Events

Workshop: Informality as a methodological approach: crises, conflicts, governance, and the everyday

Workshop on:

Informality as a methodological approach: crises, conflicts, governance, and the everyday

Naples, 14-15 February 2025

Workshop Programme

14 February 2025 - DAY 1

(Palazzo du Mesnil, via Partenope 10/a, Universita’ di Napoli L’Orientale)

9:00 – 9:15: Opening and Introductions: Greetings by the Head of Department of Human and Social Sciences Paolo Wulzer

9:15 – 11:00:  Session 1|The Power of the Unofficial: Exploring Informality in Political Economy |Chairs/Discussants: Mariana Ramirez (Heidelberg University)

●      Mariana Ramirez (Heidelberg University)

Title: The Narco-economy and Incumbent Support: A Case Study of Monzon Valley

●      Marta Avesani (PhD student at University of Groningen Department of Criminal Law and Criminology)

Title: Agri-food Certifications in Latin America: Drivers of Accountability or Gateways to Corruption?

●      Asankojo Isaev(PhD student at Dublin City University School of Law and Government)

Title: Persistence of the ceremonial “toi economy” in Kyrgyzstan: how do social and cultural aspects of the informal “toi (feast) economy” support its resilience.

●      Marcello Mollica (University of Messina) & Leone Michelini (University of Messina))

Title: “Super-diversity” in the Informal Labour Market of Domestic Care in Sicily: An Ethnographic Comparison Between Indian and East European Caregivers’ Experience

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30 - 13:00: Session 2 | Informality across labour markets | Chairs/Discussants:  Nurşen Gürboğa & Liaisan Şahin

●      Giovanni Parente (Final-year PhD student at Maynooth University)

Title: Merchant Shipping and Informality: Case Studies from the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, 2008-2023.

●      Nurşen Gürboğa & Liaisan Şahin (Marmara University)

Title: Between Formalization and Informality: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Informal Domestic Workers in Hanoi and Institutional Responses (2020-2022)

●      Amy Basu (PhD candidate in the Political Science department at Yale University)

Title: Bread or Circuses? The Conundrum of Non-Contingent Clientelism and the Informal Economy *Online Session

13:00 - 14:00 – Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:30: Session 3 |Informality and contentious politics |Chairs/Discussants:  Irene Costantini (Università di Napoli L’Orientale)

●      Daniela D’Urso (PhD student at KU Leuven, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Latvia, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences).

Title: Echoes of the Multitude: Rethinking Resistance Through the Lens of Quiet Encroachment

●      Deren Onursal (Lecturer in the European Studies department at the University of Amsterdam)

Title: Economically Stressed, Politically Grieved, and Emotionally Triggered: A Comprehensive Explanation of Protest Behavior

●      Miria Gambardella (PhD student at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology).

Title: Dialectics of Informality: Anti-Systemic Resistances and Rebel Governance from Below

●      Nihan Bozok (Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Istanbul Beykent University, Turkey) & Mehmet Bozok (Associate Professor, Sociology Department, Maltepe University, Turkey.)

Title: Grassroots Protesters’ Informal, Contingent, and Multi-Actor Tactics Against Deforestation: The Case of Muğla, Turkey

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30: Session 4 |Informality, security, and rebel governance |Chairs/Discussants:  Ruth Hanau Santini (Università di Napoli L’Orientale)

●      Giulio Levorato & Federico Donelli (University of Trieste & University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’)

Title: Conflict Management from Below: Insights from the Macawisley Militias and Cauca Indigenous Security Initiatives

●      Saikal Ibraimova (PhD in Political Science at Osh State University)

Title: Non-State Actors in Political Decision Making: Role of Informal Hierarchical Structures and Leaders in the Ethnic Conflict of 2010 in Southern Kyrgyzstan

●  Elieth EYEBIYI (online)

Title: Informality and urbanity

19:30 – Dinner

Trattoria Medina Via Medina, 43

15 February 2025 - DAY 2

(Servizio Cultura - Palazzo Cavalcanti via Toledo 348)

9:00 - 9:15: Opening Session

9:15 - 11:00: Session 1 |Informality, risk analysis and governance |Chairs/Discussants:  Paolo Andrea Giovanni

●      Manfredi Valeriani (Researcher for the Center of International and Strategic Studies (CISS) at Luiss University)
Title: Intelligence in International Relations: Informality as a Methodology to Uncover the Hidden Value of Intelligence in International Politics

●      Claudia Mariotti (Roma Tre University)
Title: Informality as Governance: Understanding Forza Italia’s Organizational Success Through Unofficial Practice

●      Maximilian Haße (Universität Trier)
Title: In/formality in Regional Governance: Negotiating Regulations in the LEADER Region Raiffeisen, Germany

●      Kristine Eck (Professor of Politics and Society at Aalborg University, Denmark)

Title: Informal Resolution of Police Misconduct Complaints

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 13:00 Session 2|Informality, policy-making and institutions | Chairs/Discussants:  Paul Stacey (Roskilde University)

●      Boris Melnichenk (PhD-candidate at CERCEC, EHESS/CNRS)
Title: Informal Hierarchies Between State and Non-State Actors in Authoritarian Russia

●      Paul Stacey (Associate Professor, Dept. Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University)
Title: The Illegal Extraction of Gold and Informality as a Political Imperative in Ghana

●      Benedict Arko (University of Education, Winneba) *Online
Title: Financial Exclusion and the Making of Informality: Insights from Small-Scale Mining in Ghana

●      Elio Della Monica (PhD student at Dublin City University, School of Law and Government)

Title: Unraveling Arisan: A systematic literature review of its socio-economic impact.

13:00 – 14:00: Lunch Break

14:00 – 16:00 Session 3|Informality, migrants, refugees, gender and religion| Chairs/Discussants:  Diana Lozko

●      Valeria Lazarenko (Georg Simmel Center for Urban Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Title: Informality as a Framework to Study Refugee Experience: Insights from the Case Study of Ukrainian Refugees in Berlin

●      Dina Kyzyrbek (PhD student in Political Science at Kazakh National University and a visiting researcher at the University of Coimbra.)

Title: Managing political risks through informal agreements: the case of Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan

●      Saidolimkhon Gaziev (PhD student at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany)
Title: The Politics of Gender in a Colonial Islamic Society: Regulating Commercialized Sex in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Russian Central Asia

●      Diana Lozko (PhD student, University of Latvia)

Title: Narco-saint phenomenon in Latina America and mafia-catholicism in Italy in the midst of Robin Hood theology as an answer to the social injustice crisis.

Closing Remarks

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