Nikolai Genov

Nikolai Genov (Bulgarian: Николай Генов/Nikolaj Genow; born 1946) is a sociologist of Bulgarian origin. He received his Dr.phil. in sociology from the University of Leipzig in 1975 and Dr.sc. from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1986. In 1990 he became professor at BAS. Between 2002 and 2011 he was professor of sociology at the Institute of Sociology and Institute of Eastern European Studies of the Free University of Berlin. Since 2011 he is the head of the Institute of Global and Regional Development at the School of Advanced Social Studies in Slovenia. He has conducted research and taught at the universities of Berkeley, Bielefeld, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, Lund, Moscow, Rome, Seoul and Warsaw.

From 1980 till 1990 Genov was the organizer of the International Varna Sociological School. From 1990 till 1992 he was co-director of the Centre for Research and Documentation in the Social Sciences (the Vienna Centre). From 1994 to 1996 he was vice-president of UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations (MOST) program.From 2003 to 2008 he was a member of the advisory board of the program. From 1996 till 1998 he was member and from 1998 till 2002 vice-president of the International Social Science Council (ISSC, Paris). Between 2000 and 2010 he was Director of the UNESCO/ISSC International Summer School Comparative Research in the Social Sciences. From 2003 to 2005 he was Director of the Institute of Eastern European Studies at the Free University Berlin.

Research and teaching

Until 1989 Genov’s research and teaching was mostly focused on sociological theory and history of ideas. During this period he published the monographs "Talcott Parsons and the Theoretical Sociology" (1982) and "Rationality and Sociology" (1986) (in Bulgarian). After 1989 his research and teaching became increasingly occupied with transformation processes in various parts of the world and particularly in Eastern Europe. The monographs "The United States at the End of the XXth Century" (1991) and "The Rise of the Dragon: The Modernization of South Korea" (1994) as well as the collection "Risks of the Transition" (1994) (in Bulgarian) dealt with these topics. The theoretical core of these studies was the idea of four global trends called upgrading the rationality of organizations, individualization, spread of instrumental activism and universalization of value-normative systems. These concepts were later operationalized and guided a series of international comparative research projects coordinated by Genov: Personal and Institutional Strategies for Coping with Transformation Risks (UNESCO/MOST, 1997-2001); Ethnic Relations in South Eastern Europe (Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, 2003-2005); Interethnic Integration (EU, 2005-2007); Migration in the Post-Soviet Space (Volkswagen Foundation, 2008-2010).

Publications

Nikolai Genov is an author with more than 300 scientific articles and books, that were published in 28 countries.

Selected publications in English:

• 1989: National Traditions in Sociology, SAGE(ed.) ISBN 080-3981-97-X
• 1999: Managing Transformations in Eastern Europe, UNESCO/MOST, ISBN 954-8443-08-2
• 1999: Unemployment: Risks and Reactions (ed.)UNESCO/MOST, ISBN 954-8443-07-4
• 2000: Continuing Transformation in Eastern Europe (ed.),Trafo, ISBN 978-3-89626-216-5
• 2001: Recent Social Trends in Bulgaria (co-ed.) McQueens University Press, ISBN 0-7735-2022-8
• 2004: Advances in Sociological Knowledge Over Half a Century (ed.), VS-Verlag, ISBN 3-8100-4012-6
• 2005: Ethnicity and Educational Policies in South Eastern Europe (ed.), LIT-Verlag, ISBN 3-8258-8594-1
• 2006: Ethnicity and Mass Media in South Eastern Europe. LIT-Verlag (ed.) ISBN 3-8258-9348-0
• 2007: Upgrading the Rationality of Organizations. FU, Institute of Eastern European Studies, ISSN 1864-533X
• 2007: Comparative Research in the Social Sciences (ed.), ISSC, ISBN 978-954-8443-13-5
• 2008: Interethnic Integration in Five European Societies, (ed.) Krämer, ISBN 978-3-89622-096-7
• 2010: Global Trends in Eastern Europe. Ashgate, ISBN 978-1-4094-0965-6
• 2011: Transboundary Migration in the Post-Soviet Space (co-ed.), Peter Lang, ISBN 978-3-631-61485-3
• 2012: Global Trends and Regional Development, (ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-89763-1

External links

• Nikolai Genov on the website of the Free University of Berlin
• Curriculum Vitae (PDF-File; 445 kB)