Rustamjon Urinboyev
Lund University, Sociology of Law, Faculty Member
- Law, Public Administration, Informal Economy, Democracy and Good Governance, Sociology of Law, Ethnography, and 56 moreEthnography of State, Political Stability, Living (Customary) Law, Legal Ethnography, legal ethnography of Muslim societies, Law and Society, Central Asian Studies, Central Asia, Welfare State, Socio-legal studies, Post-Soviet Studies, Legitimacy and Authority, Welfare, DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN UZBEKISTAN, Living Law, Social Media, Ethics, Social Change, Technology and Society, Copyright, Social Norms, Norms of Public Administration, Anthropology, Political Science, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Political Economy, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Political Sociology, Nationalism, Social Theory, Political Anthropology, Central Eurasian Studies, Colonialism, Imperialism, Empire, Democratization, Mahalla, Norms, Social Control, Social Anthropology, Migration Studies, Russian Studies, Philosophy Of Law, Law Enforcement, Copyright enforcement, International Law, Legal Theory, Legal History, Law and Development, Legal Anthropology, Normativity, Security, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Prostitution, and Prostitution, Sex Work, Legal Geographiesedit
- Rustam Urinboyev’s current research focuses on the everyday life and socio-legal integration of Central Asian migrant... moreRustam Urinboyev’s current research focuses on the everyday life and socio-legal integration of Central Asian migrant workers in Moscow, Russia, specifically investigating how migrants negotiate and maneuver around the Russian legal system (e.g. police, immigration officials, border guards) and informal structures (e.g. intermediaries, protection rackets). He is currently developing a new research project on protection rackets, "street life” and informal justice in Moscow, Russia.
His main research interests focus on state-society relations, pre-Soviet (Islamic) traditional governance structures in Central Asia, corruption and legal pluralism, law and society in Central Asia, and migration governance in post-Soviet societies. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in post-Soviet Uzbekistan where his doctoral thesis examined the interlinkages between traditional governance structures and political stability.edit
Research Interests: Ethnography and Uzbek
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Smartphones and social media have become inextricable parts of our daily lives. The everyday lives and communication practices of migrant workers are particularly affected by these global technological developments. Such global... more
Smartphones and social media have become inextricable parts of our daily lives. The everyday lives and communication practices of migrant workers are particularly affected by these global technological developments. Such global developmental trends are especially visible within the growing body of scholarly literature on migrant transnationalism and technology, where mobile phones are examined as central drivers of migrant transnationalism. However, the bulk of the existing literature on “migration and mobile phone technology” focuses on the case studies of immigrant communities living in Western democracies (e.g., the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia). Given the sociopolitical and cultural differences between Western and post-Soviet contexts, we cannot assume that theoretical insights and tools developed in Western contexts are fully applicable in the Russian context. The Russian context provides intriguing insights to “migration and mobile phone technology” debates...
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In this chapter, we explore the multifaceted role, logic and morality of informal transactions in order to better understand the socio-legal context informing the meaning of corruption. Our aim is to show how informal or illegal practices... more
In this chapter, we explore the multifaceted role, logic and morality of informal transactions in order to better understand the socio-legal context informing the meaning of corruption. Our aim is to show how informal or illegal practices (‘corruption’ from a legal standpoint) not only mirror kleptocracy, individual greed, economic interests or survival strategies, but also reflect social norms generated through kinship, social status, hierarchies, affection, reciprocity and reputation. We argue that any anti-corruption strategies should be built on a deep knowledge of social norms and local context that determine the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of everyday social behavior. Our chapter is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork between 2009 and 2016 in Uzbekistan.
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Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted nature of mobility within, and beyond, post-socialist spaces. Based on a large number of case studies from a variety of authors, it engages... more
Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted nature of mobility within, and beyond, post-socialist spaces. Based on a large number of case studies from a variety of authors, it engages with the distinct effects mobility leads to depending on the context. It also explores the causal relationship between enhanced mobility (of people, services, capitals) in the region and the rise, existence and development of informal practices. Mobility is understood here as trans-national, and trans-regional, so that the book is an attempt to go beyond boundaries and borders, acknowledging the variety of mobilities that one can observe in the region. We acknowledge the fact that mobility, as a topic, may be interpreted in an extremely broad sense so that, while collecting our chapters, we asked our authors to construct their empirical case around the question of how mobility can generate, modify and reshape informal practices within a given contex...
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Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted nature of mobility within, and beyond, post-socialist spaces. Based on a large number of case studies from a variety of authors, it engages... more
Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted nature of mobility within, and beyond, post-socialist spaces. Based on a large number of case studies from a variety of authors, it engages with the distinct effects mobility leads to depending on the context. It also explores the causal relationship between enhanced mobility (of people, services, capitals) in the region and the rise, existence and development of informal practices. Mobility is understood here as trans-national, and trans-regional, so that the book is an attempt to go beyond boundaries and borders, acknowledging the variety of mobilities that one can observe in the region. We acknowledge the fact that mobility, as a topic, may be interpreted in an extremely broad sense so that, while collecting our chapters, we asked our authors to construct their empirical case around the question of how mobility can generate, modify and reshape informal practices within a given contex...
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During our ethnographic fieldwork in Istanbul—in the Kumkapi neighborhood where the majority of Uzbek migrant workers reside and work—we encountered many Uzbek migrants who were compelled to reroute their migration destination from Russia... more
During our ethnographic fieldwork in Istanbul—in the Kumkapi neighborhood where the majority of Uzbek migrant workers reside and work—we encountered many Uzbek migrants who were compelled to reroute their migration destination from Russia to Turkey following the introduction of the entry ban legislation in Russia in 2013 and 2014. Since that ban, Turkey has become a popular destination since Uzbeks can travel visa-free and can work and reside there without any immigration documents.
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Russia has become a magnet for migrant workers from other post-Soviet countries, especially Central Asians. Although Russian business elites generally welcome this cheap labor source, the government has deferred to, and at times... more
Russia has become a magnet for migrant workers from other post-Soviet countries, especially Central Asians. Although Russian business elites generally welcome this cheap labor source, the government has deferred to, and at times encouraged, xenophobic popular sentiment. Steadily tightening immigration rules have forced many foreign workers into the informal economy, where they are vulnerable to exploitation. The pandemic and accompanying lockdowns have only added to their difficulties.
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The concept of ‘informality’ has become a trendy topic of research in the scholarly literature about post-Soviet societies. The amount of literature focusing on informal practices and networks in post-Soviet space has grown rapidly over... more
The concept of ‘informality’ has become a trendy topic of research in the scholarly literature about post-Soviet societies. The amount of literature focusing on informal practices and networks in post-Soviet space has grown rapidly over last two decades, producing theoretically and empirically grounded accounts of different forms and manifestations of informality, such as clans and regional patronage networks, clientelism, blat networks, bribery, embezzlement, cronyism, kickbacks, etc. One idea common to these aforesaid previous studies is that bulk of them focus on informal practices and their regulatory structures that take place within the boundaries of a single nation-state, thereby confining informality to particular place, field or people, not taking into account the increased (transnational) links between different places and people. Another factor that adds to this complexity is the growing use of information and communication technologies in post-Soviet region, which may re...
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General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright... more
General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal
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While the so-called “end of public space” literature, focusing on encroachment of private interests and state surveillance, has contributed to critical thinking of access (or the lack thereof) to public space, and the loss of publicity of... more
While the so-called “end of public space” literature, focusing on encroachment of private interests and state surveillance, has contributed to critical thinking of access (or the lack thereof) to public space, and the loss of publicity of public space, the conceptual tools such literature offers to understand contestations in and over public space have remained underdeveloped or, at best, underexplored. This article builds on the above debates to provides further empirical evidence on the way actors of a country compete over, and negotiate, the use of public space and the way it should be regulated. Empirically, it illustrates competition and negotiation of the use of language in Odessa, the third largest city of Ukraine, where Ukrainian should be the official language but Russian is widely used. Theoretically, starting from the way public and private are negotiated, and the extent to which this happens, we will suggest that resistance to state measures, and policies, that do not su...
Research Interests: Sociology, Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, and 15 moreSocial Sciences, Ethnography, Political Science, Language Planning and Policy, Postsocialism, Negotiation, Linguistics, Sociology of Everyday Life, Politics of Ukraine, Multidisciplinary, Public Space, Odessa, Informality, Anthropology of Socialism and Postsocialism, and Postsoviet studies
This paper provides a systematic review of scholarly literature concerning the enforcement of children’s rights in the classroom context and school management. The literature review is based on a systematic review methodology the authors... more
This paper provides a systematic review of scholarly literature concerning the enforcement of children’s rights in the classroom context and school management. The literature review is based on a systematic review methodology the authors developed drawing on the methods and guidelines used in the medical sciences over the last 15 years. Forty-two articles published between 1990 and 2014 were selected and analysed. The paper presents both a descriptive analysis and a thematic analysis in order to provide the state-of-art of international literature on child rights, classroom and school management. The descriptive analysis highlights the main characteristics of the articles included, such as type of study and methods used, classification of literature based on the geographical and thematic focus, article citation frequency, and chronological development of the subject in question. The thematic analysis synthesises the main findings extracted from the literature and highlights the main...
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There have been extensive discussions in academic circles of why some countries develop into welfare states while others do not. Two main factors mentioned in these discussions are economic growth and the need for political stability. In... more
There have been extensive discussions in academic circles of why some countries develop into welfare states while others do not. Two main factors mentioned in these discussions are economic growth and the need for political stability. In these discussions, the example of Sweden, where the welfare state allegedly emerged from a ‘culture of consensus’, has often been treated as an historic exception. In this article we discuss the relevance of the two main factors suggested in the literature, and investigate whether Sweden is a rare case of a country where welfare arose out of a culture of consensus or if welfare in Sweden emerged as a product of strategies that aimed at promoting political stability, and thereby followed a similar pattern to other Western European countries. In undertaking this task, we have conducted a review of the literature and used Migdal's ‘state-in-society’ perspective and the ‘institutional approach’ as a theoretical framework. Our results can be summaris...
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Abstract This article explores the role of informality among Uzbek construction workers in Russia. We start from a relationship that is based on economic reward and common interests and go on to explore the non-economic components of this... more
Abstract This article explores the role of informality among Uzbek construction workers in Russia. We start from a relationship that is based on economic reward and common interests and go on to explore the non-economic components of this relationship. Economically, the workers entrust their supervisor and agree to work for him for a given amount of money. However, this decision is also embedded in a non-economic dimension. All workers, and their master, come from the same village so that an additional layer of social obligations are involved. First, workers are able to receive a treatment that goes beyond economic relations, with favours or more mild attitudes when needed. Second, they are also able to put pressure on the line manager through their families in case things do not work out the way they expected. We use the case study to propose the existence of a non-monetary currency (or even currencies) that complement formal currencies. Money, its symbolism and the power attached to it still play a major role in the relationships and dependencies analyzed here. These points help us in suggesting that relations encompass a wide range of transactions and rituals that go beyond mere economic interest and that cannot be neglected when understanding informality.
Research Interests: Sociology, Russian Studies, Economics, Anthropology, Sociology of Law, and 15 moreLaw and Society, Political Science, Migration, Postsocialism, Central Asian Studies, Transnational migration, Central Asia, Shadow Economy, Uzbekistan, Informality, Alternative Currencies, Post Soviet Studies, Postsoviet studies, Transnational Migration, and Contemporary German Writing From Central and Eastern Europe
Research Interests: Sociology, Economics, Public Administration, Law and Society, Governance, and 11 moreLocal Government, Central Asian Studies, Local Government and Local Development, Central Asia, Decentralisation processes and development issues, Decentralization, Public Policy and Administration, Post Soviet Studies, Civil service reform, Post Soviet Societies, and Public Administration Studies
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Research Interests: Public Administration, Sociology of Law, Law and Society, Political Science, Central Asian Studies, and 12 moreCentral Asia, Uzbekistan, Social Control, Norms, Social Science Research Network, Welfare, Book Chapter, Post Soviet Studies, Informal Institutions, DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN UZBEKISTAN, Mahalla, and State society relations
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This paper aims to examine the processes and impact of welfare state retrenchment on state-society relations in post-Soviet Uzbekistan and how community-based welfare structures have evolved to respond to declining social welfare... more
This paper aims to examine the processes and impact of welfare state retrenchment on state-society relations in post-Soviet Uzbekistan and how community-based welfare structures have evolved to respond to declining social welfare services, acting as an informal welfare structure given the failure of existing regime to address the structural inequalities and market defects during the transition period. It is argued that mahalla, a community-based governance structure originating from Central Asia’s Islamic past and administrative traditions, are now a key welfare structure that makes up for the incapacity of the state, offering alternative (to the state) forms of welfare support to the population. However, these developments have had far-reaching repercussions for state-society relations, state legitimacy and the political and social fabric of society in Uzbekistan. As the state retreated from its social welfare obligations, citizens are also retreating from their loyalty to the stat...
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Central Asian countries are facing multidimensional political stability and security challenges in the post-Soviet period. Current scholarly discussions of political stability in post-Soviet Central Asia continue to revolve around the... more
Central Asian countries are facing multidimensional political stability and security challenges in the post-Soviet period. Current scholarly discussions of political stability in post-Soviet Central Asia continue to revolve around the issues of Islamic upheaval, ethnic conflicts, civil war or inter-clan struggles, and how the authoritarian regimes in this region deploy coercive strategies and penal sanctions to cope with political instability. There is a lack of research, though, that addresses the relationship between welfare structures and political stability. It is evident that political and coercive strategies are crucial variables, but insufficient when trying to understand the complexities and dynamic nature of political stability. This thesis, through a case study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan, investigates the relationship between welfare and political stability, and thereby aims to contribute to a better understanding of the post-Soviet transformations in Central Asi...
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This paper examines the role of mahalla as a “hybrid” institution in the process of revamping public administration in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. It argues that the mahalla system, which is anchored on Islamic principles, has now become an... more
This paper examines the role of mahalla as a “hybrid” institution in the process of revamping public administration in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. It argues that the mahalla system, which is anchored on Islamic principles, has now become an institutionalized feature of Uzbekistan’s public administration (through legislative codification and executive incorporation) and now operates partly on behalf of the state and partly community-driven as a local-level provider of social welfare and, increasingly, as the [state] mechanism of social control. Also this paper aims to illuminate the processes and dynamics of the mahalla system and how it has evolved to respond to the changing political regime in the post-Soviet period, acting as a pseudo local-government entity, given the failure of the existing regime to provide much-needed development in rural Uzbekistan. (Less)
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This article examines the validity of international reports and policy analyses on Uzbekistan, and possibly on other Central Asian countries, regarding informal economic practices as a social evil that undermines the legitimacy and... more
This article examines the validity of international reports and policy analyses on Uzbekistan, and possibly on other Central Asian countries, regarding informal economic practices as a social evil that undermines the legitimacy and efficiency of public policies. The research presented is based on three periods of fieldwork between 2009 and 2012 in rural Fergana, Uzbekistan, and uses the case of mahalla institutions. The results show that informal economic practices are not automatically negative; rather, they may serve as equitable and efficient alternatives to the formal economy when the state fails to secure the basic needs of its citizens.
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In the West, everybody is now talking about the economic and financial crisis. The term ‘’crisis�? has become a buzzword within both academic and policy communities. There is an enormous upsurge of scholarly interest in the effects of... more
In the West, everybody is now talking about the economic and financial crisis. The term ‘’crisis�? has become a buzzword within both academic and policy communities. There is an enormous upsurge of scholarly interest in the effects of this crisis on public administration systems, and the role that public administration plays in these processes. The underlying belief is that the public administration through the knowledge, competence, professionalism, commitment, strategic foresight and the action of its human resources can play a crucial role in mitigating the adverse effects of the crisis. The NISPAcee region is no exception to these debates. It is apparent that the current crisis is having, and will continue to have, a huge impact on patterns of governance in the NISPAcee region, thereby bringing fresh attention to the issue of the role of public administration in preventing such crises. This might imply that each country is compelled to reexamine and reform its institutionalized ...
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Urinboyev, R., 2020. Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
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Collected Essays by Sulev Mäeltsemees, edited by Wolfgang Drechsler and Rauno Mäekivi, on Local Governance and Municipal Autonomy in Estonia, and in Central and Eastern Europe generally.
Research Interests: Islamic Law, Islamic Economics, Comparative Politics, Public Administration, Public Management, and 12 moreIslamic Contemporary Studies, Central Asian Studies, Ottoman Studies, History of Public Administration, Islamic Studies, Ottoman Empire, Comparative Public Administration, Ottoman Balkans, Central Asia, Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Western Balkans, and Non-Western Modernity
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP: FROM ECONOMIC TO POLITICAL INFORMALITY: EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN SHADOW PRACTICES, POLICY MAKING AND DEVELOPMENT University of Lund, Sweden, 17-19 September 2019 (Deadline 15th May 2019) Rationale and main aims... more
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP: FROM ECONOMIC TO POLITICAL INFORMALITY: EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN SHADOW PRACTICES, POLICY MAKING AND DEVELOPMENT
University of Lund, Sweden, 17-19 September 2019 (Deadline 15th May 2019)
Rationale and main aims of the workshops
While early works on informality mostly explored its economic aspects (shadow economies, informal sector), recent studies have unveiled the multi-faceted nature of informality. From ways to get things done at the top political level (Ledeneva 2013) to everyday resistance (Scott 1985, 2012), informality has been regarded as an integral part of governance structures and mechanisms (Polese et al. 2017). For this workshop, we give continuity to the classification of the four "flavours of informality" (Polese 2019) to regard informal practices as an act of deliberate, if unorganised, non-compliance with formal instructions. At the everyday level, these actions may remain isolated and sterile. However, once they are embraced regularly by a significant portion of a given population they may come to renegotiate, or even reject, policy measures that are regarded, consciously or unconsciously, as inappropriate for a given situation context.
Footing on these assumptions, with this event, we propose to shift attention away from informality perceived, especially at the everyday level, as a mere survival strategy to think in a different direction. When people produce similar, or even the same, patterns of behaviour, informality can acquire political significance and reshape the way policies are implemented in a given context.
Starting from the above assumptions, our workshop has a three-fold goal.
First, it will expand the scope of theoretical research on informality beyond its economic understanding at the national level, something pointed out by studies by Dixit (2007), Helmke and Levitsky (2005) and Stone (2010) as necessary, but not yet systematically studied. We will look at the role of informal practices in the redefinition and renegotiation of business environments and how entrance and exit barriers are created, causing the reversal that state-led measures were intended to bring about.
Second, it will apply this interpretative framework to look at the way policymaking, and development policies, are affected by informality in the transitional world. This will eventually allow us to engage with worldwide debates from a comparative perspective. Our departure point is the post-socialist region, where informality has been widely studied. However, with this workshop, we intend to upscale the scope of our inquiry to Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America.
Third, inasmuch as this has been timidly attempted so far, our event represents a chance to establish and develop a research group on informality that can work on further conceptualizations of the relationship between informality, policy-making and development at a global scale. We anticipate some of the contributions to be invited into an edited volume (we have a preliminary agreement with Routledge). In addition, should we have enough papers with a profound theoretical engagement, we will consider pulling together a special issue of a journal
As a result, we welcome contributions focusing on the following list of topics:
NB the list is non-exhaustive and we are open to considering further perspectives and foci
1) Measuring informality: novel and mixed methods for the measurement of informal practices, their effects and the rationale behind the desire (active or passive) to engage with informal practices in different contexts and with different ends
2) Informality and policymaking: studies on the relationship between the formal and the informal; how informal practices affect policymaking at the top level (negotiations of laws and rules, power relations between parties, groups, economic actors); how individuals, groups and non-state actors react, oppose, renegotiate policy measures at the everyday level
3) Informality and international development: explorations on the role of informal practices in a North-South development context; how instructions by international and development organizations are filtered, renegotiated or opposed when going against the interests of powerful individuals, interest groups, lobbies; how individuals (especially the weak, the marginalized, the poor) react to measures that they do not perceive as necessary, useful or beneficial
Given our initial specialization, our starting point has been the post-socialist world. However, we would like to use this workshop to expand the upscale the scope of our inquiry to a global scale in an attempt to construct comparisons with other world countries and regions.
Technical information
– You will be notified by the 1st of June 2019 on whether your abstract has been accepted. Please note that the dates might slightly change (1-2 days later) but we will send the final dates along with the acceptance letter
– Meals and accommodation during the workshop is covered for all accepted speakers
– There is limited availability of funds to cover travel to and from Lund. If you expect to be unable to get support from your institution, please add this information in your abstract
How to apply
If interested, please send by the 15th of May 2019 in a single word document named after your surname containing:
1) An abstract and your contact details (300 words)
2) A short biographical statement (300 words)
3) if you need financial support for your travel
to Sevara Usmanova at usmanova.c@gmail.com and cc your message to ap@tlu.ee and Rustamjon.Urinboyev@soclaw.lu.se
University of Lund, Sweden, 17-19 September 2019 (Deadline 15th May 2019)
Rationale and main aims of the workshops
While early works on informality mostly explored its economic aspects (shadow economies, informal sector), recent studies have unveiled the multi-faceted nature of informality. From ways to get things done at the top political level (Ledeneva 2013) to everyday resistance (Scott 1985, 2012), informality has been regarded as an integral part of governance structures and mechanisms (Polese et al. 2017). For this workshop, we give continuity to the classification of the four "flavours of informality" (Polese 2019) to regard informal practices as an act of deliberate, if unorganised, non-compliance with formal instructions. At the everyday level, these actions may remain isolated and sterile. However, once they are embraced regularly by a significant portion of a given population they may come to renegotiate, or even reject, policy measures that are regarded, consciously or unconsciously, as inappropriate for a given situation context.
Footing on these assumptions, with this event, we propose to shift attention away from informality perceived, especially at the everyday level, as a mere survival strategy to think in a different direction. When people produce similar, or even the same, patterns of behaviour, informality can acquire political significance and reshape the way policies are implemented in a given context.
Starting from the above assumptions, our workshop has a three-fold goal.
First, it will expand the scope of theoretical research on informality beyond its economic understanding at the national level, something pointed out by studies by Dixit (2007), Helmke and Levitsky (2005) and Stone (2010) as necessary, but not yet systematically studied. We will look at the role of informal practices in the redefinition and renegotiation of business environments and how entrance and exit barriers are created, causing the reversal that state-led measures were intended to bring about.
Second, it will apply this interpretative framework to look at the way policymaking, and development policies, are affected by informality in the transitional world. This will eventually allow us to engage with worldwide debates from a comparative perspective. Our departure point is the post-socialist region, where informality has been widely studied. However, with this workshop, we intend to upscale the scope of our inquiry to Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America.
Third, inasmuch as this has been timidly attempted so far, our event represents a chance to establish and develop a research group on informality that can work on further conceptualizations of the relationship between informality, policy-making and development at a global scale. We anticipate some of the contributions to be invited into an edited volume (we have a preliminary agreement with Routledge). In addition, should we have enough papers with a profound theoretical engagement, we will consider pulling together a special issue of a journal
As a result, we welcome contributions focusing on the following list of topics:
NB the list is non-exhaustive and we are open to considering further perspectives and foci
1) Measuring informality: novel and mixed methods for the measurement of informal practices, their effects and the rationale behind the desire (active or passive) to engage with informal practices in different contexts and with different ends
2) Informality and policymaking: studies on the relationship between the formal and the informal; how informal practices affect policymaking at the top level (negotiations of laws and rules, power relations between parties, groups, economic actors); how individuals, groups and non-state actors react, oppose, renegotiate policy measures at the everyday level
3) Informality and international development: explorations on the role of informal practices in a North-South development context; how instructions by international and development organizations are filtered, renegotiated or opposed when going against the interests of powerful individuals, interest groups, lobbies; how individuals (especially the weak, the marginalized, the poor) react to measures that they do not perceive as necessary, useful or beneficial
Given our initial specialization, our starting point has been the post-socialist world. However, we would like to use this workshop to expand the upscale the scope of our inquiry to a global scale in an attempt to construct comparisons with other world countries and regions.
Technical information
– You will be notified by the 1st of June 2019 on whether your abstract has been accepted. Please note that the dates might slightly change (1-2 days later) but we will send the final dates along with the acceptance letter
– Meals and accommodation during the workshop is covered for all accepted speakers
– There is limited availability of funds to cover travel to and from Lund. If you expect to be unable to get support from your institution, please add this information in your abstract
How to apply
If interested, please send by the 15th of May 2019 in a single word document named after your surname containing:
1) An abstract and your contact details (300 words)
2) A short biographical statement (300 words)
3) if you need financial support for your travel
to Sevara Usmanova at usmanova.c@gmail.com and cc your message to ap@tlu.ee and Rustamjon.Urinboyev@soclaw.lu.se
Research Interests: Sociology, African Studies, Latin American Studies, Development Economics, Anthropology, and 10 moreDevelopment Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Rural Development, International Cooperation, Post-Soviet Studies, Post-Socialist Societies, Global South, International Development Cooperation, Informality, and Global (North/South) Environmental Politics
We are preparing an edited volume to be published in the Palgrave-International Political Economy series (series editor Timothy Shaw, University of Massachussets, Boston). This call is part of a multi-annual project that started with a... more
We are preparing an edited volume to be published in the Palgrave-International Political Economy series (series editor Timothy Shaw, University of Massachussets, Boston). This call is part of a multi-annual project that started with a workshop on migration and informality (March 27-28 2018, Lund University) and will continue with a conference possibly in summer 2019. With this book we are also gathering expressions for follow-up initiatives. If interested send an abstract by 30 June 2018 to Email: mobilities_informality2018@gmx.de Rationale Traditionally seen as " exporting " migrants to Western Europe and North America, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, along with the former USSR ones, have recently become important mobility hubs. We start with an understanding of mobility that includes migratory processes to and from these countries. However, and this is the reason we prefer " mobility " to " migration " , we intend to take into account processes that go beyond migratory flows and include, inter alia, consequences of increased mobility for business activities (when mobility of capitals, people, services or items generates revenues, without necessarily resulting from temporary or permanent migrations), or seeking healthcare or other services in places other than your hometown. We believe that a large share of mobility-related activities generates informality, here defined as activities that happen outside the controlling, or coercing, presence of one or more states, or their institutions. There is a good body of literature dealing with migration, mostly from the region. This volume is, in our view, a way to complement existing literature in at least two ways. First, initial trends tended to see the region as strategic for outsourcing. However, the improvement of the economic conditions, along with the recent refugee crisis has added a second category of migrants to the region. This has meant that, in addition to the skilled workers, the region has also witnessed an increasing amount of immigration from people with either low qualifications, no legal right to work or stay or simply missing the skills to quickly integrate into local job markets. The issue of legality is only a marginal one. Indeed, the International Organisation for Migrations warns that only 10% of the migrants worldwide are formally illegal, leading us to think that the most important barriers to socioeconomic and legal integration are not formal but informal. In this respect, a number of studies have pinpointed at the contrast between the – de jure-existence of norms to deal with migrants against a de facto (partial or total) state incapacity to deal with migration flows and integration of foreign citizens in a number of cases.
Research Interests: Sociology, Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Anthropology, Mobility/Mobilities, and 11 morePolitical Science, Postsocialism, Central Asian Studies, Caucasus, Russian Studies (in Area Studies) and the Caucasus, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Mobility, South Caucasus, Informality, and Postsoviet studies
our workshop has a three-fold goal. First, it will expand the scope of theoretical research on informality beyond its economic understanding at the national level, something pointed out in the above studies by Dixit, Helmke and Levitsky... more
our workshop has a three-fold goal. First, it will expand the scope of theoretical research on informality beyond its economic understanding at the national level, something pointed out in the above studies by Dixit, Helmke and Levitsky and Stone as something necessary, but not yet systematically approached. We will look at the role of informal practices in the redefinition and renegotiation of business environments and how entrance and exit barriers are created, causing the reversal that state-led measures were intended to bring about. Second, it will apply this interpretative framework to look at the way policy making, and development policies, are affected by informality in the transitional world. This will eventually allow us to engage with worldwide debates in a comparative perspective. Our starting point is, indeed, the post-socialist region, where informality has been widely studied. However, with this workshop we intend to upscale the scope of our inquiry to Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America. Third, inasmuch as this has been timidly attempted so far. Our event represents a chances to shed the basis and the social capital to establish and develop a research group on informality that can work together to funding applications and publication projects as outlined below.