Download or read book The Role of Informal Economies in the Post Soviet World written by Colin C. Williams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-19 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on extensive ethnographic and quantitative research, conducted in Ukraine and Russia between 2004 and 2012, this book’s central argument is that for many people the informal economy, such as cash in hand work, subsistence production and the use of social networks, is of great importance to everyday life. Formal work is both a facilitator of such processes and is often supported by them, as people can only afford to undertake low paid formal work as a result of their informal incomes. By looking at the informal nature of formal work and practices, informal practices, gift giving, volunteer work and the economies of the household the book is one of the first to give an overview of the nature of the informal economy in all spheres of everyday practice.

Download or read book Post socialist Informalities written by Abel Polese and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-19 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive collection of key scholarship on informality from the whole post-socialist region. From Bosnia to Central Asia, passing through Russia and Azerbaijan, the contributions to this volume illustrate the multi-faceted and complex nature of informality, while demonstrating the growing scholarly and policy debates that have developed around the understanding of informality. In contrast to approaches which tend to classify informality as ‘bad’ or ‘transitional’ – meaning that modernity will make it disappear – this edited volume concentrates on dynamics and mechanisms to understand and explain informality, while also debating its relationship with the market and society. The authors seek to explain informality beyond a mere monetaristic/economistic approach, rediscovering its interconnection with social phenomena to propose a more holistic interpretation of the meaning of informality and its influence in various spheres of life. They do this by exploring the evolving role of informal practices in the post-socialist region, and by focusing on informality as a social organisation determinant but also looking at the way it reshapes emergent social resistance against symbolic and real political order(s). This book was originally published as two special issues, of Caucasus Survey and the Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.

Download or read book Informal Economies in Post Socialist Spaces written by J. Morris and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Informed by in-depth case studies focusing on a wide spectrum of micro and macro post-socialist realities, this book demonstrates the multi-faceted nature of informality and suggests that it is a widely diffused phenomenon, used at all levels of a society and by both winners and losers of post-socialist transition.

Download or read book The Informal Post Socialist Economy written by Jeremy Morris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-13 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From smugglers to entrepreneurs, blue-collar workers and taxi drivers, this book deals with the multitude of characters engaged in informal economic practices in the former socialist regions. Going beyond a conception of informality as opposed to the formal sector, its authors demonstrate the fluid nature of informal transactions straddling the crossroads between illegal, illicit, socially acceptable and symbolically meaningful practices. Their argument is informed by a wide range of case studies, from Central Europe to the Baltics and Central Asia, each of which is constructed around a single informant. Each chapter narrates the story of a composite person or household that was carefully selected or constructed by an author with long-standing ethnographic research experience in the given field site. Wide in geographical, empirical and theoretical scope, the book uses ethnographic narrative accounts of everyday life to make links between ‘ordinary’ meanings of informality. Challenging reductively economistic perspectives on cross-border trading, undeclared work and other informal activities, the authors illustrate the wide variety of interpretive meanings that people ascribe to such practices. Alongside ‘getting by’ and ‘getting ahead’ in recently marketised societies, these meanings relate to sociality, kinship-ties and solidarity, along with more surprising ‘political’ and moral reasonings.

Download or read book The Role of Informal Economies in the Post Soviet World written by Colin C. Williams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-19 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on extensive ethnographic and quantitative research, conducted in Ukraine and Russia between 2004 and 2012, this book’s central argument is that for many people the informal economy, such as cash in hand work, subsistence production and the use of social networks, is of great importance to everyday life. Formal work is both a facilitator of such processes and is often supported by them, as people can only afford to undertake low paid formal work as a result of their informal incomes. By looking at the informal nature of formal work and practices, informal practices, gift giving, volunteer work and the economies of the household the book is one of the first to give an overview of the nature of the informal economy in all spheres of everyday practice.

Download or read book Everyday Tactics and Spaces of Power written by John Round and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utilising de Certeau's concepts of daily life and his delineation between strategies and tactics as everyday practices this paper examines the role of informal economies in post- Ukraine. Based on 700 household surveys and seventy-five in-depth interviews, conducted in three Ukrainian cities, the paper argues that individuals/households have developed a wide range of tactics in response to the economic marginalisation the country has endured since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Firstly, the paper details the importance of informal economies in contemporary Ukraine while highlighting that many such practices are operated out of necessity due to low wage and pension rates and high levels of corruption. This challenges state-produced statistics on the scale of economic marginalisation currently experienced in the country. By exploring a variety of these tactics the paper then examines how unequal power relations shape the spaces in which these practices operate in and how they can be simultaneously sites of exploitation and resistance to economic marginalisation. The paper concludes pessimistically by suggesting that the way in which these economic spaces are shaped precludes the development of state policies which might benefit the economically marginalised.

Download or read book The Informal Economy in the Former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe written by Peter Rodgers and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Workers and the Global Informal Economy written by Supriya Routh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-20 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global financial crisis and subsequent increase in social inequality has led in many cases to a redrawing of the boundaries between formal and informal work. This interdisciplinary volume explores the role of informal work in today’s global economy, presenting economic, legal, sociological, historical, anthropological, political and cultural perspectives on the topic. Workers and the Global Informal Economy explores varying definitions of informality in the backdrop of neo-liberal market logic, exploring how it manifests itself in different regions around the world, and its relationship with formal work. This volume demonstrates how neo-liberalism has been instrumental in accelerating informality and has resulted in the increasingly precarious position of the informal worker. Using different methodological approaches and regional focuses, this book considers key questions such as whether workers exercise choice over their work; how constrained such choices are; how social norms shape such choices; how work affects their well-being and agency; and what role culture plays in the determination of informality. This interdisciplinary collection will be of interest to policy-makers and researchers engaging with informality from different disciplinary and regional perspectives.

Download or read book The Informal Economy written by Ioana Horodnic and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-22 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During much of the twentieth century, informal employment and entrepreneurship was commonly depicted as a residue from a previous era. Its continuing presence was seen to be a sign of "backwardness" whilst the formal economy represented "progress". In recent decades, however, numerous studies have revealed not only that informal employment is extensive and persistent but also that it is growing relative to formal employment in many populations. Whilst in the developing world, the informal economy is often found to be the mainstream economy, nevertheless, in the developed world too, informality is currently still estimated to account for notable per cent of GDP. The Informal Economy: Exploring Drivers and Practices intends to engage with these issues, providing a much-need ‘contextualised’ approach to explain the persistence and growth of forms of informal economic practices and entrepreneurial activities in the twenty-first century. Using a diverse range of empirical case studies from Europe, Africa, North Africa and Asia, this book unpacks the different varieties of forms of informal work and entrepreneurship and provides a critical analysis of existing theorisations used to explain such phenomena. This book’s aim is to examine the nature and persistence of informal work and entrepreneurship, across a variety of empirical settings, from within the developed world, the developing world and within transformation economies within post-socialist spaces. Given its worldwide, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach and recent interest in the informal economies by a number of disciplines and organisations, this book will be of vital reading to those operating in the fields of: Economics, political economy and management, Human and economic geography and Economic anthropology and sociology as well as development studies

Download or read book The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality Volume 2 written by Alena Ledeneva and published by UCL Press. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alena Ledeneva invites you on a voyage of discovery to explore society’s open secrets, unwritten rules and know-how practices. Broadly defined as ‘ways of getting things done’, these invisible yet powerful informal practices tend to escape articulation in official discourse. They include emotion-driven exchanges of gifts or favours and tributes for services, interest-driven know-how (from informal welfare to informal employment and entrepreneurship), identity-driven practices of solidarity, and power-driven forms of co-optation and control. The paradox, or not, of the invisibility of these informal practices is their ubiquity. Expertly practised by insiders but often hidden from outsiders, informal practices are, as this book shows, deeply rooted all over the world, yet underestimated in policy. Entries from the five continents presented in this volume are samples of the truly global and ever-growing collection, made possible by a remarkable collaboration of over 200 scholars across disciplines and area studies. By mapping the grey zones, blurred boundaries, types of ambivalence and contexts of complexity, this book creates the first Global Map of Informality. The accompanying database (www.in-formality.com) is searchable by region, keyword or type of practice, so do explore what works, how, where and why! Praise for Global Encyclopaedia of Informality ‘The Global Informality Project unveils new ways of understanding how the state functions and ways in which civil servants and citizens adapt themselves to different local contexts by highlighting the diversity of the relationships between state and society. The project is of great interest to policymakers who want to imagine solutions that are benefi cial for all, but sufficiently pragmatic to ensure a seamless implementation, particularly in the field of cross-border trade in developing countries.’ - Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organisation, Brussels ‘An extremely interesting and stimulating collection of papers. Ledeneva’s challenging ideas, first applied in the context of Russia’s economy of shortage, came to full blossom and are here contextualized by practices from other countries and contemporary systems. Many original and relevant practices were recognized empirically in socialist countries, but this book shows their generality.’ - János Kornai, Allie S. Freed Professor of Economics Emeritus at Harvard and Professor Emeritus at Corvinus University of Budapest ‘Alena Ledeneva’s Global Encyclopedia of Informality is a unique contribution, providing a global atlas of informal practices through the contributions of over 200 scholars across the world. It is far more rewarding for the reader to discover how commonalities of informal behavior become apparent through this rich texture like a complex and hidden pattern behind local colors than to presume top down universal benchmarks of good versus bad behavior. This book is a plea against reductionist approaches of mathematics in social science in general, and corruption studies in particular and makes a great read, as well as an indispensable guide to understand the cultural richness of the world.’ - Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Professor of Democracy Studies, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin ‘Transformative scholarship in method, object, and consequence. Ledeneva and her networked expertise not only enable us to view the informal comparatively, but challenge conventionally legible accounts of membership, markets, domination and resistance with these rich accounts from five continents. This project offers nothing less than a social scientific revolution… if the broader scholarly community has the imagination to follow through. And by globalizing these informal knowledges typically hidden from view, the volumes’ contributors will extend the imaginations of those business consultants, movement mobilizers, and peace makers who can appreciate the value of translation from other world regions in their own work.’ Michael D. Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and International and Public Aff irs, Brown University and author of Globalizing Knowledge ‘Don’t mistake these weighty volumes for anything directory-like or anonymous. This wonderful collection of short essays, penned by many of the single best experts in their fields, puts the reader squarely in the kinds of conversations culled only after years of friendship, trust, and with the keen eye of the practiced observer. Perhaps most importantly, the remarkably wide range of offerings lets us “de-parochialise” corruption, and detach it from the usual hyper-local and cultural explanations. The reader, in the end, is the one invited to consider the many and striking commonalities.’ Bruce Grant, Professor at New York University and Chair of the US National Council for East European and Eurasian Research

Download or read book Limits of a Post soviet State written by Abel Polese and published by Ibidem Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book illustrates why and how informality in governance is not necessarily transitory or temporary, but a constant in most systems of the world. The difference between various administrative structures is not whether informality is present or not, but where, in which areas, it is located. The essays gathered in this volume demonstrate that, in some cases, informal mechanisms are self-protective, while, in others, they are perceived as normal responses and a set of tactics for individuals, classes, and communities to respond to unusual demands. Where expectations of the state, a company, or some commission are too far from citizens' existing models of normative behaviour, informal behaviour continues to thrive. Indeed, new tactics are adopted in order to cope with disjunctions between theory and reality as well as to serve as contrasts to values imposed by a centre of power, such as a central state, a city administration, or the management board of a large company. The focus of the papers contained in this book is two-fold and rests on an analysis of phenomena manifesting themselves "beyond" and "in spite of" the state. The first part deals with areas where the state is not always, or only marginally, active whilst the second analyses activities performed in conflict with state regulations (ie: behaviour often studied from a criminal and legal standpoint).

Download or read book Explaining Post Soviet Patchworks written by Klaus Segbers and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume seeks to explain post-Soviet patchworks, focusing on pathways from the past to the global. It presents the basic results of the research project "Transformation and Globalization", implemented in 1998-2000. Contributors include Gerald Easter, Georgii Kleiner and Nina Oding.

Download or read book How Russia Really Works written by Alena V. Ledeneva and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Soviet era, blat—the use of personal networks for obtaining goods and services in short supply and for circumventing formal procedures—was necessary to compensate for the inefficiencies of socialism. The collapse of the Soviet Union produced a new generation of informal practices. In How Russia Really Works, Alena V. Ledeneva explores practices in politics, business, media, and the legal sphere in Russia in the 1990s—from the hiring of firms to create negative publicity about one's competitors, to inventing novel schemes of tax evasion and engaging in "alternative" techniques of contract and law enforcement. She discovers ingenuity, wit, and vigor in these activities and argues that they simultaneously support and subvert formal institutions. They enable corporations, the media, politicians, and businessmen to operate in the post-Soviet labyrinth of legal and practical constraints but consistently undermine the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. The "know-how" Ledeneva describes in this book continues to operate today and is crucial to understanding contemporary Russia. On December 6, 2009, Alena Ledeneva discussed her book on the BBC Radio program Forum. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00551mg#synopsis.

Download or read book Migrant Workers in Russia written by Anna-Liisa Heusala and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia has a very large pool of economic migrants, up to 25% of the workforce according to some estimates. Although many migrants, many from former Soviet countries which are now independent, entered Russia legally, they frequently face bureaucratic obstacles to legal employment and Russian citizenship, factors which have led to a very large “shadow economy”. This book presents a comprehensive examination of migrant labour in Russia. It describes the nature of migrant labour, explores the shadow economy and its unfortunate consequences, and discusses the rise of popular sentiment against migrants and the likely impact. The book also sets the Russian experiences of migrant labour in context, comparing the situation in Russia with that in other countries with significant migrant labour workforces. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Download or read book Income Inequality and Poverty During the Transition from Planned to Market Economy written by Branko Milanovi? and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World Bank Technical Paper No. 394. Joint Forest Management (JFM) has emerged as an important intervention in the management of Indias forest resources. This report sets out an analytical method for examining the costs and benefits of JFM arrangements. Two pilot case studies in which the method was used demonstrate interesting outcomes regarding incentives for various groups to participate. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of the incentives for communities to participate in JFM.

Download or read book Enhancing Job Opportunities written by Jan J. Rutkowski and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication examines labour market developments and policies for promoting job opportunities and reducing unemployment in the countries of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during their transition from centrally planned to market economies. Issues discussed include: how the transition process has affected the labour market and those hardest hit by developments; the progress of different countries in the region, and public policy options for job creation.

Download or read book The Informal Post Socialist Economy written by Jeremy Morris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-13 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From smugglers to entrepreneurs, blue-collar workers and taxi drivers, this book deals with the multitude of characters engaged in informal economic practices in the former socialist regions. Going beyond a conception of informality as opposed to the formal sector, its authors demonstrate the fluid nature of informal transactions straddling the crossroads between illegal, illicit, socially acceptable and symbolically meaningful practices. Their argument is informed by a wide range of case studies, from Central Europe to the Baltics and Central Asia, each of which is constructed around a single informant. Each chapter narrates the story of a composite person or household that was carefully selected or constructed by an author with long-standing ethnographic research experience in the given field site. Wide in geographical, empirical and theoretical scope, the book uses ethnographic narrative accounts of everyday life to make links between ‘ordinary’ meanings of informality. Challenging reductively economistic perspectives on cross-border trading, undeclared work and other informal activities, the authors illustrate the wide variety of interpretive meanings that people ascribe to such practices. Alongside ‘getting by’ and ‘getting ahead’ in recently marketised societies, these meanings relate to sociality, kinship-ties and solidarity, along with more surprising ‘political’ and moral reasonings.