Papers by Rustamjon Urinboyev
Parallel Worlds of Uzbek Migrants in Russia and Turkey
International political economy series, 2022
Informal civil society initiatives in non-Western societies: mahallas in Uzbekistan
Central Asian Survey
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication
Smartphones and social media have become inextricable parts of our daily lives. The everyday live... 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...
Corruption, Social Norms and Everyday Life in Uzbekistan
Corruption and Norms, 2017
In this chapter, we explore the multifaceted role, logic and morality of informal transactions in... 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.
Diskriminering och social ohälsa : migrantarbetare i jordbruket
Labor, Mobility and Informality in Post-Socialism
Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted... 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...
Labor, Mobility and Informality in Post-Socialism
Labour, mobility and informality in post-socialism offers a detailed account of the multi-faceted... 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...
The Political Economy of Non-Western Migration Regimes
During our ethnographic fieldwork in Istanbul—in the Kumkapi neighborhood where the majority of U... 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.
Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia, 2020
Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia, 2020
Uzbekistan became an independent state in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Like o... more Uzbekistan became an independent state in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Like other newly independent post-Soviet states, Uzbekistan faced the complex task of building a new nation-state. Following on the heels of global (Western) good governance discourses, the political leadership of Uzbekistan made multiple bold claims about its strong commitment to the ideals of democracy, market economy, human rights, and the rule of law as well as its intention to dismantle Soviet-style governance (see Perlman and Gleason 2007). Simultaneously, Uzbek authorities made clear that the governance system, while adhering to global standards, would also employ Uzbekistan's ancient traditions, rich Islamic heritage, and centuries-old administrative traditions in its nation-building project (Karimov 1993). Many international organizations, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), promptly geared their development programs toward Uzbek authorities' reform agenda, thereby financing and initiating numerous good governance, market economy, and human rights projects. But the complex and multidimensional nature of the challenges to political stability that Uzbekistan faced in the 1990s, for various reasons, rendered the government skeptical of genuine democratization and market reforms. The need to prioritize political stability over reforms was justified by the unstable political situation in Central Asia during that time. This included ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Meskhetian Turks in 1989, ethnic conflicts between Uzbek and Kyrgyz people in southern
Research Report in Sociology of Law; (2) (2020), Nov 18, 2020
and conducted research on various topics pertaining to legal cultures, governance and business en... more and conducted research on various topics pertaining to legal cultures, governance and business environments in Central Asia. These guest research stays (secondments) took place in the framework of the EU-funded project "Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia" (project number 870647 H2020 MSCA-RISE 2019-2023), which runs from 01/03/2020 through 28/02/2024. The project is coordinated by Lund University and the project consortium includes European universities
Current History, 2020
Russia has become a magnet for migrant workers from other post-Soviet countries, especially Centr... 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.
Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness, 2022
Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Uzbekistan, this article looks at the way official s... more Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Uzbekistan, this article looks at the way official state narratives are challenged by silent, unorganised, often unaware gestures of resistance at the bottom of a society. Footing on a framework suggested by Scott's definition of infrapolitics (2012), we propose to incorporate informal practices in a definition of informality that is more inclusive and better explains the anatomy of a modern state, whose functioning rests on a combination of formal and informal practices. We suggest that this everyday dimension is of particular importance here when trying to understand the governance trajectories, as it allows to look critically, and from a broader perspective, at situations where individual and state perception of events, but also individual and state morality, diverge. By doing this, we propose that governance in transition states and societies may be regarded as a space where formal institutions and citizens (or informal institutions) compete for power and resources and thereby produce informal, alternative 'legal orders' and mechanisms that regulate public life in a given area. We will suggest that such a space of informal negotiation is vital in contexts where collective mobilisation and public articulation of social claims is not a preferred, or even available, strategy for citizens.
Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia, 2020
The concept of ‘informality’ has become a trendy topic of research in the scholarly literature ab... 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...
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 2018
Mahalla Institutions in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
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Papers by Rustamjon Urinboyev