NATIONAL PARTNER IN AZERBAIJAN

International Centre for Social Research, Baku, Azerbaijan (ICSR)

The International Center for Social Research (ICSR) is an independent, non-governmental, non-partisan and non-profit organization aimed at promoting research on problems of social-political and social-economical life in Azerbaijan. The ICSR was legally registered in October 2000 by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan Republic.

The ICSR mission is to contribute to the process of democratization and building of civil society, have an impact on the development of democratic institutions, democratic culture and market economy in Azerbaijan through high-level professional research, consultancy and training/education and related activities.

ICSR’s researchers are highly-qualified specialists and experts in the field of sociology, political science, economics, conflict resolution, international relations, philosophy and social psychology. The great majority of them has extensive international experience and received appropriate professional qualification. Most of them are alumni of various international scholars exchange programs (IREX/RSEP, Fulbright Program, The Edmund S. Muskie, etc), members of The US-educated Azerbaijan Alumni Association (AAA), UK-Azeri Alumni Network (AUKAA). Many have been affiliated with prominent Western universities, research centers and international agencies.

ICSR has extensive experience in completing research and practice-oriented (both national and international) projects related to topics as democratization, the building of civil society, promoting a culture of peace and tolerance, religiosity, regional integration and conflict resolution, gender and family issues, etc. ICSR has considerable organizational skills running large and logistically complicated seminars, training courses, conferences on different topics for various target groups.

ICSR has an extensive experience in conducting sociological surveys on a broad range of social issues using various methods (both quantitative and qualitative) of the data collection.

Recent Research Projects
  • Conducting a nation-wide sociological survey on the topic “Civil Society and Civic Participation in Azerbaijan”, Khazar University, within ISSICEU (“Intra- and Inter-Societal Sources of Instability in the Caucasus and EU Opportunities to Respond”) project, consortium is led by the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe at the University of St. Gallen, project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, 2015;
  • “World Values Survey (WVS) in Azerbaijan”, coordinated by WVS Association & WVS Executive Committee (Chairman Prof. Ronald Inglehart, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, USA), 2011-2012;
  • “Conducting the Public Perception Survey on Community Participation in Socio-Economic Development Activity Project in Azerbaijan”, The East-West Management Institute (EWMI), Socio-Economic Development Activity in Azerbaijan (SEDA), funded by USAID/Azerbaijan, 2012;
  • “Conducting In-depth Interviews with Leaders of Youth Organizations”, Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2012;
  • “Middle Class in Azerbaijan”, Nation-wide quantitative survey, Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2011;
  • “Public Support for Political Parties and Leaders on the Eve of Upcoming 2010 Parliamentary Elections in Azerbaijan: A Sociological Analysis”, Washington University in St. Louis (USA), supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), 2010 (see, http://polisci.wustl.edu/files/polisci/12.xxxfinalAPSAPolandsGeoAz.pdf);
  • “European Values Study (EVS) in Azerbaijan”, coordinated by the European Values Study (EVS) Foundation, Department of Sociology, Tilburg University, 2008-2010 (see, http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/evs/about-evs/organisation/newcouncil).
Team Leader and Principal Investigator: Dr. Tair Faradov.

Dr Tair Faradov is Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Democracy and Civil Society Studies, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, International Center for Social Research.

Research Interests: Public Opinion and Attitudes; Democratization; Civil Society; Social Development; Public Policy; Conflict Resolution, Interethnic Relations; Culture of Peace and Tolerance; Civic and Democracy Education; Sociology of Religion; Social Assessments.

Awards: 2006 - Ambassador for Peace, The Universal Peace Federation & Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace

Membership: Azerbaijan Sociologists’ Association, Member of the Board; International Sociological Association (ISA); Researchers Alliance for Development (RAD), World Bank; International Peace Research Association (IPRA); Ethnic Studies Network EAWARN/Network for Ethnological Monitoring and Early Warning; Central Eurasian Studies Society; International Collaborative Network of Geographers and Related Specialists: US and Southern Tier of Post-Socialist States; Soyuz: The Research Network for Post-Socialist Cultural Studies; The US-educated Azerbaijan Alumni Association (AAA); UK-Azeri Alumni Network (AUKAA).

Recent Publications
  • Brochure. “Qualitative Assessment of Major Causes of Violence Committed Against IDP/Refugee Women in Azerbaijan”, Baku, UNFPA, 2011 (in co-author with Rajab Sattarov).
  • Monograph. “The Mass Consciousness in Contemporary Azerbaijan: Searching for New Identities (A Sociological Analysis)”, Baku, “Adiloglu” Publishing house, 2005.
  • Research Report. “Civil Society in Azerbaijan: Challenges and Opportunities in Transition”, CIVICUS Civil Society Index Report for Azerbaijan, An international action-research project coordinated by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Baku, December 2007, International Center for Social Research (ICSR), http://www.civicus.org/media/CSI_Azerbaijan_Country_report.pdf (in co-author with Rajab Sattarov and Ilham Mamed-zade).
  • Research Report. “Foreign Policy Orientations in Azerbaijan: Public аnd Elite Opinion”, Azerbaijan, Baku, June, 2003, Final Report, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 2001-2003, www.nato.int/acad/fellow/01-03/faradov.pdf.
  • Research Report. “HIV and AIDS in Azerbaijan: A Socio-Cultural Approach”, Culture and Development Section, Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, UNESCO, Baku, “Adiloglu” Publishing house, 2005, www.unesco.org/cultural/aids, (in co-authorship).
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