About the Institute

The Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISRAS) is a leading social research institution in the Russian Federation. It was created to advance social theory, engage in fundamental social studies and provide practical counsel to better the living conditions of the Russian population.

The Institute came into existence on June 14, 1968 as a further step to expand and develop the Department of Concrete social research of the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Science.

 In 1988 it assumed a new name – the Institute of Sociology of the now Russian Academy of Sciences. Dramatic social change initiated by the process of perestroika influenced the Institute’s research agenda. The Institute set out to explore the fundamental structures and issues that affected life in the Soviet Union.

In 1991 a group of scientists led by Academician Gennady Osipov left the Institute and founded a new research institution – the Institute for Socio-political studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPR RAS).

The reorganization campaign launched by the Academy of Sciences in 2005 led to a merger of the Institute with two other Institutes – the Institute of Comparative Social Research and the Institute of Comparative Political Research.

As a focal research institution the ISRAS has always been headed by prominent, renowned scientists:

• 1968-1972 Rumiantsev A. M. (Doctor of Economic Sciences, Academician)
• 1972-1976 Rutkevich M. N. (Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
• 1976-1983 Riabushkin T. V. (Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
• 1983-1988 Ivanov V. N. (Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
• 1988-2000 Yadov V.A. (Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor)
• 2000-2005 Drobizheva L. M. (Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, currently - Head of the Center for Interethnic Relations Research)
• Since 2005 Gorshkov M. K. (Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Academician)  

Currently the Institute’s staff incorporates close to 400 employees out of which 300 are researchers. One Academician, two corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60 Doctors and 100 Candidates of sciences are now engaged in research projects of various magnitude and direction.

 ISRAS Structure

The Institute incorporates thirteen research centers, four regional branches, a data bank and one laboratory. The institute’s research agenda is brought into being by its research centers:

• Center for Theoretical Studies and History Of Sociology (Head: Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Danilova E. N.)
• Center for Social Research Methodology (Head: Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Senior Research Officer, Kosolapov M. S.)
• Center for the Sociology of Education, Science and Culture (Head: Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor, Klucharev G. A.)
• Center for the Studies of Social Structure and Stratification (Head: Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor, Golenkova Z. T.)
• Center for the Study of Adaptation Process in a Changing Society (Head: Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Kozyreva P. M.)
• Center for the Study of Inter-Ethnic Relations (Head: Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Drobizheva L. M.)
• Center for the Study of Religion in a Contemporary Society (Head: Doctor of Political Sciences, Loginov A. V.)
• Center for the Sociology of Management and Social Technology (Head: Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Tikhonov A. V.)
• Center for Regional Sociology and Conflict Studies (Head: Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Markin V. V.)
• Center for Complex Social Studies (Head: Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Petukhov V. V.)
• Center for Political Science and Political Sociology (Head: Doctor of Political Sciences, Zhelezniakov A. S.)
• Scientific-Educational Center (Head: Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor, Golenkova Z. T.)
• IT-Center (Head: Grigorieva E. I.)
• Evaluation Laboratory (Head: Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Batykov I. V.)
• Volga Affiliation (Head: Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Lubyanoy M. S.)
• South-Russian Affiliation (Head: Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor Volkov Yu. G.)
• Bashkir Affiliation (Head: Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Valiahmetov R. M.)
• West Siberian Affiliation (Head: Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Yudashkin V. A.)

Journals and Publications

From the day of its birth, the Institute has been committed to support the publication activity in the field of social science. It has been a cofounder of the following major journals:

• Sociological Journal (Sotsiologicheskij Zhurnal)
• Sociological Studies (Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya)
• Sociology: 4M (Sotsiologiya 4M)
• Polis. Political Studies (Polis. Politicheskie Issledovaniya)
• Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology (Vestnik Instituta Sotziologii)
• Humanitarians of the South of Russia (Gumanitariy Yuga Rossiya)
• Sociological Science and Social Practice (Scociologicheskaja Nauka i Social'naja Practika)

In addition the Institute runs an analytical bulletin with a range of hot topics in social sciences. The Institute annually releases a monograph entitled “Russia in Reform” that aggregates the most significant contributions by the Institute’s researchers ranging from sociological theory to survey data analysis. Every year the Institute researchers publish close to 30 books and 300 articles in leading sociological journals.