The role of informality in contested states

Abstract

Contested or so-called de facto states invite scholars to rethink legitimacy, sovereignty and statehood through the prism of their resilience to non-recognition and relative isolation in the international system. Rejecting a binary approach to those concepts, some scholars have introduced a more nuanced perspective and instead analysed them, in context of non-recognition, as a matter of degree (Berg & Kuusk 2010; Caspersen 2012). Indeed, contested states often display the attributes and fulfil many of the functions of a bona fide state. At the same time, there are many arenas that remain characterised by informality. This panel suggests that to fully understand both the resilience and the limitations of de facto states requires to move beyond the sphere of formal politics and attend to the various informal practices that actors on the ground use to “get things done” (Ledeneva 1998). Through the qualitative measurement of informality in the political, economic, social and cultural life of contested states, we aim to highlight the hybrid and constantly evolving character of these polities by exploring how informal practises are not only used to “get by” and circumvent the limitations imposed by non-recognition, but also to consolidate statehood and advance the goal of recognition.

Title	Details
Informality, illegality, and alternative systems of regulation of economic activity in contested states	View Paper Details
Behind the ruins: the informal acquisition of abandoned properties and its legacy in contemporary Abkhazia	View Paper Details
International representation of contested statehood: an in-between of formal and informal diplomacy	View Paper Details
“Higher Education makes Northern Cyprus known to the world”: Politicizing the attractiveness of higher education in Northern Cyprus	View Paper Details