Introduction: Informality and power in the South Caucasus

Abstract

Introducing this special issue of Caucasus Survey, this article emphasizes the dual importance of studying informality in the South Caucasus: to reveal processes previously dismissed from the purview of academic enquiry, and to elaborate the informality concept as an innovative prism through which to understand norms and regulations structuring social life and power relations. The special issue addresses two clear gaps in the existing literature: the dearth of research into informality in general, and the specific lack of informality studies that do not take a normatively negative view of their subject. In this introduction, we first give an overview of the current research field in the study of informality. Then we discuss research on post-socialist informality, indicating the absence of the Caucasian cases in this literature. Third, we elaborate further the purpose of this special issue and end by offering brief overviews of the contributions herein. ARTICLE HISTORY

The importance of being networked: The costs of informal networking in the Western Balkans region

“…From the bottom-up perspective, however, informal networks are reported to provide a solution to problems and enable people to get things done. Many authors have engaged in a critique of the normative approach to informality, arguing that the focus on formal, legal, and institutional reforms fails to embrace local practices, social norms and informal relationships that may be more binding for local actors than legal frameworks (Koechlin 2015;Baez-Camargo and Ledeneva 2017;Ayres 2017;Polese and Rekhviashvili 2017). At a community level, informal networks are essential for local governance and the states are often reliant on the informal workings of societies (de Sardan 1999, Blundo et al 2013); especially in the periods of conflict and war when formal state institutions are dysfunctional (Efendic et al 2011).…”

A comparison of institutional quality in the South Caucasus

“…Despite optimistic trends in the South Caucasus, as measured by the abovementioned institutional variables, quantitative and numerical measurements are still new and may obscure multifaceted issues such as informality in the South Caucasus. Polese and Rekhviashvili (2017) argued that there is a long-standing lack of research on informality in the South Caucasus. Government and institutional failures have stimulated the shadow economy in transition countries (Eilat et al 2002).…”

Supporting Searchers’ Desire for Emplacement in Berlin: Informal Practices in Defiance of an (Im)mobility Regime

“…To this end, the work of SPO needs to be understood as taking place "in spite of the state" (Polese et al 2019) such as when the state does not care sufficiently about people's well-being and racializes them. Consequently citizens intervene and mobilise in order to make up for state neglect and deficiency (Polese et al 2017a;Polese and Morris 2015).…”