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Changing patronage and informality configurations in Ukraine : From the shopfloor upwards

Gorbach, Denys LU orcid (2020) In Studies of Transition States and Societies 12(1). p.3-15
Abstract
This article examines hegemonic norms of political and moral economy in Ukraine today acting at the level of the workplace. My research is based on fieldwork I conducted in a large industrial city in the east of Ukraine from January to June 2019. Using the general Gramsci-inspired theoretical framework and the insights of Hillel Ticktin, Simon Clarke and Michael Burawoy regarding Soviet and post-Soviet factory regimes, I analyse differences between the life-worlds of workers, relating them to the structurally different context in which they find themselves. All enterprises feature path-dependent informal bargaining and underinvestment as cornerstones of their factory regimes. However, they differ in the ways in which these traits combine... (More)
This article examines hegemonic norms of political and moral economy in Ukraine today acting at the level of the workplace. My research is based on fieldwork I conducted in a large industrial city in the east of Ukraine from January to June 2019. Using the general Gramsci-inspired theoretical framework and the insights of Hillel Ticktin, Simon Clarke and Michael Burawoy regarding Soviet and post-Soviet factory regimes, I analyse differences between the life-worlds of workers, relating them to the structurally different context in which they find themselves. All enterprises feature path-dependent informal bargaining and underinvestment as cornerstones of their factory regimes. However, they differ in the ways in which these traits combine in practice. These configurations, in turn, elicit different strategies and attitudes from the workers, each of them more typical at one enterprise than at others: an archaic manufactory attitude at a new window factory, exit in mines torn between owners, voice at the foreign-owned metalworking factory, and loyalty at a 'native' oligarchic holding. The general trend is not towards eliminating informality as a 'post-Soviet residue' but rather towards renegotiating it with different outcomes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Studies of Transition States and Societies
volume
12
issue
1
pages
3 - 15
publisher
Tallin University, Estonia
external identifiers
  • scopus:85101678696
ISSN
1736-8758
DOI
10.58036/stss.v12i1.847
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
002e569f-c8fe-4a34-bda8-0d3fc94fcd6a
date added to LUP
2024-09-11 17:25:50
date last changed
2024-09-27 16:46:23
@article{002e569f-c8fe-4a34-bda8-0d3fc94fcd6a,
  abstract     = {{This article examines hegemonic norms of political and moral economy in Ukraine today acting at the level of the workplace. My research is based on fieldwork I conducted in a large industrial city in the east of Ukraine from January to June 2019. Using the general Gramsci-inspired theoretical framework and the insights of Hillel Ticktin, Simon Clarke and Michael Burawoy regarding Soviet and post-Soviet factory regimes, I analyse differences between the life-worlds of workers, relating them to the structurally different context in which they find themselves. All enterprises feature path-dependent informal bargaining and underinvestment as cornerstones of their factory regimes. However, they differ in the ways in which these traits combine in practice. These configurations, in turn, elicit different strategies and attitudes from the workers, each of them more typical at one enterprise than at others: an archaic manufactory attitude at a new window factory, exit in mines torn between owners, voice at the foreign-owned metalworking factory, and loyalty at a 'native' oligarchic holding. The general trend is not towards eliminating informality as a 'post-Soviet residue' but rather towards renegotiating it with different outcomes.}},
  author       = {{Gorbach, Denys}},
  issn         = {{1736-8758}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{3--15}},
  publisher    = {{Tallin University, Estonia}},
  series       = {{Studies of Transition States and Societies}},
  title        = {{Changing patronage and informality configurations in Ukraine : From the shopfloor upwards}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.58036/stss.v12i1.847}},
  doi          = {{10.58036/stss.v12i1.847}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}