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Department of Sociology

 
Timur Alexandrov on informal social groups in Central Asia for the Global Encyclopaedia of Informality

Timur Alexandrov, PhD Candidate from the Department of Sociology, contributes to the new Global Encyclopaedia of Informality (Volume II, page 47) with his research on informal social institution of “Gap” in Central Asian societies.  Based on ethnographic research, the study sheds light on a variety of “Gap” networks as means for socialisation, and analyses traditional and new forms of creating social safety nets and alternative welfare mechanisms.

The Global Informality Encyclopaedia of Informality is an interdisciplinary research project, led by UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, that explores informal practices and structures from a global perspective.

Through its comparative and ethnographic investigations, the encyclopaedia reveals multiple moralities, which account for the resilience of informal practices, and explores their legitimacy and institutional arrangements as well as the cultural and historical contexts of informality. A unique feature of the encyclopedia is that it includes material that previously has not been seen together. 

 

The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality is available in paper and online in open access for a free download at:

Volume I:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/global-encyclopedia-of-informality-i

Volume 2:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/browse-books/global-encyclopaedia-of-informality-ii