EURODATA Newsletter No. 5 Article 3 p.11-15

EKKE - National Centre for Social Research, Athens

Nikiforos Diamandouros

The Greek National Centre for Social Research continues the work of the Athens Centre for the Social Sciences, which was founded in 1959 under the auspices of the UNESCO. It operates as a public entity under public law and constitutes the most important public institution of social research in Greece. The centre has been restructured in the last few years, and research now concentrates on three research fields. The centre has published a large number of outstanding studies in its history. In addition, it publishes the major sociological journal on the Greek society.

The National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) was founded in 1959, initially under the name of the Athens Centre for Social Sciences. It belongs to the wider public and is the most significant institution of social research in Greece.

Its main objectives are:

• to foster the generation of knowledge in the social sciences through the promotion of collective, interdisciplinary and comparative social research
• to conduct research focusing on social structures and social change in Greek society
• to promote and advance social scientific inquiry and methods
• to publish the results of research projects conducted and scholarly conferences held under the auspices or in collaboration with other scholarly organisations
  • to organise conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures on social science as well as methodological topics
  • to cooperate with public and private organisations in Greece and abroad regarding the application of research findings that can be translated into specific public policies affecting different aspects of Greece and, more generally, modern industrial societies.

In pursuit of the above, EKKE seeks to establish contacts and develop collaborative arrangements with social science institutions and research centres located in Greece and abroad, especially in Europe. Included in its network of institutional collaborators are various directorates of the European Commission, the European Association of Development Institutes (EADI), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UNESCO, the Vienna Centre and the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES).

The centre's research staff comes from different disciplinary backgrounds, such as anthropology, criminology, demography, economics, geography, political science, sociology and statistics. A highly skilled technical staff, a solid administrative infrastructure and a modern computer centre ensure EKKE's capacity to deliver high quality products.

The Centre's research activities are organised around its Research Institutes. These are:

1. The Institute of Urban and Rural Sociology,

whose research initiatives focus on multifaceted issues, such as forms of sociality, social relationships and exchange networks, the uses of leisure time and related cultural practices, refugee and immigrant communities and their interrelation with complex phenomena such as nationalism, xenophobia and racism.

The Institute's current research activities revolve around the following major projects:

Social Geography of the Urban Space: thematic cartography, social and occupational structure of cities, urban problems and urban renewal.

Work: employment structure, unemployment and labour market restructuring, gender and work, informal employment.

Family: structure, roles and organisation of families, family strategies of up-ward mobility, the family and the welfare state.

Rural Community and Society: social and demographic transformation, processes of economic and political incorporation, productive structures.

Agriculture and Agricultural Enterprises: family agriculture, multiple employment and agricultural enterprises, cooperative and labour movements.

Environment: resource use in agriculture and the rural space, agricultural activities, pollution and environmental awareness, environmental organisations.

Tourism: social, economic and environmental implications of the development of tourism; new, special and alternative forms of tourism, models of local tourist development.

2. The Institute of Political Sociology,

whose current research agenda centres on four major areas:

a. Political System, Administration, Institutions: The objects of inquiry are research on Greek public administration, the implications of new technologies for the administration, the internal organisation of the administration, the consequences of information technology for organisational planning and state-citizen relations, political parties and political personnel (development of data files from 1910 on).

b. Mass Communication and Politics: the implications of new communication technologies for politics, mass media and political parties (differentiation and re-adjustment of politics and political discourse), problems faced by democracy in contemporary information society (protection and control mechanisms).

c. Political Participation, Political Behaviour: analyses of electoral results and voting behaviour, electoral analysis, electoral geography, regional electoral structures, political participation.

d. Political System and Social Participation: political culture (data bank with information on social values), minorities in Greece, nationalism and national identity, forms of social exclusion, conditions for attaining social cohesion, "rational" and "irrational" structures of the Greek political system.

3. The Institute of Social Policy,

which seeks to generate new and innovative insights in the social policy field through the systematic study of a wide range of issues and problems. These are:

Welfare and Social Care Problems - Social Protection: the elderly, disabled persons, mental health, equitable resource allocation, social inequalities.

Social Security Issues: social insurance and its demographic contingencies; rationalisation of social insurance funds, uniformity and unification of different social funds.

Social Exclusion: identification and assessment of the dimensions of social exclusion in Greece, research on disadvantaged social groups.

Health Policy Issues: evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness in health care, economic analysis and cost of health sectors, socioeconomic inequalities in health.

Unemployment, Employment and Restructuring in Industrial Relations: unemployment and socioeconomic inequalities, new forms in the organisation of work, restructuring, reduction and flexibility in work schedules.

Youth Problems - Women's Issues: Youth characteristics, youth health education, drug use, AIDS, smoking, interpersonal relations, use of free time, women in the labour market, single mothers, women and deviance.

Demography: Demographic ageing and social policy, historical demo-graphy, indices of demographic change in contemporary Greek society, fertility.

Family: sociological perspectives of family, divorce, internal family organisation, family policy, values of the modern Greek family.

In conducting their research, the Centre's institutes and their staff rely on the following administrative support structures:

The Centre houses the most specialised library in the field of social sciences in the country. This library contains approximately 35,000 volumes of books and 450 titles of journals, covering all fields of social sciences. It is open to the public and collaborates closely with many other libraries in Greece and abroad.

The Publications Division is responsible for the Centre's monographic as well as serial and other irregularly produced publications.

The Division of Research Support provides methodological and technical guidance to all researchers including data compilation and processing.

The Centre's Social Data and Social Indicators Data Bank and

a Liaison Office responsible for the dissemination of research findings and products, the monitoring of research opportunities, the identification and pursuit of funding sources and the systematic dissemination of pertinent information among the staff.

EKKE Publications

EKKE has published since its foundation in 1959 a large number of important books on social, demographic, economic and historical issues.

Studies/Monographs

1. Angelopoulos, Angelos: Essays on Greek Migration, 1967. 190 p.

2. Vlachos, E.: The Assimilation of Greeks in the USA, 1968. 200 p.

3. Kayser, B.: Human Geography of Greece, 1968 (in Greek). 152 p.

4. Kayser, B., P.-Y. Péchoux, M. Sivignon: Exode Rural et Attraction Urbaine en Grèce, 1971. 170 p.

5. Koumoulides, J.: Cyprus and the War of Greek Independence 1821-1829, 1971. 134 p.

6. Weber, M.: Articles on the Theory of Social Science, Vol. I, 1972 (in Greek), Vol. II, 1972 (in Greek). 166+170 p.

7. Tavuchis, N.: Family and Mobility among Greek-Americans, 1972. 194 p.

8. Andréou, N.: Le Collectivisme Israélien, 1973. 288 p.

9. Kazepides, A.: The Autonomy of Education, 1973. 108 p.

10. Koutras, D.: The Social Ethics of Aristotle, 1973 (in Greek).

11. Papageorgiou, C.: Regional Employment in Greece, Vol. I, 1973 (in Greek), Vol. II, 1973 (in Greek). 286+156 p.

12. Tryphonopoulos, S.: Attitudes Towards Formal and Adult Education, 1973. 96 p.

13. Philip, A.: History of Economic and Social Development, Vol. I, 1973 (in Greek); Vol. II, 1982 (in Greek), 162 p.

14. Houliarakis, M.: Area, Administrative Division and Population of Greece (Evolution, 1821-1971), Vol. I, Part I, 1973 (in Greek); Vol. I, Part II, 1974 (in Greek); Vol. II, 1975 (in Greek); Vol. III, 1976 (in Greek). 262+334+446+422 p.

15. Aron, R.: The Contemporary German Sociology, 1974. 198 p.

16. Gizelis, G.: Narrative Rhetorical Devices of Persuasion, 1974. 156 p.

17. Carmocolias, D.: Political Communication in Greece, 1965-67, 1974.

18. Negreponti-Deliviani, M.: Manufacture in Northern Greece, 1974 (in Greek). 202 p.

19. Tsaousi, D., E. Korre-Crueger: Juvenile Delinquency in the Capital City Area, 1974 (in Greek). 134 p.

20. Barbut, M.: Mathematics of Social Sciences. Vol. I, 2nd ed. 1986, Vol. II, 1975 (in Greek). 288+318 p.

21. Pressat, R.: Social Demography, 1975 (in Greek). 196 p.

22. Terlexis, P.: Political Orientation and Social Change, 1975 (in Greek). 390 p.

23. Duverger, M: Methods of Social Sciences, Vol. II, 1976 (in Greek). 322 p.

24. Renouvin, P., J.B. Duroselle: Introduction à l'Histoire des Relations. Vol. I, 1977 (in Greek). 494 p.

25. Anderson, Lynn R. et al.: Personality and Attitudes of Greek University Students, 1980 (in Greek). 366 p.

26. Iatridis, D.: Social Planing and Policy Alternatives in Greece, 1980. 320 p.

27. Kassimati, K.: Labour Mobility in Greek Industry, 1980 (in Greek). 192 p.

28. Daskalakis et al., I.: Granting of Penal Justice in Greece, 1983 (in Greek). 360 p.

29. Karapostolis, V.: Consumption Behaviour in the Greek Society, 1960-1975, 2nd ed. 1983 (in Greek). 356 p.

30. Fragos, D.: The Long-Standing Developments of the Economically Non-Active Population of Greece, 1983 (in Greek).

31. Gizelis G. et al.: Changing Patterns of the Cultural Activity within the Greek Family, 1984 (in Greek).

32. Kassimati, K.: Training Centres of Manpower Employment Organisation, 1984 (in Greek). 178 p.

33. Kassimati, K.: Migration - Repatriation. Manyfold Aspects of the Second Generation Migrants, 1984 (in Greek).

34. Katsanevas, Th.: Trade Unions in Greece, 1984. 284 p.

35. Pantazidis, K., K. Kassimati: Size and Composition of the Population of Athens, 1984 (in Greek).

36. Tsougiopoulos, G.: The Greek Urban Centre, Vol. I, 1984 (in Greek). 130 p.

37. Nikolakopoulos, I.: Atlas of the Parliamentary Election of 18 October 1981, 1985 (in Greek). XVI p.

38. Nikolakopoulos, I.: Parties and Parliamentary Elections in Greece, 1946-1964, 1985 (in Greek).

39. Sorocos, E.: La Morphologie Sociale du Pirée à Travers son Evolution, 1985. 278 p.

40. Ifantopoulos, I.: Planning of the Health Sector in Greece, 1985 (in Greek). 484 p.

41. Psaharopoulos, G., A. Kazamias: Education and Development in Greece. Social and Economic Study of the Post-Secondary Education, 1985 (in Greek).

42. Kolodny, E.: Samothrace sur Neckar: Des Migrants Grecs dans l'Agglomération de Stuttgart, 1986 (in Greek). 150 p.

43. Kovani, E.: Research in Rural Greece, 1986 (in Greek).

44. Amira, A., E. Georgiadi, A. Teperoglou: Day-Care Centres for the Aged, 1986 (in Greek). 118 p.

45. Pitsiou, E.: Life Styles of Older Athenians, Vol. I, 1986. 308 p.

46. Pitsiou, E.: Life Styles of Older Athenians, Vol. II: Social and Psychological Adaption to Aging Among Older Athenians, 1986. 100 p.

47. Ministry of Health, Welfare and Social Security (HWSS) and EKKE: National Directory of Social Service Agencies and Organizations, Vol. I, 1986 (in Greek); Vol. II, 1986 (in Greek); Vol. III, 1986 (in Greek). 424+742+716 p.

48. Terlexis, P.: The Political System, 1987 (in Greek). 348 p.

49. Damianakos, S.: Aspects du Changement Social dans la Campagne Grecque, 1987.

50. Psychogios, D.: Dowries, Taxes, Currant and Bread: Family and Economy in the Rural Greece of the 19^th Century, 1987 (in Greek).

51. Teperoglou, A. et al.: Leisure Time, Interpersonal Relations in the Young, Part B, 1987 (in Greek), 422 p.; Part A, 1988 (in Greek), 132 p.

52. Psychogios, D. et al.: The Economic and Social Transformation of the Peasant Communities, 1987 (in Greek). 114 p.

53. Frangos, D.: The Old Age Population in Greece, 1987 (in Greek). 106 p.

54. Houliarakis, M.: Development of the Old Age Population in the Rural Areas in Greece, 1920-1981, 1988 (in Greek). 574 p.

55. Karagiorgas, S., K. Kassimati, N. Pantazidis: Research on the Income Distribution in Greece, Part A: Results of the Greater Capital Area, 1988 (in Greek). 242 p.

56. Burgel, G.: Pobia: Etude Géogra-phique d'un Village Crétois, 2^e éd., 1988. 142 p.

57. Zarnari, O. et al.: Health and Greek Society: Empirical Research, 1988 (in Greek). 440 p.

58. EKKE: The Rural People in the Mediterranean Area. Proceedings of the Seminar Organized by the Greek-French Scientific and Technical Society, Athens, 4-7 December 1984, 1988 (in Greek). 646 p.

59. Kayser, B., P.-Y. Péchoux, M. Sivignon: Trois Etudes sur la Grèce Rurale: Margariti, la Plaine du Nestos, Samarina, vers 1960-68 (réed. des nos. 45, 48, 50), 1989. 170 p.

60. Tsartas, P.: Social and Economic Impacts of Tourism Development in the Cyclades Prefecture and Especially in the Islands of Ios and Serifos during the Period 1950-1980, 1989 (in Greek). 276 p.

61. Gutenschwager, G.: The Political Economy of Health in Modern Greece, 1989 (in Greek). 210 p.

62. Kassimati, K.: Selection of Profession: Reality or Myth, 1989 (in Greek).

63. Kassimati, K., E. Allison: Research on the Social Characteristics of Employment. Study II: The Morphology of Second Employment, 1989 (in Greek). 165 p.

64. Patiniotis, N.: Structural Dependence and Migration: The Case of Greece, 1990 (in Greek). 299 p.

65. Karagiorgas, S. et al.: Dimensions of Poverty in Greece. Vol. I, 1990, p. 1-307 (in Greek); Vol. II, 1990, p. 308-884 (in Greek).

66. Behrakis, Th., Ef. Nikolaidis: Statistical Analysis of Textual Data, 1990 (in Greek). 272 p.

67. Symeonidou, H.: Employment and Fertility of the Married Woman in the Capital Area of Greece, 1990 (in Greek). 287 p.

68. Teperoglou, A. et al.: Evaluation of the Services of the Open-care Centres for the Elderly, 1990 (in Greek). 184 p.

69. Vermeulen, H. et al.: Greeks in Holland, 1990 (in Greek). 165 p.

70. Kassimati, K.: Research on the Social Characteristics of Employment. Study I: Occupational Choice, 1991 (in Greek). 436 p.

71. Mendras, Henri: Principles of Sociology, 1991 (in Greek). 399 p.

72. Tsartsas, P.: Research on the Social Characteristics of Employment. Study III: Tourism and Agricultural Effects, 1991 (in Greek). 189 p.

73. Symeonidou, H.: Socio-economic Determining Factors of Productivity in Greece. Vol. I, 1992 (in Greek). 289 p.

74. Thanopoulou, Maria: Research on the Social Characteristics of Employment. Study IV: Female Employment and Work, 1992 (in Greek). 118 p.

75. Argoud, Gilbert et al. (eds.): L'Eau et les Hommes en Méditerranée et en Mer Noire dans l'Antiquité. Actes du Congrès International, Athènes 20-14 mai 1988, 1992. 555 p.

76. EKKE: Social Research in Greece: Proceedings of the EKKE Conference, 1993 (in Greek). 720 p.

77. Damianakos, Stathis, Marie Elisabeth Handman, Julian Pitt-Rivers, Georges Ravis-Giordani (eds.): Les amis et les autres: Mélanges en L'honneur de John Peristiany - Brothers and Others, Essays in Honour of John Peristiany, 1995 (in English and French). 264 p.

78. Kovani, Eleni: When you Hear the Voice of the Crane: Youth and Village, 1995 (in Greek). 219 p.

79. Kouveli, Anastasia: Housing Conditions in Large Urban Centers of the Country: Typology of Residence, 1995 (in Greek). 475+31 p.

80. Maratou-Alipranti, Laoura: The Family in Athens: Family Models and Conjugal Practices, 1995 (in Greek, Summary in English and French). 194 p.

81. Petronoti, Marina: Research on the Social Characteristics of Employment. Study V: Networks of Social Relations. Facets and Interrelationships with the Process of Occupational Mobility, 1995 (in Greek). 188 p.

82. Tsartas, Paris et al.: The Social Consequences of Tourism in the Prefectures of Corfu and Lasithi, 1995 (in Greek). 376 p.

83. Tsili, Sosso: Drug Use as Ideology at Stake: The Case of Greece, 1995 (in Greek). 301 p.

84. Psychogios, Dimitris: Dowries, Taxes, Raisins and Bread: Economy and Family in Rural Greece of the 19th Century (2nd ed.), 1995 (in Greek). 200 p.

85. Kotzamanis, Byron, Laoura Maratou-Alipranti, Aphrodite Teperoglou, Maria Tzortzopoulou (eds.), Ageing and Society, Proceedings of the National Conference of the National Centre for Social Research, 1996 (in Greek). 615 p.

86. EKKE: Dimensions of Social Exclusion in Greece. Main Themes and Definition of Political Priorities. 2 vols., 1996 (in Greek, with English abstracts). 525+343 p.

In print

87. Kaftanzoglou, R.: Relatives and Domestic Organisation (in Greek). 250 p.

88. Kotzamanis, Byron, J.P. Sardon: The Demographic Development of Greece and France - Comparative Studies (bilingual ed.). Studies in the Framework of the Greek-French Exchange.

89. Kouveli, A.: Centres of Location in the Big Urban Centres of the Country (in Greek). 200 p.

90. Kouveli, A.: Socio-economic Inequality in the Field of Location: Big Urban Centres of Greece (in Greek). 440 p.

91. Balourdos, D.: Demographic Survey of Distribution of Pensioners (in Greek). 300 p.

92. Mirizakis, I.: Free Time of Youth: Psychological and Athletic Effects (in Greek). 120 p.

93. Sinopoulos, P.A.: Work in Relation to the Solidar Family Type (in Greek). 200 p.

94. Sorokos, Efst., L. Maratou-Alipranti, A. Hatzigianni, V. Papliakou: Processes of Social Change in Peiraias: Transport, Family, Work (in Greek). 200 p.

95. Symeonidou, H.: Socio-economic Determining Factors of Productivity in Greece. Vol. II: Analysis by Districts (in Greek). 250 p.

The Greek Review of Social Research

EKKE also publishes a quarterly journal entitled The Greek Review of Social Research, which covers a wide range of topics.

The production of this journal was started in July 1969. It has been published continuously since that time. The most recent edition is number 88 from 1995. Nearly all contributions are in Greek. The journal was supplemented by several special editions, also including articles in French and English:

Special numbers

Aspects du changement social dans la campagne grecque, numéro spécial, 1981, 272 p.

Publication in honor of Ilia Daskalaki, Spring 1988 (No. 68A), 402 p.

Political Behaviour, 1988 (No. 69A), 158 p.

Income Distribution and Economic Inequalities, Summer 1990 (No. 73A), 249 p.

Changement social et localités, 1990 (No. 74A), 227 p.

Political Culture: Comparative Analyses and Critical Reflections, Summer 1990 (No. 75A), 151 p.

EKKE publishes a "Publications Catalogue", the most recent one being for 1996. This catalogue lists all titles still on stock. A more extensive cumulative publications catalogue was published in Spring 1990. Another good source of documentation of EKKE's publishing activity is the small history of EKKE published in 1989 on the occasion of the 30's anniversary of the foundation of the centre (EKKE, National Centre for Social Research, Athens 1989, 137 p.) All these catalogues are published in Greek only.

The development of sociology and social research in Greece in general is described by Jane Lambiri-Dimaki in a recent article (for bibliographical reference see p. 30 of this newsletter).

For further information, please contact:

The National Centre for Social Research

14-18 Messogheion Street
GR-115 27 Athens, Greece
Phone:(30-1) 748 9131-5
Fax:(30-1) 748 9127, 748 9120, 748 9143

Prof. Nikiforos Diamandouros has recently been elected as Scientific Director of The National Centre for Social Research.