The Role of Informal Economies in the Post-Soviet World: The End of Transition? [Hardcover]

Based on extensive ethnographic and quantitative research, conducted in Ukraine and Russia between 2004 and 2012, this books 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.

1. Introduction: Part I (Re)theorising Transition Economies  2. Re-visiting the recurring question of transition  3. Re-theorising the economic  4. Beyond the formal/informal economy dualism: unpacking the diverse economies of post-Soviet societies  Part II The Lived Experience of Transition  5. The role of the informal in the formal sphere  6. Informal employment  7. One-to-one unpaid labour, reimbursed family work and paid favours  8. Formal and informal unpaid employment  9. The internal economies of the household  10. Conclusions

Based on extensive ethnographic and quantitative research, this book shows that the economies that operate across post-Soviet spaces are far from the textbook idea of a market economy and focuses on entrepreneurship, education and corruption.

Colin C. Williams is Professor of Public Policy at the Management School at Sheffield University, UK.

John Round is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Schl£›