Dear Colleagues, I am offering a PhD-position at my chair in comparative politics. More info here: Research Associate in Political Science/Political Economy/Methodology § 28 Subsection 1 HmbHG : Ausschreibung : Stellenangebote : Universität Hamburg (uni-hamburg.de)<https://www.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangebote/ausschreibung.html?jobID=3af57e636409302bd508cec593ae74cd32116f29> Thank you! Vera ________________________________________________ Prof. Dr. Vera E. Troeger Chair of Comparative Political Science Vice-Dean, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Politics Universität Hamburg Fakultät Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften Von Melle Park 5, Raum 2107 20146 Hamburg Phone: +49 (0)40 42838-8160 Email: vera.eva.troeger@uni-hamburg.de<mailto:vera.eva.troeger@uni-hamburg.de> Web: https://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fachbereich-sowi/professuren/troeger/team/troeger-vera.html https://www.acafemia.com/

Cfp: looking for speakers for a panel (and book project) “Flavours of informality and labour mobility in Eurasia (and beyond)”, panel (and book project) coordinated by Abel Polese, Ignacho Fradejas Garcia and Asankojo Isaev The double-panel is designed to contribute to the conference: «Geopolitics, Migrations and Identities in Central Eurasia» (Joint event supported by CESS-ESCAS) Lisbon, January 8/10, 2025 (In-person only) and become the core for an edited book project The conference call is below, here comes the rationale for the panel that has been conceived as follow-up project from the book “Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-82499-0>: Supplementing the State for the Invisible and the Vulnerable” Rationale This panel is intended to explore the different meanings informality can take when state and individual morality tend to diverge. Here attention shifts away from single cases where an individual violates state principles to what Scott defines “infrapolitics” (2012<https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691161037/two-cheers-for-anarchism>) that is a random action performed millions of times by people unaware of one another’s actions that ends up becoming part of the political. Informality has been explored from a wide variety of angles (for a discussion, please refer to What is informality? (Mapping) “the art of bypassing the state” in Eurasian spaces - and beyond<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791>) and disciplines, from political sciences to economics to urban studies. For this panel, we refer to the concept of everyday informality (as classified in the table below) that allows to study actions often overlooked by political analysis but that performed regularly and persistently end up impacting the “construction of the political” (Navaro-Yashin 2002<https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691088457/faces-of-the-state>) at a much broader level. Flavors of Informality and Their Advantages/Disadvantages (Source: Polese 2018<https://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Informality_in_Ukraine_and_beyond:_one_name,_different_flavours...with_a_cheer_for_the_Global_Encyclopaedia_of_Informality>) Legal Perception Social Perception Pluses Minuses Informal governance and sistema Reciprocity may be treated as nepotism or corruption but there is no legal framework to deal with the situation where everyone has something to hide Ranges from 'necessary evil' to get things done to 'evidence of advanced degradation of a country and its society' Avoids collapse. A last minute or ad-personam solution is usually found The perspective of no development. Effectiveness depends on people. When they change, everything starts from zero again Shadow economy and informal labour Tax non-compliance and failure to register a company is illegal Hard to find someone openly condemning it. It is usually 'us' against the (bad) state and usually justified or understandable as the attitude by those not directly affected by it Allows a large amount of people to survive. Can be used as a starting point to think of tax and other reforms Takes away revenues from state budget; puts the country in a negative light with regards to the business environment; represents an additional cost to secure compliance Informal payments and corruption Tax non-compliance and failure to register a company is illegal Hard to find someone openly condemning it. It is usually 'us' against the (bad) state and usually justified or understandable as the attitude by those not directly affected by it Allows a large amount of people to survive. Can be used as a starting point to think of tax and other reforms Takes away revenues from state budget; puts the country in a negative light with regards to the business environment; represents an additional cost to secure compliance Informality and policy-making (everyday informality) There is virtually no debate or awareness Little reflection. It is treated as an exception to a usually widely accepted rule or behaviour People who are unable to meet state requirements or act as they are supposed to can still 'live with the rule' and need not take action, protest or challenge the state Generates a gap between policy-makers (setting impossible objectives) and the people (especially those who cannot live with these objectives) The starting point of this panel, and hopefully the book that will emerge from it, is the intention to further explore the relationship between the state and the citizen and, in particular, what happens when individual and state moralities do not overlap or when they even diverge (Polese 2021). Mobility here is not understood in a broad geographical understanding (i.e. migrants) but could include domestic displacements, social mobility or any action that entails a change in status. What happens when the citizens are not willing, or able, to accept state morality as their own? This often occurs when an externally imposed view on what is “moral”, “fair” or “due” is enforced by the state but not understood by the citizens. Accordingly, we would welcome contributions that tackle the way labour mobility, broadly defined, can generate and consolidate existing or novel forms of informality. Contributions may include one of the following issues but authors are welcome to go well beyond them, as long as they engage with unorthodox approaches to the study of labour, precariousness and informal work: Mobilities and everyday survival strategies State-citizen relationship and everyday governance informality and mobility infrastructures labour and informal transportation Transnational mobilities and informal labour Invisible labour and invisible economic actors Tax morale, business survival and shadow economies Ethnic entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship and their relationship with the host state The moral economy and its perceptions Mobility and (informal) access to services (healthcare, schools, banking) Please send your abstract and 2-3 lines of biographical statement to asankojo.isaev@dcu.ie<mailto:asankojo.isaev@dcu.ie> with cc to fradejasignacio@uniovi.es<mailto:fradejasignacio@uniovi.es> and abel.polese@dcu.ie<mailto:abel.polese@dcu.ie> by 30 June 2024 General call for the conference We are pleased to announce the International Conference: «Geopolitics, Migrations and Identities in Central Eurasia», a Joint Meeting of the CESS (Central Eurasian Studies Society) and the ESCAS (European Society for Central Asian Studies) - an in-person conference scheduled to take place from January 8 to January 10, 2025 (Wednesday to Friday), at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. We invite submissions relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship across Central Eurasia - a diverse region that encompasses Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia, the Black Sea region, and the Volga region. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with more than 200 scholars and practitioners from a wide range of fields and to contribute to the rich tapestry of Central Eurasian studies. The Joint Meeting will be preceded on Tuesday afternoon (January 7) by a symbolic event: join us in an interconfessional and ecumenical Ceremony for Peace, hosted by Lisbon Patriarchy (catholic) at the entrance of S. Domingos Church. To participate in this propitiatory event of Forgiveness, Tolerance and Good Will we are inviting representatives of all major religious communities of Eurasia - Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews ... The Welcome Dinner (offered by the organization of the Conference) will celebrate the Cuisines of Portuguese-speaking countries and territories: a buffet of food from Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Mozambique, ..., with vegetarian and also halal options (t.b.c.). Restaurant 'Malandro do Marquês', owned by a Russian couple and with an African 'chef' and Russian-speaking staff (Tuesday evening, January 7). The Joint Meeting will be hosted by the University of Lisbon (exact venue t.b.c.). It's one of the oldest European higher-learning institutions (created in the 13th century), and several Faculties are in the World's top-100 in their fields (NSU Rankings). During the Meeting, the coffee-breaks and two lunches (Thursday and Friday, t.b.c.) will be offered by the University and the Organization at the University canteens. Cultural program: - The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will host a concert of soloists of its Orchestra on Wednesday evening (t.b.c.). - In the evenings, from January 6 to 11, at the Cinemateca (Film Archive), there will be a Film Festival dedicated to Central Asian cinematographies. - After the conference, on Saturday morning (January 11), the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the Foundation's Contemporary Art Center will have free guided tours; and the participants can also enjoy at the Museu do Fado a performance of fado, a famous Portuguese music genre (added in 2011 to the 'UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List'). Practicalities: - We are negotiating with the Public Transportation Company a special 5-days pass for the participants (metro, bus and tram); - Weather in Lisbon: in January, expect temperatures ranging between +6ºC, or 42ºF (min.) and +16ºC, or 61ºF (max.). Rain: likely. Snow: last time was in 2006, before that in 1974... So, we invite you to mark your calendars and prepare to join us for an enriching experience that promises to deepen our understanding of Central Eurasia’s complex social, cultural, and historical landscapes. Stay tuned for more information on conference details (beginning of April).