International projects
Migration, Affective Geopolitics and Democracy in Times of Military Conflicts (MAGnituDe)
Project team at the Institute of Sociology of LCSS: dr. Kristina Šliavaitė, dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, dr. Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič, PhD student Dmytro Mamaiev
Duration: from February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2029
Funding source: “Horizon Europe” programme (No. 101178269)
Summary
Information will be available soon.
Gender-based violence and institutional responce: Building a knowledge base and operational tools to make universities and research organizations safe (UniSAFE)
Project manager: dr. Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič
Project duration: 2021 02 01 – 2024 01 31
Project team: dr. Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič, dr. Giedrė Blažytė
UniSAFE’s overall aims are: (1) to produce better knowledge on the prevalence, determinants and consequences of gender-based violence in universities and research organisations (2) to translate this knowledge into operational tools for universities, research organisations and policy-makers, and to empower RPOs and other stakeholders to implement effective policies. For this purpose UniSAFE:
- investigated the various forms of gender-based violence, its prevalence and consequences in 45 universities and research organisations in 15 Member States and Associated Countries;
- examined and assessed the extent to which measures to stop gender-based violence work or not through analysis of1 16 cases and 54 interviews;
- continued working on development of policy recommendations and practical tools for different stakeholders;
- disseminated the project’s outcomes and materials to the academic and policy-making community
Reports:
Report on Multi-level Analysis and Integrated Dataset;
UniSAFE’s Analysis of Interviews with Researchers at Higher risk of Gender-based Violence;
Gender-based Violence in Universities and Research Organisations National Fieldwork Report.
Read more: https://unisafe-gbv.eu/
FRANET – data collection and research on fundamental rights issues
Project manager: dr. Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič
Project duration: 2018 10 – 2023 01 31
Project team: dr. Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič, dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, dr. Kristina Šliavaitė
FRANET – multidisciplinary research network formed by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences as a contractor of FRA undertakes various scale research to provide FRA with objective, reliable and comparable data on fundamental rights issues to ensure the overall quality of the research and facilitate FRA’s comparative analyses at EU level.
Results:
Contribution to the Focus chapter of the Fundamental Rights Report 2022: Social rights and equality in light of the recovery from the COVID- 19 pandemic. Contractor: Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. Author: Daumantas Stumbrys
http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2022/social-rights-equality-recovery-covid-19#country-related
National projects
Ethnicity and social (in)justice in the urban spaces: investigation of historical and comtemporary processes (the cases of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda)
Project leader: dr. Kristina Šliavaitė
Project duration: 2024 09 02 – 2027 08 31
Source of funding: S-MIP-24-28, Research Council of Lithuania
Project team: dr. Kristina Šliavaitė, dr. Andrius Marcinkevičius, dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, Kornelija Čepytė.
Summary
The project will investigate the historical and contemporary processes of socio-ethnic differentiation and segregation in major Lithuanian cities. The research is planned to be carried out in several directions: a) analysis of scientific literature, published sources (censuses, press) and archival (historical) sources, b) analysis of social, educational, cultural, and crime protection policies and measures of specific urban districts, c) field research by conducting interviews and observations in targeted districts of the cities of Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda, which are characterised by ethnic and social diversity of the population. The project aims to find out whether and how residents of urban neighbourhoods of different generations and nationalities differentiate between urban neighbourhoods on the basis of ethnic, cultural and social criteria and access to services. More broadly, the study will reveal whether and how urban spaces are seen and experienced as socially, economically and ethnically differentiated and thus determining the social mobility opportunities of their inhabitants.
Ethnic, national and transnational identities and geopolitical atitudes of third-country nationals in Lithuania in the context of the war in Ukraine
Project leader: dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė
Project duration: 2023 04 03 – 2026 03 31
S-MIP-23-39, Research Council of Lithuania
Project partner is Vilnius University’s Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies
Project team: dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė (Institute of Sociology LCSS), specialist Janina Koliato (Institute of Sociology LCSS), dr. Kristina Garalytė (Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, VU), dr. Kristina Šliavaitė (Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, VU).
This project aims to research the nexus between identities (ethnic, national, transnational) and geopolitical atitudes of migrants in Lithuania from Ukraine, Belarus and India in the context of the war in Ukraine. We understand the war in Ukraine as a long-term process that began in 2014, including its causes, course and consequences that will likely span long atier the war will be over. We also view the war in Ukraine not merely as a regional, but also as a global event, creating food, energy and financial crises, restructuring the world’s geopolitical relations and directly affecting the lives and identities of people in different regions, directly or indirectly affected by war. The three groups of migrants (Ukrainians, Belarusians and Indians) were chosen for research due to their different proximity to the war and their home countries’ differing positioning with regards to the war. The research will focus on ethnically and regionally diverse groups of migrants, whose geopolitical atitudes are also likely to be significantly different and possibly even conflicting. Analyzing and comparing the narratives of migrants will allow us to understand how their identifications and geopolitical atitudes are affected by the immigration experiences in Lithuania in the context of the war in Ukraine. This will enable us to understand the points of contact and conflict among migrants in their perception of war and national belonging. The research is innovative because it explains underexplored processes of how national identities and geopolitical atitudes interact at the micro level. This research can be relevant in seeking a beter migrants’ integration into Lithuanian society.
Ethnicity, inclusion and agency in the narratives of national minorities on the restoration of Lithuanian statehood in 1990s
Project leader: dr. Kristina Šliavaitė
Project duration: 2021 03 08 – 2022 12 31
Project number: S-MOD-21-3, Lithuanian Research Council, National Research Program “Modernity in Lithuania“
Project team: dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, dr. Andrius Marcinkevičius, specialist Janina Koliato
The project aim was to investigate how the members of national minority groups in Lithuania memorize the historical events and processes of restoration of Lithuanian statehood at the end of the 20th century. We answer to the several questions – what role in these processes is attributed to the members of national minority groups by the members of these groups and how social memory of these events may differ depending on individual social characteristics. We focus on the narratives of members of national minorities on the period from the establishment of Sąjūdis movement till 1993 when the occupant soviet army left Lithuania. We analyse both written documents (the selected media sources in Lithuanian, Russian, Polish languages of particular periods) and unstructured or life story interview data. This research review how relatively recent historical events of restoration of Lithuanian independence are constructed/memorized be national minorities (Poles, Russians, individuals of mixed ethnic identity) in such sites as Vilnius and Vilnius area, Šalčininkai and Visaginas. The project enable to give voice to national minority members and reveal their active role in the restoration of Lithuanian statehood. This research is an important input in the creation of solidarity of different social groups. The aim of the project was not to reconstruct events, but analysis of the interaction of social memories and identities, context (mass media) and social memory.
RESULTS:
Monograph:
Šliavaitė, K., Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, M., Marcinkevičius, A.2023. Lietuvos valstybingumo atkūrimas tautinių mažumų perspektyvose: etniškumas, įtrauktis, pasirinkimai. (The restoration of Lithuanian statehood from the perspectives of national minorities: ethnicity, inclusion, choices).Vilnius: Lietuvos socialinių mokslų centras, Sociologijos institutas/BALTO print. 268 p. ISBN 978-609-8324-03-7, eISBN 978-609-8324-04-4.
Ethno-confessional identity and social inclusion in Lithuanian society after 1990: the cases of Russian Orthodox and Polish Catholics communities
Project leader: dr. Andrius Marcinkevičius
Project duration: 2019 05 01 – 2022 04 30
Project number: S-LIP-19-60, Lithuanian Research Council, Lithuanian Studies and Dissemination Program (2016–2024)
Project team: dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, dr. Kristina Šliavaitė, specialist Janina Koliato
The project investigates how ethno-confessional identity is constructed by members of different generations of Russian Orthodox and Poles Catholics in Lithuania. The project aims to identify the main social factors that shape the processes of social inclusion or exclusion of these social groups in different contexts as reflected by informants and as revealed in mass media and archival documents. The cases of Russian Orthodox and Poles Catholics enable to address the questions of interplay of ethnic and confessional identities in different generations, and how belonging to religious and ethnic minority (Russian Orthodox) and ethnic minority but religious majority (Poles Catholic) in Lithuania shape the processes of social inclusion or exclusion in different social contexts identified by informants. The researchers made the overview and analysis of policies and legal documents that regulate the rights of traditional religious communities in Lithuania since 1990; analysed the selected historical documents in archives to reconstruct the developmental path of particular ethno-religious communities; aimed to identify how ethno-confessional commonalities and differences are reflected in historical documents; conducted analysis of printed media in Polish and Russian languages and periodical publications issued by selected religious communities to identify the prevailing themes and issues addressed; conducted qualitative fieldwork among ethno-religious communities of Russian Orthodox and / or Poles Catholics in Vilnius, Kaunas, Visaginas, Švenčionys, Šalčininkai.
RESULTS:
Monograph:
Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, M., Marcinkevičius, A., Šliavaitė, K. 2022. Etniškumo ir religijos sąveika kintančiuose istoriniuose ir socialiniuose kontekstuose: Lietuvos lenkai ir rusai. [The Interplay of Ethnicity and Religion in Changing Historical and Social Contexts: Poles and Russians in Lithuania]. Vilnius: Lietuvos socialinių mokslų centras, Sociologijos institutas/BALTO print, 260 p. ISBN 978-609-96239-8-6 (spausdintinis), eISBN 978-609-96239-9-3.
Articles:
Marcinkevičius, A. 2021. Rusų etninės ir religinės tapatybės konstravimas Sąjūdžio laikotarpiu Kaune leistoje spaudoje rusų kalba. [Constructing Ethnic and Cnfessional Identity of Russian Population in the Press Published in Kaunas During the Sąjūdis period] //Kauno istorijos metraštis. VDU, 2021/19, p. 105-123. ISSN 1822-2617, eISSN 2335-8734.
Šliavaitė, K. 2021. Kalba, religija ir etniškumas mokyklose rusų ir lenkų mokomosiomis kalbomis Lietuvoje: įvairovės (ne)atpažinimo praktikos. [Language, Religion and Ethnicity at the Schools with Russian and Polish Language of Instruction in Lithuania: Practices of (Non)Recognition of Cultural Diversity] //Filosofija. Sociologija. Lietuvos mokslų akademijos leidykla. 2021. T. 32, Nr. 2, p. 133-140. ISSN 0235-7186.
Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, M. 2020. Etninių mažumų grupių religinės organizacijos Lietuvoje: etninio ir religinio identiteto aspektai ir jų sąsajos. [Religious Organizations of Ethnic Minority Groups in Lithuania: Some Aspects of Ethnic and Religious Identity and their Interaction] //Kultūra ir visuomenė: socialinių tyrimų žurnalas. 2020, Nr. 11 (2), p. 31-53. ISSN 2335-8777.
Social and historical justice in Lithuania: ethnic and generational perspective
Project leader: dr. Neringa Klumbytė (Miami university, USA)
Project duration: 2016 04 01 – 2018 12 31
Project number: S-LIP-031/2016, Lithuanian Research Council, Lithuanian Studies and Dissemination Program (2016–2024)
Project team: dr. Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, dr. Andrius Marcinkevičius, dr. Kristina Šliavaitė, specialist Janina Koliato
This project researched how different generation Lihuanian Russians and Lithuanians experience social and historical injustice. We based our analysis on the former research on social exclusion (Kideckel 2008, Klumbytė 2010, Šliavaitė 2005), according to which experiences of unfairness and injustice corelate with experiences of social, economic, and political marginalization and social insecurity. In Lithuania, in the last decade the studies of ethnic relations have focused on minority groups integration into the mainstream society (Kasatkina, Leončikas 2003, Beresnevičiūtė 2005, Muižnieks N. 2010). This research provided a different theoretical venue of analysis by engaging theories on human rights and social justice as well as ethnicity. We focused on interconnections among social exclusion, injustice and ethnicity in the changing historical, economic, political, and social contexts. We asked such questions as, when justice for some individuals and groups become injustice for others; how social exclusion is connected to understanting of historical justice; how experience of injustice are different among people of different generation, gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. The qualitative reserach was conducted in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Kaunas, Visaginas.
RESULTS:
Monograph:
Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, M., Klumbytė, N., Marcinkevičius, A., Šliavaitė, K. 2018. Socialinis ir istorinis teisingumas daugiaetninėje Lietuvos visuomenėje: sampratos, patirtys ir kontekstai. [Social and Historical Justice in Multiethnic Lithuania: Ideas, Expriences, and Contexts]. Vilnius: Lietuvos socialinių tyrimų centras/BALTO print, 320 p. ISBN 978-609-8193-19-0.
Articles:
Šliavaitė, K. 2020. Memory, identity and schooling: diverging and overlapping narratives about World War II and its outcomes at the schools with Russian as the language of instruction in Lithuania.//Journal of Baltic Studies. 2020, Vol. 51, Issue 3, Routledge. ISSN 0162-9778.
Klumbytė, N. 2019. Sovereign Uncertainty and the Dangers to Liberalism at the Baltic Frontier. Slavic Review, 78 (2): 336-347. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26846167
Frėjutė-Rakauskienė, M. 2018. Socialinio teisingumo aspektai rusų etninės grupės pilietinėje veikloje Lietuvoje. [Aspects of social justice in the civic participation of Russian ethnic group in Lithuania]. Filosofija. Sociologija. Lietuvos mokslų akademija, 29 (4), p. 239-245. ISSN 0235-7186.
Marcinkevičius, A. 2018. Holokaustas kaip istorinio teisingumo diskurso konstravimo aspektas Lietuvos spaudoje lietuvių ir rusų kalba. [Constructing Historical Justice Discourse in Lithuanian and Russian Press in Lithuania: The Case of Holocaust]. Filosofija. Sociologija. 29 (4), p. 246–252. ISSN 0235-7186.
Klumbytė, N. 2017. Bipolinio istorinio teisingumo struktūros ir politinė atskirtis. Lietuvos rusakalbių prisiminimai apie Antrąjį pasaulinį karą Lietuvos ir Rusijos istorijos politikos kontekste. [Political Exclusion and Bipolar Structures of Historical Justice. Memories of WWII among Lithuanian Russian-Speakers in the Context of the Politics of History in Lithuania and Russia]. //Sociologija. Mintis ir veiksmas. 2017/2 (41 ), p. 137-168. ISSN 1392-3358