Our project
The Institut de Recherches en Sciences Sociales (IRSS) is a federation of five research sub-units. Although specialized in specific disciplines and themes, and drawing on diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, they share a common vision of social science research and a common role in the community. Their integration into a single research unit institutionalizes a long tradition of scientific cooperation, and enhances the visibility and excellence of social science research at the University of Liège (ULiège), as well as on the national and international scene.
The Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM)
Founded in 1995, this center is dedicated to theoretical and empirical research in the fields of human migration, ethnic relations and racism. It is particularly interested in the relationship between migratory processes and inequalities in development. This research is carried out from a multi-disciplinary perspective: political science, sociology, anthropology, international relations and law. The Centre also aims to act as a forum for reflection and information, stimulating research into today's inescapable dimensions of cultural, identity and social dynamics, and relationships with politics. Through the organization of seminars and academic meetings, CEDEM also intends to encourage debate on the various facets of migration and ethnic minorities, placing them in an international context, and to initiate a thorough re-examination of our categories of analysis.
The Center for Sociological Research and Intervention (CRIS)
The aim of this center is to promote sociological research and intervention in the fields of organizational analysis, public action and social problems. It has contributed to the development of expertise in the fields of health, scientific and industrial innovation, the judiciary and social policy. In addition, by organizing seminars and study days, participating in international scientific networks, and publishing articles and books, CRIS aims to provide a forum for civic engagement and reflection between scientists and professionals. Through its sociological research and interventions, CRIS aims to provide a forum for the professionalization and commitment of its researchers.
Created by Olgierd Kuty in the early 1990s, the research center brings together various departments of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FaSS) at the University of Liège. It comprises six permanent academic and scientific staff and some fifteen researchers.
Laboratory of Social and Cultural Anthropology (LASC)
Founded in 2008, the main ambition of this laboratory is to offer teachers and researchers a space for discussion and exchange of ideas, an essential condition for the quality of their work and teaching. In addition to fostering synergies between teacher-researchers in anthropology at the FaSS, the LASC aims to provide a place for teaching through research for doctoral students and advanced students. The Laboratory defends a theoretical openness to the approaches represented within the discipline, and is careful not to close itself off in terms of themes, issues or fields. Theanthropology of childhood, theanthropology of communication and theanthropology of social dynamics are its main lines of research.
Observer les Mondes en Recomposition (OMER)
This research center focuses on the urban realities of developing societies in the South, and on new forms of globalization. It seeks to promote expertise, applied research and fundamental research aimed at social change in these societies. OMER encourages global and interdisciplinary reflection on the themes of North-South relations. It fosters exchanges between teachers, researchers and students within international research, teaching and cooperation networks. In collaboration with researchers from the South, it aims to develop active and sustainable scientific networks.
PragmApolis
PragmApolis is a social science research group interested in politics both as an activity of government and as a space of practical and discursive conflict. How are we governed? How are these practices of government and public policy contested or circumvented, whether in sub-political practices, within parties or as part of social movements? While the focus is on the critique of capitalism and the ethnographic approach to economic forms that seek to distinguish themselves from it, PragmApolis is also interested, more generally, in the whole range of social movements that seek to deploy distinct forms of life.
CLEO label
PragmApolis incorporates the expertise of the Centre Liègeois d'Etude de l'Opinion - CLEO, which specializes in qualitative and quantitative opinion-gathering methods. Innovative methods and techniques are developed by CLEO to integrate the hardest-to-reach audiences (usually excluded from opinion surveys) into survey protocols. Contact: Sébastien Fontaine (sebastien.fontaine@uliege.be).
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