Informality in Eastern Europe

Christian Giordano has doctorates in sociology (University of Heidelberg) and anthropology (University of Frankfurt/M.) and an honoris causa doctorate from the University of Timisoara. He is Full Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and a guest professor at the universities of Bucharest, Murcia and the University of Malaya, Asia-Europe Institute. Nicolas Hayoz is an associate professor of political science and the Director of the Interfaculty Institute of Central and Eastern Europe at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He has published articles on politics and state reform in Eastern Europe. He has conducted research projects in Russia and in Georgia. His research interests include transition studies in Eastern Europe, particularly the transformation process in Russia, political sociology and political theory.

• Contents: Christian Giordano/Nicolas Hayoz: Introduction: Exploring Informality in Eastern Europe through Different Disciplines – Christian Giordano: The Social Organization of Informality: The Rationale Underlying Personalized Relationships and Coalitions – Nicolas Hayoz: Observations on the Changing Meanings of Informality – Anton Sterbling: Aspects of «Informality» - with Particular Focus on South-Eastern Europe – Kristof Van Assche/Anastasiya Shtaltovna/Anna-Katharina Hornidge: Visible and Invisible Informalities and Institutional Transformation in the Transition Countries of Georgia, Romania, and Uzbekistan – Maximos Aligisakis: Shadow Economy, Corruption and Informal Political Exchanges: The Greek Case in a Comparative Perspective – Nicole Gallina: Analysing Informality: A Case-Study Based Concept applied to the Czech Republic – Veronika Pasynkova: The Synchronization of Communist Legacy in Postcommunist Politics and Labour: the Case of Poland – Tanya Chavdarova: Institutionalization of Market Order and Reinstitutionalization of Vruzki (Connections) in Bulgaria – Katerina Gehl/Klaus Roth: The Everyday Culture of Informality in Post-Socialist Bulgarian Politics – Sonja Schüler: Abuse of Office, Informal Networks, «Moral Accountability» – Political Corruption in Bulgaria – Edvin Zhllima/Drini Imami Informality: Informality in Albania - The Case of Rural Land Tenure and Transactions – Adem Beha: Contested Statebuilding in Kosovo: the Nature and Characteristics of Serbian Parallel Structures – Fanny Sbaraglia: «They are with the Others»: From Gossip to Stigmatization, Romanian Civil Society through an Informal Perspective – François Ruegg: Social Representations of Informality: the Roma Case – Jonathan Wheatley: Informal and Formal Institutions in the Former Soviet Union – Galina Michaleva: The Dominance of Informal Politics on the Eve of the Electoral Year 2011-2012 – Elvira Leontyeva: Corruption Networks in the Sphere of Higher Education: An Example from Russian Mass Universities – Elena Denisova-Schmidt: How Unwritten Rules Can Influence Human Resource Management in Russia – Andrea Friedli: Informality as a «Weapon of the Weak»? Public Representation of Tatar Youth Movements in Kazan, Russia – Abel Polese: The Ambiguity and Functions of Informality: Some Notes from the Odessa-Chisinau Route – Rail Safiyev: Informality in a Neopatrimonial State: Azerbaijan – Alexander Iskandaryan: Formalization of the Informal: Statebuilding in Armenia – Giga Zedania Informality and the Question of Modernization: the Case of Georgia.