverty, the making of the undercla and

other manife tation of ocial marginality ha been engaged in funding comparative work in area uch as income inequalitie child poverty, labor market integration and egregation, migration, and related phenomena. There a el ewhere we found great intere t in longitudinal tudie and in the e tabli h­ment and improvement of databa e that would lend them elve to comparative re earch a well a to addre ing development hi torically and over a longer period of time.

At the Divi ion of Social and Economic Science within the Directorate of Biological, Behavioral, and Social Science of the National Science Foundation in Wa hington, D.C., we were treated to full coverage of it current program. The Divi ion, and foremo t it director, Dr. Roberta B. Miller, have va t experience in how the ocial cience in the United State are affected by change in the "contract" between cience and government (which have led to different funding pattern and level for "fundamen­tal" v . "applied" re earch), and in the way in which the organization of re earch i affected by the more recent hift toward interdi ciplinary re earch. In it own mode of operation, NSF aim to be re pon ive to the re earch community and to encour­age cholars to bring forth new idea . The interna­tional component of the variou program vary, of cour e, and are marked by greater heterogeneity due to the re pon ive nature of the mode of operation.

Current program feature everal comparative component (e.g., a urvey of the perception of ju tice and other initiative in the area of ocial-legal tudie as well a other attitude urvey). Special

mention hould be made of a current political cience program announcing a competition for propo al to tudy democracy and market in a comparative vein,

as well as the empha i accorded to geographical information y tem which purpo efully are de igned to lend them elve to all kind of comparative venture . One of the long- tanding intere t of NSF ha been to fund, con olidate and improve (national) databa e in area uch a income dynamic , election data and the general ocial urvey, a well a more pecialized data collection , all of which lend

them elve potentially to comparative re earch.

DECEMBER 1991

Database management accounts for 10% of the Divi ion' budget. Re earcher who are funded for project involving data collection have to agree to depo it their data et with NSF (to a pecified format) a a condition to the awarding of the grant.

One important element in the trend toward internationalization ha undoubtedly re ulted from the broadening of variou natural cience initiative and international program on global environmental change to include the "human dimen ion." The Divi ion of Social and Economic Science has played an important role in funding re earch on the human dimen ion of global environmental change in the United State , and in 1992 expect to ee it annual budget ri e to $43 million (from $35 million in 1991) in order to trengthen further thi field of re earch and to fund other re earch on global change more broadly defined than addre ing environmental i ue only.

The human dimen ion of global environmental change

A can be een from the already voluminou documentation on thi topic, re earch on global environmental change involving al 0 the ocial cience i definitely in demand. A committee

e tabli hed within the SSRC, which ee itself a a cornerstone of interdi ciplinary re earch in thi field, ha come up with a broad collaborative re earch agenda.

Within a relatively hort period, the SSRC Committee for Re earch on Global Environmental Change has played a ignificant role in haping a project on ocial learning in the management of global environmental ri k . It ha al 0 developed re earch con ortia on the theme of national imple­mentation of international environmental accord and on land u e change . Studie and work hop on u tainable development, on the epidemiology of

global change, landed property rights, and on environment and ecurity have been pon ored. A large- cale work hop i cheduled for January 1992 in Mexico City to examine new per pective on the ·population/environment debate. Thi project eek to link microlevel tudie carried out at the local level with macro debate by helping to provide "policy handle .. for local leaders, governmental and nongovernmental organization . Other re earch

ITEMS179

con ortia under con ideration or development deal with the following topic :

• The adoption of technological innovation : the di con­nect between engineers and economi t

• Economic and other impact of global warming • Optimal de ign of case- tudy replication for the

purpo of compari on • The di crepancy between what people know about

environmental change, how they feel, and how they act.

Collaboration with European colleague , and e pecially with the European Science Foundation i mo t welcome, although mo t of the current planning activitie will be U.S.-ba ed. Given the ize and diver ity of the United State , the whole region i een a being a good re earch ite.

The National Academy of ScienceslNational Re earch Council and, in particular, it Commi ion on Behavioral and Social Science and Education (CBASSE; Director, Dr. Suzanne Wool ey), carrie out work on a contract or grant ba i in re pon e to reque t for technical, cientific, and policy advice from a wide variety of government agencie and private organization. The main criterion for a project i that it mu t involve a ignificant ocial i ue problem for cience or public policy and that it can be an wered with e entiaJly econdary data. The end product i therefore an advi ory report normaJly prepared by a maJl panel of academic expert in a particular field. A report on the human dimen ion of global change, dealing in particular with large regional i ue in the United State (uch a change in population den ity and environmental tre ) and que tion of legal tran fer i expected to be publi hed oon. The work of thi CBASSE panel i pon ored

by the National Science Foundation; the SSRC Committee for Re earch on Global Environmental Change receive core funding from NSF a well a upport from other ource . While the SSRC

committee' work i aimed at networking the relevant academic community and forwarding ba ic re earch goal , the CBASSE work i more oriented to applied goal through it advi ory role to government in Washington, D.C.

Yet another approach to environmental i ue and to addre ing them through a variety of mean i taken by the Rockefeller Foundation. The new Global Environmental Program of the Foundation i de igned "to a i t developing countrie to advance environ­mentaJly ound development in their own countrie

8O\lTEM

and to participate fuJly in international re pon e to environmental challenge ." In 1989 the Foundation anticipated pending at lea t $50 million over the fif t five years of thi program. Four broad area of intere t for grant and fellow hip activity were identified: (1) to a ita elected number of large developing countrie a they strengthen the human and in titutional capacity needed to manage their own natural re ource and energy u e; (2) to train environmental economi t in the developing world and develop economic re earch applied to environ­mental deci ion making, re ource accounting and monitoring, a well a global bargaining and core­keeping; (3) to upport focu ed activitie including cultural per pective and in titutional change required to fo ter global and regional accord on a variety of environmental ubjects; and (4) to help American prepare for the change in economic and living pattern that will be required as the U.S. undertake it hare of the global adju tment nece ary to protect the environment (Rockefeller Foundation, 1989 Annual Report). In our di cu ion with Dr. Alberta Arthur , Director for Arts and Humanitie , a clear concern with environmental ethic and with building up olid communication link between 'culture" and "development" came to the fore. According to Dr. Arthur, the ocial cienti t mo t advanced in the field of the environment are environmental hi tori an (a view which received confirmation al 0 from other di cu ion partner ), while the economi t were een a trailing behind.

Other developments in the social sciences

The following ob ervation are widely ubjective and aro e out of pecific intere t and con tellation touched upon during our vi it. They do not form anything approaching a coherent picture of current development in ba ic re earch in the U.S. ocial cience . Neverthele ,we were truck both by a

certain continuity of re earch theme and methodolo­gie and, at the arne time, innovative approache and new theme which were accepted and built up very quickly.

Among the continuou trend, the high priority accorded to the e tabli hment, improvement, and harmonization of data et wa very noticeable. Hi toricaJly, the ocial cience organized in bodie. like the SSRC have kept do e link with the U.S. Federal tati tical y tern in area uch a health and

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4

labor. Currently, thi c10 e interaction involving al 0 the exchange of personnel, continuou advice, olicited critici m and refinement of methodologie ,

continue around database devoted to income di tribution, hou ehold panel and microeconomic topic . A level of living tudy is under di cu ion a are po ibilitie of linking attitude urvey to more complex que tion about behavior and value in the environmental field. At the SF Divi ion of Social and Economic Science, tati tical and other form of data collection were al 0 een a one of the mo t preciou re ource at the di po ition of the ocial cience . In the word of Dr. Roberta Miller, "The ocial cience are rapidly becoming data rich." It i

are ource, however, needing continuou inve tment, if changing theoretical and methodological concern as well as change in technologie are to be properly reflected . A already mentioned, Geographical Information Sy tern are currently accorded high priority. Way and mean are being tudied a to how they might be u ed to addre a wider et of i ue. Together with the other three large databa e ,a well as other ource , a great potential for comparative re earch exi t , but will need much more inve tment in order to reach the nece ary degree of harmoniza­tion .

We were al 0 intere ted to ee how the u e of panel tudie and other tati tical data are increa ingly combined with what Dr. Eric Wanner, Pre ident of the Ru ell Sage Foundation, de cribed a "light ethnography. "

In many quantitative tudie relating, for in tance, to the ocial, health, labor, education, and hou ing ituation of the poor, qualitative tudie are u ed

either to fill in gap in knowledge not yielded by quantitative data alone or to te t a number of po ible interpretation which cannot be te ted quantitatively. Aloin re earch on the environment we noticed that innovative attempt are being made in one of SSRC' project to deliberately link tudie of the micro level (in thi ca e of poor women in village of the Third World) with po ible global-level generalization.

Apart from uch methodological flexibility and innovation, one major topic with remarkable continu­ity both a a ocial and policy problem and a one attracting continued cholarly attention re ide in the area of poverty, the urban underc1as , ocial margin­ality. and immigration. Several of our di cu ion partner remarked that Europe would probably experience in the near future orne of the problem

DECEMBER 1991

related to immigration that the United State ha known for a long time.

Among the topic which illu trate the way in which cro -cutting theme are developed , the concern with peace and ecurity boo ted by a major program of the MacArthur Foundation, i one. With the end of the cold war and the major change that are tran forming Ea tern Europe, SSRC' re earch planning i addre ing topic uch a the ecurity of marginal people and other minoritie in variou part of the world. how religiou regime and tran national religiou communitie are organized. and link between ecurity and the environment.

Other tendencie we noted were a broadening of economic , with both computational economic and experimental economic receiving upport. One di cu ion involved current trend in the cognitive cience in the United State. We got the impre ion

that among the many current debate in thi field, the one oppo ing p ycholingui t , who take language learning a a model for a universal and natural accompli hment of learning, with p ychologi t addre ing more ' artificial" model and learning ta k ,i the mo t intere ting one. Due to the actual ituation in the U .S. educational y tern with a hortage of qualified teachers or child expert •

re earch into technological learning y tern and educational technology in general, i al 0 accorded priority.

Building up scholarship quickly

Practically all the re earch program we ob erved had cherne that aimed at quickly building up cholar hip in new re earch area . The e cherne

ranged from the (more conventional) committee tructure bringing together cholar from different

di cipline but intere ted in the arne cro -cutting re earch theme, to the commi ioning of review papers and the (quite effective) etting up of pecial competition for propo al . Scholar are al 0

encouraged to propo e work hop and other planning meeting for which pecial fund or award are made available, u uaUyal 0 on a competitive ba i . We were mo t impre ed, however, by the way in which a new re earch area i made attractive and opened up to young cholar . In many areas, pecial award, di ertation improvement program , pre- and po tdoctoral program exi t or are being et up, ignaling to young people which direction are

ITEM / 81

con idered promi ing, both in term of theoretical and methodological merit and in term of the availability of fund . Seen from a European per pective which accord much higher value to the freedom to tudy whatever one wi he , one might wonder to what extent thi put con traints on young cholar' originality. Seen from the perspective of a funding agency, however, it eem to work rather efficiently.

The rapid building up of cholarship in new re earch area include al 0 the ability to reach out into tho e region of the world that form part of the re earch topic. Effective internationalization in U.S. term mean therefore not only expanding re earch topic in term of globalization, or turning more toward the South or Ea t, but include the practical task of building up collaborative relation hip with the cholarly community in tho e region . Thi i what i actively being pur ued by virtually all in titution we vi ited that have uch program .

The pragmatic approach

A mentioned already, the link between U.S. ocial cience, even in area con idered to be

fundamental or ba ic, and government or other policy-related bodie and concern , are governed by a pervasive pragmati m. Serving the nation or what are perceived to be the nation' need rank high in the cholarly etho and i effectively tran lated into the way funding agencie , foundation , and the cholarly community operate. The etting up of

advi ory panel to re pond to reque ts emanating from policy maker or federal agencie ha tradition­ally ranked high in the academie . Bringing together cholar who, among themselve , di po e of uffi­

cient knowledge, information, and experti e without having to engage in additional re earch in order to an wer uch reque t ,i a highly developed art form for putting knowledge to practical utility. Keeping up, expanding, and improving database infu ed with ocial cience knowledge in order to addre a wide et of practical as well a theoretical concern , i

another a pect of the pragmatic, ervice-oriented approach of the ocial cience . By etting up mechani m which pennit reaching acro di ciplinary

82\ITEM

boundarie and into different type of academic a well a policy-making communitie , a highly efficient way ha been found to tap ocial cience knowledge for practical, policy-related end. At the arne time, the cholarly re earch agenda i continuou Iy informed and timulated by uch newly ari ing concern .

While the que tion of the re pective value and advantage of di ciplinary v . interdi ciplinary work can be debated on the ba i of a number of epi temo­logical, organizational, and other criteria, it al 0

eem clear that many, if not all, real-world problem increa ingly demand orne form of oliciting interdi -ciplinary advice. The ability to re pond in uch a way depend in turn on olid di ciplinary knowledge, but increa ingly al 0 on the ability to be able to commu­nicate effectively beyond di ciplinary boundarie . A kind of multi-linguali m i in demand, which need careful nouri hing through re earch infra tructure and well-functioning mechani m for cooperation.

Interlocking directorates

La t, but not lea t, coordination and a certain degree of cooperative complementarity are al 0

needed on the part of funding agencie . Thi i achieved through variou mechani m of more or Ie fine tuning. We noticed a web of interlocking director hip among the in titution we vi ited, where member hip on board , advi ory bodie , and council i hared by a number of key individual who, moreover, through their own background and experience, bring with them a high degree of potential for realizing complementarity in the ta k they et for their organization . Some value wa een in expanding uch mechani m to include European and wider international linkage . The work of two informal group , the Oakley Caucu 1 and the Intergovernmental Funding Agencie (IGFA),2 wa cited a new example of development occurring in thi direction. •

I TIle 0311 Y C u u i an international forum for the e h nge of information among re arch funding agencle In the social ience .

2 The IGFA i an Informal partnership of n ti nal ag ncie which fund global ch n e re arch in the n tural. social. and economi

VOLUME 45. NUMBER 4

Current Activities at the Council

New Staff Appointments

A part of it effort to increa e the involvement of p ychology and p ychologists in re earch planning, the Council ha appointed FRANK KESSEL as taff a ociate to the new Committee on Culture, Society, and Health. Mr. Kes el' undergraduate and early graduate tudies in p ychol­ogy were carried out at the Univer ity of Cape Town, from which he received hi M.A. in 1967. He obtained hi Ph.D. in 1969 from the Univer ity of Minne ota, where he pursued his intere t in cognitive and language development, as well a in the philo ophy of cience.

A re earch director of the Early Learning Centre in Cape Town and cientific a ociate at the Bernard van Leer Founda­tion in The Hague, Mr. Kes el wa ub equently involved in international early education ef­fort . He is pre ently on leave as a ociate profe or of p ychology at the University of Hou ton, where he has helped organize an annual multidi ciplinary ympo-ium on a range of is ue in

p ychology and in the philo ophy and hi tory of p ychology and cience.

Publications include The Child and Other Cultural Inventions (co-editor with Alex Siegel; Praeger, 1983), The Development of Language and Language Researchers: Essays in Honor of Roger Brown (editOr; Lawrence Erlbaum A ociate, 1988), and

, Contemporary Constructions of the Child: Essays in Honor of William Kessen (co-editor with

DECEMBER 1991

Marc Born tein and Arnold Sameroff; Erlbaum, 1991).

DAVID C. MAJOR ha joined the Council a staff a ociate to the Committee for Re earch on Global Environmental Change. He replace Richard Rockwell, who ha taken up new dutie a executive director of the Inter­univer ity Con ortium for Political and Social Re earch at the University of Michigan. Mr. Major did hi undergraduate training in economics and government at We leyan, and received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard in 1966.

Mr. Major i an internationally known peciali t in interdi cipli­nary natural re ource planning using multiple economic, ocial, and environmental objectives and mathematical modeling tech­nique . A former faculty member at the Ma achu ett Institute of Technology and Clark University, he ha al 0 been a enior planner for the New York City water supply sy tem and an advi or to the United State Water Re-ource Council.

He i the author of three books, mo t recently Large-Scale Regional Water Resources Planning: The North Atlantic Regional Study (with Harry E. Schwarz; Kluwer Academic Publisher, 1990). Mr. Major has al 0 written numerous articles and report on natural re ource planning, economic development, and environmental management.

JOHN H. MOLLENKOPF, an­other new taff a ociate, will lead efforts to develop a new generation of re earch programs in urban tudie. Mr. Mollenkopf

received his M.A. (1969) and Ph.D. (1974) from Harvard Uni­versity in political cience and ha taught at Stanford University and at the Graduate Center of the City Univer ity of New York, from which he i on leave a profes or of political cience.

In 1980 and 1981, he erved a director of the economic develop­ment divi ion of the New York City Department of City Plan­ning. He has written extensively on the politics of urban develop­ment in U.S. citie , urban policy, urban political economy, and electoral politics in New York City. Hi books include Contested City (Princeton, 1983), Changing New York City Politics (co-author with A her Arian, Arthur S. Goldberg, and Edward T. Rogow ky; Routledge, 1991), A Phoenix in the Ashes (Princeton, forthcoming) as well as two edited volume , Power, Culture and Place (Rus ell Sage, 1989) and Dual City: Restructuring New York (with Manuel Castells; Rus ell Sage, 1991). The latter two volume were produced under the auspices of the Council's Committee on New York City, of which he was a founding member and chairper on.

WLODZIMIERZ OKRASA is the new staff as ociate to the Committee on Economic Stability and Growth. He is a1 0 develop­ing a social science re earch "laboratory" for collaborative, comparative re earch in and about Ea tern and Central Europe. In addition, Mr. Okra a will taff the Committee on Confidentiality and Data Acce s, and will erve as liai on to the Council of

ITEMS / S3

Profe ional A ociation on Federal Stati tic .

Mr. Okra a received hi Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Warsaw, where he pecialized in the methodology of ocial inve tigation, ocial tati tic, and microeconomic . Prior to coming to the Council, Mr. Okra a held an appointment a an American Stati tical A ociation Re earch Fellow at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Stati tic . Previou ly, he erved a a vi iting profe or in

the United State , continuing hi collaboration with cholar of Ea tern and We tern Europe, developed while he wa a fellow of the Briti h Academy (fall 1986) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung ( pring 1988). He al 0

erved a head of a re earch unit at the In titute of Economic Science, Poli h Academy of Science, and a advi or to the pre ident of the Poli h Central Stati tical Office while helping to develop link between the International Luxembourg Income Study Project and Ea t European peciali t in microdata-ba ed ocioeconomic tudie.

Mr. Okra a ha written three book and edited everal other , among them Social Welfare in Britain and Poland (with Julian Le Grand; STICERDlLondon School of Economic , 1988). He ha al 0 publi hed paper in international journal, uch a the European Economic Review, the Journal of Conflict Re olution, and Research on Economic Inequality (forthcoming).

BARBARA BIANCO ha joined the Council as program a ociate to the Joint Committee on African tudie .

M . Bianco will receive her

84\1TEM

Ph.D. in anthropology in February 1992 from New York Univer ity where he obtained her M.Phil. (1986) and her M.A. (1982). Her re earch intere t focu on Ea t Africa, medical history and anthropology, and concept of per on and gender. M . Bianco' di ertation i entitled, "The Hi torical Anthro­pology of a Mi ion Ho pital in Northwe tern Kenya." She did her undergraduate training in ociology at the University of

Akron (B.A. 1975). Prior to coming to the Council,

M . Bianco held lecturing appointments at New York University and the American Mu eum of Natural Hi tory, and erved as editorial a i tant on the

journal, Cultural Anthropology. Her article, "Women and Thing : Pokot Motherhood a Political De tiny," wa publi hed in the November i ue of American Ethnologist.

SUSAN BRONSON i the new program a ociate to the Joint Committee on Soviet Studie . M . Bron on i currently a Ph.D. candidate in hi tory at the Univer ity of Michigan with a pecialty in modern Ru ian and

Soviet hi tory. Her di ertation will be entitled "Enlightening the Urban Poor: The Adult Education Movement in Late Imperial Ru ia, 1890-1917." M . Bron on received her M.A. (1989) in Ru ian and East European Studie from the Univer ity of Michigan and her B.A. in 1982 from Emory Univer ity.

M . Bron on pent la t winter in Mo cow under a re earch grant from the In titute of International Education. Her re earch intere t include que tion of identity and

cultural tran formation, and the relation hip between popular and elite culture in revolutionary Ru ia.

In another appointment, GREG BROOKS ha joined the Council a program as ociate to the Commit­tee for Re earch on the Urban Undercla . Mr. Brook received hi undergraduate training at New College (Sara ota Florida), and hi M.A. in ociology from the Univer ity of Penn ylvania in 1983. He i currently completing hi di sertation, " 'To Aid in E tabli hing Sound Financial Morality': The Founding of the Wharton School and the In titu­tionalization of Collegiate B u ine Education, 1881-1920." Mr. Brook' re earch intere t include hi tori cal ociology, the ociology of work, and ocial

theory. Prior to joining the Council,

Mr. Brook wa a re earch as i tant to Michael B. Katz in hi work a archivi t for the Council' Committee for Re earch on the Urban Undercla . Mr. Brook al 0 erved a the executive ecretary for the Work and Welfare Seminar of the Program for A e ing and Revitalizing the Social Science (PARSS), held at Penn. In addition, Mr. Brook ha taught ociology at the Univer ity of

Penn ylvania and in the Univer­ity of Penn ylvaniaiCIGNA

Program. HELEN R. CHAUNCEY i the

program a ociate to the Coun­cil' new Abe Fellow hip Program which provide upport for re earch on global i ue affecting Japan and the United State . M . Chauncey conducted her doctoral di ertation re earch in Taiwan, the People' Republic

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4

of China, and Japan. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford Univer-ity in 1982 in modem Ea t A ian

hi tory and taught Chine e and Vietname e hi tory at Georgetown Univer ity from 1982 to 1991.

Ms. Chauncey's historical re earch focu e on ocial and cultural i ue. Her mo t recent publication, Schoolhouse Politicians: Locality and State During the Chinese Republic (Columbia Ea t A ian Institute Monograph Serie ; Univer ity of Hawaii Pre ,forthcoming), explore ocial marginalization and empowerment for a pecific occupational group, primary chool teacher , in republican

China (1911-1949). A new re earch project will explore marginalization and empowerment for a pecific geographic region in North China from the 1870 through the 1970 .

Ms. Chauncey's re earch on Vietnam u e interdi ciplinary methodology to analyze contem­porary developmental i ue. Her current project concerns the interaction between formal education , civil ociety, and the dialogue between dome tic and foreign culture in the po t­colonial era.

KA TE G. FRIESON ha been named program a ociate to the Joint Committee on Southea t A ia and the Joint Committee on South A ia. M . Frie on com­pleted her doctoral di ertation in September 1991 on "The Impact of Revolution on Cambodian Pea ant, 1970-1975," at the Politic Department, Mona h Univer ity, Melbourne, Au tralia. M . Frie on received her M.A. (1986) and B.A. (1984) in political cience from the Univer ity of Briti h Columbia.

DECEMBER 1991

Her re earch intere t are in the contemporary politics of South­ea t A ia with a pecialization in Cambodia. Her publication include "The Political Nature of Democratic Kampuchea," Pacific Affairs (1988) and "The Legacy of Pol Pot in Village Cambodia," Cultural Survival Quarterly (1990).

loRI HELENE GRONICH is the new program a ociate to the Committee on International Peace and Security. M . Gronich earned her M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1991) in political cience at the Univer ity of California, Lo Angele . Her di ertation i entitled, "Experti e, Naivete, and Deci ion-Making: A Cognitive Proce ing Theory of Foreign Policy Choice." She received her undergraduate training at the Univer ity of California, Santa Barbara.

M . Gronich' re earch interest include international relation theory, foreign policy decision-making, U.S. foreign policy, and ecurity tudie . Prior to coming to the Council he held re earch fellow hip at the Univer ity of Southern California, Harvard Univer ity, and the Brooking In titution . She ha al 0 erved a a con ultant to the U. S. government and to the RAND Corporation. M . Gronich i currently revi ing her di erta­tion for publication.

The new program a ociate to the Joint Committee on Japane e Studie and the Joint Committee on Korean Studie , MIMI M. KIM received her Ph.D. (1990) and M.A. (1985) in political economy and comparative politic from Penn ylvania State Univer ity. Her di ertation wa entitled "Politic of International Finance:

The State and Capital in the International Debt Cri i ." She received her undergraduate and graduate training at the Sook­myung Women' University in Seoul, Korea.

M . Kim's re earch intere t include the interdi ciplinary area of political economy, comparative politic , development economic , finance, and area tudie in Latin America and Ea t A ia. In addition to teaching at Penn ylva­nia State Univer ity, he ha al 0

worked in the international bu ine community.

KENTON W. WORCESTER has joined the Council a program a ociate to the Joint Committee on We tern Europe. Mr. Worce -ter received hi M.A. in political cience in 1984 and hi Ph.D. in

October 1990 from Columbia Univer ity. Hi di ertation wa entitled "From Triparti m to the Enterpri e Culture: the Trade Union, Training Policy, and the Thatcher Government, 1979-1988." He received hi under­graduate training at the Univer ity of Ma achu ett in Bo ton.

Mr. Worce ter' re earch intere t include European integration, modem Briti h politics and ociety, and political ideologies. Prior to coming to the Council, he taught a variety of cour e at the undergraduate and graduate level at Columbia. He i currently revi ing hi biography of the Caribbean intellectual C.L.R. Jame for publication.

Global Environmental Change Seminar

The Committee for Re earch on Global Environmental Change include in each of it meeting a ub tantive eminar, arranged by

ITEMS/ 85

a committee member, on a topic relevant to the committee' work. For the committee' October 3-4 meeting in New York City, William Nordhau of Yale Univer ity arranged a eminar on the economic re earch agenda: it application to global environ­mental change and it relevance for other ocial cience. Partici­pants were John P. Weyant of Stanford University, Je e Au ubel of the Rockefeller Univer ity and the Carnegie Commi ion, Daniel Newlon of the National Science Foundation, and Mr. Nordhau .

Committee members were pre ented with the late t re ult of what one participant called "the longe t-running horse race in economic ," the forecasts from orne dozen energy model

evaluated on a comparative basi by Mr. Weyant' Energy Modeling Forum. Mr. Au ubel de cribed hi own work as well a the recent National Academy of Science report on adaptation to greenhou e warming, to which he, Stephen Schneider of the committee, and Mr. Nordhau contributed. While the rate , extent, and effect of climate

Workshop on Early East Slavic Culture

change are uncertain, under orne a umption the ocial and economic effect on the nation are manageable, although perhap co tly; effects on eco y tern are probably Ie manageable.

Mr. Nordhau pre ented the mo t recent re ults of hi own modeling of the optimal tran ition path for controlling greenhou e gase . Finally, Mr. Newlon provided an in ightful de cription of the per onnel and policie that have contributed to the current trength of the economic

re earch agenda.

The Social Science Re arch Council (SSRC) announce the Second Summer Work hop on Early East Slavic Culture. to be h Id June 19-24. 1993 at Stanford University. The Work hop i made po ible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation and i pon ored by th Joint Committee on Soviet Studie (JCSS) of the Social Science Re arch Council and the Am rican Council of Learned Societie . The Work hop will be organized by a working group he ded by Profe or Nancy Shield Kollmann of Stanford Unive~ity

Th goal of the Work. hop i to prom te innovation and interdi. iplinary re earch in early East Slavic tudie through challenging exi ting paradigm. imitating new th oretical in igh • and exploring new i ue or perspective . New research i particularly encouraged on uch topic a i ue of gender in East Slavic ociety. economy and intellectual life. the ignificance of non-Ru ian interaction with Mu ovite ociety. and the integration of th oretical pe pective from anthropology. ociology. emiotic. literary theory. and social hi tory. The thematic focu of the Work hop will be seventeenth-century Mu. covy in the context of its interconnec­tion with other Ea t Slavic and non-Ru ian culture .

The Program: Particip nt will include invited holars from the U.S .• Europe and th USSR well a graduate tuden!. and young holars chosen through an international competition. All participant will present e ay on the broad theme ugge ted by the wor ' hop organizers. the written ve~ion of which will be di tributed well in advance of the meeting. Due to the comparative and multi-di iplinary focu of the work h p. th language of di u ion will be Engli h. orne knowledge of which i highly encouraged in applican to the competition.

Financi I istance: Work hop co t • including tran portation. hou ing. and meal at Stanford. will be provided by th SSRC.

Eligibility: Application will be accepted from individual who meet either of the following criteria: (I) the applicant i currently enrolled in a doctoral program or it equivalent; (2) th applicant received the Ph.D .. kandidat. or equivalent degree no earlier than June 1990.

Deadline: Application mu t be po tmarked no later than March I. 1992. Applicants will be n tified of the d ci ion by May I. 1992.

Inquirie and reque for application form hould be ddre d to:

Workshop on Early East Slavic Culture Joint Committee on Soviet tudi Social . ence R arch Council

605 Third Avenue ew York, NY 10158

86\ ITEM VOLUME 45 . NUMBER 4

Recent Counell Publications Inventory of Longitudinal Studies in the Social Sciences, edited by Copeland H. Young, Kri ten L. Savoia, and Erin Phelp . Ba ed on re earch spon ored by the Committee on Life-Course Per pective on Human Development. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publica­tion , 1991. 568 page .

In 1981, the Council publi hed the Inventory of Longitudinal Studies of Middle and Old Age, by Su an Migdal , Ronald B. Abele , and Lonnie R. Sherrod. Thi wa followed in 1984 by the publication of a companion volume, Inventory of Longitudinal Research on Childhood and Adolescence, compiled by Fererick Verdonik and Lonnie R. Sherrod. Both volume were the product of re earch sponsored by the Committee on Life-Course Per pective on Human Develop­ment. Together they repre ented a comprehen ive inventory of longitudinal tudie.

In 1986, the Council a ked the Henry A. Murray Re earch Center of Radcliffe College to continue the development of the e inventorie, ince the committee had fini hed it work and wa di banding. The current volume i a revi ion of the original tudie, with addition and everal modifications.

Funding for the project was provided by a grant from the National Institute of Mental

, Health to Radcliffe College.

Questions About Questions: Inquiries into the Cognitive Bases of Surveys, edited by

DECEMBER 1991

Judith M. Tanur. Spon ored by the Committee on Cognition and Survey Re earch. New York: Ru ell Sage Foundation, 1991. 352 page.

The ocial urvey ha become an e ential tool in modem ociety, providing crucial

measurement of ocial change, de cribing ocial life, and guiding government policy. But the validity of urveys i fragile and depend ultimately upon the accuracy of answers to urvey que tion . A our dependence on surveys grows, 0 too have que tion about the accuracy of urvey re pon e .

Contributors to the volume­experts in cognitive p ychology, linguistic, and urvey re earch­provide a broad review of the survey re pon e problem. Examining the cognitive and ocial proce e that influence the

answer to question , the book flf t take up the problem of meaning and demon trate that a re pondent mu t hare the survey re earcher's intended meaning of a que tion if the re pon e is to be revealing and informative.

The book al 0 examine the role of memory, providing a framework for under tanding the proce e that can introduce errors into retro pective report . The author al 0 demon trate how traditional survey format violate the u ual norms of conver ational behavior and potentially endanger the validity of the data collected. Questions About Questions empha ize the reciprocal gain to be achieved when in ight and technique from the cognitive

cience and urvey re earch are exchanged.

Judith M. Tanur i profe or of ociology at the State University

of New York at Stony Brook.

Reshaping Local Worlds: Formal Education and Cultural Change in Rural Southeast Asia, edited by Charle F. Keyes, with E. Jane Keye and Nancy Donnelly. Based on a conference held in July 1983 in Penang, Malay ia and pon ored by the Joint Committee on Southeast A ia. Monograph 36. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studie , 1991. vii + 222 page.

!his volume of e ay explore the relation hip between local and national culture that ha devel­oped with the introduction of tate- pon ored education in

Southeast Asia. Debate over the impact of tate education on local and mo tly rural Southea t A ian communitie centers on the extent to which local communi tie are dominated and manipulated by the tate. The authors addre this

i ue a well as the rever e flow of influence from the village to the tate level, particularly in Indone ia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Traditional form of education, from the Javane e pesantran (Islamic chool) to monastic chool in Burma, till persist in

mo t of Southeast A ia de pite the uniform pu h of government after World War II to replace indigenou , religiou ly-based education with a ecular,

ITEMS/87

We tern-derived y tern of national education.

The contribution in thi book portray re ilient and creative re pon e to tate effort at the local level, arguing in the main that villager are not pa ive recipient but active participant in defining and determining the role of education in their world .

Charle F. Keye i profe or of anthropology and director of the Northwe t Regional Con or­tium for Southea t A ian Studie , Univer ity of Wa hington.

The Role of the Indonesian Chinese in Shaping Modem Indonesian Life, gue t editor Suzanne A. Brenner. Special i ue of Indonesia. Based on a ympo ium held at Cornell

Univer ity in conjunction with the Southea t A ia Summer Studie In titute, July 13-15, 1990. Spon ored by the Joint Committee on Southea t A ia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University South­ea t A ia Program, 1991.

How ha Chine e culture, a introduced by Chine emigrant throughout the centurie , con­verged with Indone ian culture? What cultural heritage ha thi diver e group brought to it ho t country, at time tran forming it? And how do Chine e Indone ian evaluate their po ition ; how doe it feel to be an Indone ian Chine e? The e are among the central que tion addre ed by the contributor to thi i ue of Indonesia.

The author enter the debate over the meaning of Chine e identity from variou perspective and di cipline . Topic include the hi torical and political context

88\ITEMS

of Chine e immigration to Java at the turn of the century; develop­ment in Chine e-Malay language and literature; the predominance of Chine e in bu ine and commercial ector in Indone ia and the development of a capitaJi t cia ; the role of elite in a po t-oil boom economy; and reflection on the di harmoniou relation hip between lndone ia and China. Throughout all the e papers, the ignificance of the Chine e role in Indone ia emerge forcefully. Yet, a Daniel Lev caution in hi e ay on Yap Thiam Hien, the prominent human right lawyer: "To ay that Indone ia Chine e have enriched Indone ia i a mi leading cliche, for it et them apart till as omething other than Indone ian.

For the mo t part, they are understandable nowhere el e, a i true of mo t national minoritie anywhere. "

Why Black Men Are Doing Worse in the Labor Market: A Review of Supply-Side and Demand-Side Explanations, by Philip Mo and Chri Tilly. Prepared for the Working Group on Labor Market Re earch of the Committee for Re earch on the Urban Undercla . New York: Social Science Re earch Council, 1991. 169 page.

Numerou ocial and economic indicator have hown that the po ition of black men in the labor market ha declined over the pa t everal decade . Joble ne and

employment -to-population ratio among young black men, and the gap between the wage of black and white workers, have been increa ing ince the 1970 in

ab olute term and relative to white men. In thi review of the economic literature, Philip Mo and Chri Tilly examine and a e the explanation that have been advanced to account for the e change .

The review i organized in term of the theoretical explana­tion and upporting evidence that have been advanced in the literature: hifts in the demand for labor (e.g., mi match hypothe e and indu trial hift); hift in the upply of labor (e.g., education,

competition from other group , and crime); in titutional change in the labor market (e.g., change in hiring practice, union den ity, and the minimum wage), and multi-cau aI, feedback explana­tion (e.g., family and community effect ). Two major conclu ion emerge from thi review. Fir t, hift in labor demand-the

quality and availability of job - have played a major role in affecting labor market outcome for black men. Second, racial di crimination continue to be an important factor in evaluating the divergent experience of black and white.

The author recommend numerou guideline that would be u eful for directing future re earch in thi area. In addition, they propo e three areas for inve tigation that are particularly promi ing. First, they ugge t a clo er examination of patial mi match hypothe e and the hiring proce a way to explain the di parate impact of indu try hifts on black and white

workers. Second, they recom­mend that de criptive tati tic and qualitative data be u ed to ketch the racial impacts of hift

in interlocking demand and

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4

in titutional factor (e.g. , indu trial mix, firm ize, union den ity, internal labor market, ethnic enclaves) a a basis for more erious attempt at modeling the e hift. Third, they urge that

new and additional re earch be carried out on the labor market impact of immigration, particu­larly in light of tudie that indicate it importance.

Philip Mo i a ociate profe -

or and chair of the Planning and Policy Department in the College of Management at the University of Mas achusett , Lowell. Chri Tilly i an as ociate profe or in the arne department.

Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowships for Advanced German and European Studies

at the Free University of Berlin

Purpose: To encourage re earch on economic, political, and ocial a pect of modem contemporary German and European affairs .

Program: The program, based at the Free University of Berlin, provide ,upport to anthropologi t , economi t ,political Cit..lti ts, sociologi t , and all holars in germane ocial cience and cultural tudie field , including historian working on the period ince the mid-19th century. Fellow are expected to produce a re earch monograph (doctoral di rtation, book manuscript, etc.) dealing with orne pect() of German or European affairs, including U,S.-European relation. Fellow hip upport nine to 24 month of overse

research . Fellow are expected to re ide primarily in Berlin during the academic term . Nece ary research-related travel hould be scheduled during the five-and-a-half month of me ter bre and holiday in each academic year. Acce to other research in titu-tion in Berlin and throughout Germany will be available through the Free University. A good command of German i required. Inten ive language refre her course will be funded in certain case .

Awards: A tipend of 2,000 DM per month (up to 2,500 DM for awardee with family) i provided to fellow to cover living expense while in Berlin . Additional allowance will cover tran, atlantic tran portation for fellow and their pouse . Re. arch-related travel for awardee within Germany and Europe will be funded on reque t. Fellow hip begin on October I or April I of each year.

Selection Procedure: Award are made on the b i of evaluation and recommendation of an interdisciplinary and international Selection Committee appointed by the Council.

Eligibility: Citizen and permanent residents of the United State are eligible to apply. At the di sertation level, applicant mu t have completed all requirements (except the di sertation) for the Ph.D. at the time the fellow hip begin . At the po tdoctoral level, the program i open to scholars who have recei~ed their Ph.D. degree or it equivalent on or after February 14, 1990.

DECEMBER 1991

Application Deadline: February 14, 1992 Announcement of Awards: June, 1992

For further information contact: Social Science Research Council

Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies 605 Third A venue

New York, ew York 10158 (212) 661-0280

ITEM / 89

Program in International Peace and Security Request for Proposals for Research Workshops

Th Program in International Pe ce and Security of th Social Science Re arch Council announce a competition for grants to upport mall. topical work hop to be held in 1992. The gran of up to S5.000 are available for work hop on topic that te t

e tabli hed umption about pe ce and curity.

Eligibility Reque for funding mu t be initiated by individual recipien of: SSRC·M Arthur Foundation Fellow hip in Intern tional

Pe e and Security (p t and pre nt). MacArthur Foundation Grants for Re arch and Writing. M Arthur Collaborative Studie Gran • or any other dire t or indirect grant from McArthur' Program on Pe ce and International Cooperation. Work hop hould be initiated by. and hould include. individual who may not otherwi have th opportunity to obtain work h p funding. Co- pon rship of work hop propo aI by McArthur grantee and others i permitted. A limited number of individual from outsid the program may al 0 be invited to the work hop (see belo\\ for re triction ).

Work hop permit junior faculty members and other junior holan. to meet for two or three day for inten ive di. u ion of a pecific topic. Work hop can involve formal p pers. informal pre ntation. minars with local faculty. joint re arch task , or

well· tructured informal di u ion. At a minimum. organize hould eltpect work hop to lead to furth r collaboration. including the publication of re~arch finding . In no Cll! hould workshop involve more than a dozen participan including p per presente • ob rvers. and organizers.

Guidelin Ea h work hop mu t involve a ignificant proportion of participan from the Ma Arthur program noted above. Mo t work. hop

gran will not eltceed 5.000. and proj ct propo aI above that amount are di ouraged. Mode t upplementaI funding for international travel may be requ ted. and particip tion by re arche b d OUI! ide of the U.S. i encouraged. Collaboration with the applicant' h me in titution in upport of a work hop i de irable. but grant will not be m de to in titutional pon rs of projects. The Council will reimbur;e participant for th co t of travel and per diem ub i tence up to an amount agreed upon in advance. Propo al mu t be accompanied by a detailed budget. Additional funding cannot be u~ to change term t forth in thi announcement.

Deadline To apply. ubmit a letter propo aI (no more than 5 p ge ) to th Program in International Pe e and Security. Social Science

Research Council. 605 Third Avenue. New York. NY 10158. USA. by February 17, 1992. Do not ubmit proposal by FAX. Potential applican are encouraged to contact program taff for additional information.

9O\ITEMS VOLUME 45. NUMBER 4

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL

605 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10158

(212) 661-0280 FAX (212) 370-7896

17r~ Council was incorporat~d in th~ Stat~ of Illinois, D~umlHr 27, 1924, for tM purpos~ of advancing r~s~arch in th~ social ci~nc~s . Nongov~rnm~ntal and int~rdisciplinary in natur~, tM Council appoints comminus of scholars which suk to achi~v~ th~ Council's purpo ~ through tM g~nuation of n~ id~as and tM training of scholars. 17r~ activiti~s of tM Council ar~ suppon~d primarily by grants from privat~ foundations and govunm~nt ag~nci~s .

Dir~ctors, 1991-92: CLAUDE AKE, University of Pon Harcoun; SUZA ED. BERGEIt, Ma hu tIS Institute of Technology; LAWJl.E CE D. B080, University of California, Los Angele ; ROBERT M. CoEN, Nonhwe tern University; DAVID L. FEATHERMA , Social Science Research Council; ALBERT FISHLOW, University of California, Berkeley; GAII.DNER LI DZEY, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Science; DAVID MAG U so ,Stockholm University; CORA B. MARRETT, University of Wiscon in, Madi n; EMILY MARTI ,The John Hopkins University; WILUAM H. SEWELL, JR., University of Chicago; JOEL SHERZER, University of Texas, Au tin; BulI.To H. SINGER, Yale University; FRA CIS X. Surro ,Dobbs Ferry, New York; MARTA TtE DA, University of Chicago; DAVID WAII.D, University of Wiscon in, Madi n; ROBERT B. Zvo c, University of Michigan.

Officus and Staff: DAVID L. FEATHERMA ,Pr~sid~nt; STA LEY J. HEGINBOTHAM, Viu Pr~sid~nt; RONALD J. PELECK, Viu Pr~sid~nt for Financ~; GLORIA KIRCHHEIMER, Editor; DoRlE SI OCCHI, Assistant to tM Pr~sid~nt; BARBARA A. BIA CO, SUSAN BRO SON, GUG BROOKS, HELE CHAU CEY, CARY FRA Ell., KATE FRIESO ,MARTHA A. GEPHART, loRI HELENE ORO ICH, ERI HEItSHBEll.G, STEVE HEYDEMA ,ROBERT T. HUBER, FRANK KESSEL, MIMI M. KIM, DAVID C. MAJOR, MARY BYR E McDo ELL, JOHN H. MOLLENKOPF, AUCE O'CON Olt, WLODZIMIEItZ OKRASA, ELLE PEUCMAN, RAQUEL OVRY RIVERA (on leave), M. PRISCILLA STO E, TOBY Au E VOLKMA ,KE TO W. WOItCE TER.

The Social Science Research Council uppons the program of the Commi ion on Preservation and Acce and i repre nted on the National Advisory Council on Preservalion. The paper used in thi publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Science -Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material . ANSI Z39.48-1984. The infinity ymbol placed in a circle indicate compliance with thi tandard.

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VOLUME 45, NUMBER 4