Short Abstract:

This thematic panel will look at the potential avenues for research opened by new theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of informality in the Eurasian space. The discussion is organised by early-stage researchers participating in the Innovative Training Networks "Markets".

Long Abstract:

Informality has been a recurrent topic in the region since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Found in many contexts and across disciplines, it has often come to be considered as a typical feature of the post-Soviet space. Informality however is a global phenomenon, although deeply context-bound. Combining the rich Eurasian experience with methodologies developed in different areas and disciplines could provide new momentum to the search for a global theory of informality. Accordingly, the purpose of this roundtable is to discuss methodological and conceptual challenges of researching informality in different contexts of post-socialist societies . Firstly, Alberica Camerani (DCU) will explore the interplay between gender and informality in SMEs in Kyrgyzstan, by examining how informality enables and constrains female entrepreneurship. Eugenia Pesci (University of Helsinki) will look at how social policies are turned into practices at the street level by examining the development of employment support policies and programs in the Eurasian space. Madina Gazieva (DCU) will discuss how informal institutions interact with water resource allocation at the village level. Finally, Giulio Benedetti (SSE Riga) will look at the ambivalent role that informal brokers play in facilitating and constraining migrations. This thematic discussion aims at arguing that the concept of informality, despite its conceptual and terminological ambiguity, can be used as a bridge-building concept (Morris, 2019) enabling a multi-disciplinary dialogue across social sciences and area studies.