Shadow Networks

After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, new cultural and economic practices emerged out of the fragments of the collapsed state. Exploring economic activities in the Russian Far East, this book focuses on new informal economic practices and non-regulated commercial organizations, and it seeks to understand the emerging roles of entrepreneurs, organized crime, and the state in post- Soviet Russia. Based on anthropological fieldwork in the Russian Far East, especially in the port city...
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After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, new cultural and economic practices emerged out of the fragments of the collapsed state. Exploring economic activities in the Russian Far East, this book focuses on new informal economic practices and non-regulated commercial organizations, and it seeks to understand the emerging roles of entrepreneurs, organized crime, and the state in post- Soviet Russia. Based on anthropological fieldwork in the Russian Far East, especially in the port city of Vladivostok, the book focuses on the large open-air markets, the so-called shuttle traders that cross the Russian-Chinese border on a regular basis to import cheap consumer goods for local markets, and the different organized crime groups which evolved during the transition period in the Russian Far East. Based on the analysis of social networks and focusing on different qualities of relational ties, the book proposes a methodological and theoretical apparatus to understand the mechanics and dynamics of informal economic networks. (Series: Halle Studies in the Anthropology of Eurasia - Vol. 30) [Subject: Anthropology, Russian Studies, Eurasian Studies, Economics, Business, Criminology]