Fatos Tarifa


Fatos Tarifa is a social scientist and a former diplomat from Albania.

Education

Tarifa has a double doctorate, with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Tirana. He has been, inter alia, a lecturer, a researcher and a distinguished visiting fellow since 1981, when he joined the School of Political Science and Law at the University of Tirana. In 1992 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at the Department of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Career

Tarifa served as Albanian ambassador to the Netherlands and to the United States. Currently he is Professor of Sociology and International Relations, and Director of the Institute for Studies on Democracy and Development at the University of New York Tirana. Tarifa has taught and conducted research at the University of Tirana, the European University of Tirana, the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, Webster University, Campbell University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Eastern Michigan University and he has delivered lectures at institutions of higher education throughout the world, such as Duke University, Stanford University, New York University, Harvard University, Brown University, the University of California at Berkeley, Tufts University, the University of Essex, and the University of Amsterdam.
Tarifa has authored, co-authored and edited 45 books and more than 90 journal articles. His books and articles have covered topics ranging from democratic transition and social issues in Eastern Europe to Human development, and current international affairs. In 1998 he became the founding Editor of "Sociological Analysis", an innovative, international scholarly journal published at Chapel Hill, NC, which he edited for 15 years. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the "Journal of Social Sciences" and the "Journal of Applied Social Science".
Dr. Tarifa will probably be best remembered as the leader of a campaign to introduce the discipline of sociology into higher education in Albania. He is widely considered to be "the founder of sociological studies in Albania, and one of the country's most prominent social scientists". Tarifa has "already earned the title of father of Albanian sociology, a moniker he has generally resisted".

Main publications

The First Decade and After – The Breakdown of State Socialism and the Emerging Post-Socialist Order – Culture, Ideology, and Society – The Quest for Legitimacy and the Withering Away of Utopia – The Balkans: A Mission neither Accomplished nor Impossible – To Albania, with Love – Europe Adrift on the Wine-Dark Sea –
  • Jeta shoqerore si eksperience sociologjike –
  • Saga e dy kontinenteve – Vengeance is Mine: Justice Albanian Style –
  • Amerikanofobia dhe anti-amerikanizmi europian –
  • Europa e pabashkuar –
  • Paradigma e tranzicionit demokratik –
  • Kaloresit e humbur te kryqezates anti-Kadare –
  • Rilindja e Europes –
  • Fati i nje shekulli – Letters to America / Letra Amerikes –
  • Dinamika e modernitetit pluralizues -
  • Politika dhe historia -
  • Dija, universiteti dhe demokracia -
  • Pamundesia e projektit europian -
  • Shkencat e shoqërisë: Sociologjia si disiplinë integruese për studimin e jetës shoqërore with a Foreword by Anthony Giddens -
  • Përplasje qytetërimesh? Radikalizmi islamik në kontekst historik dhe politik -
  • Arsim i lartë për një shoqëri të hapur -
  • Politika si gramatikë dhe metaforë -
  • Imagjinata sociologjike dhe bota jonë sociale -
  • Një botë e mbarsur për shekullin e 21-të - Bona fide -
  • Hakmarrja është imja: Morfologjia sociale dhe gramatika morale e gjakmarrjes