

Research Areas
- Corruption and Informality
- Socio-Legal Approaches to Migration
- Legal Pluralism, Religious and Ethnic Identities in Prison Contexts
- Islamic Public Administration
- Law and Society in Central Asia
- Migration and Shadow Economy
- Russian and Post-Soviet Studies
Current Research
Rustam is an interdisciplinary socio-legal scholar with area studies interest in Russia, Central Asia and Turkey. He works at the intersection of socio-legal studies, migration studies, legal pluralism, informality and governance scholarships. He is currently working on the following projects:
1) Legal Pluralism, Informality and Everyday Life in Multicultural Prisons: A Case Study of Central Asian Muslim Prisoners in the Russian Penal System (to be published by the University of California Press, under contract, forthcoming 2023)
A book project on the daily experiences of Central Asian Muslim prisoners in the Russian penal system. Drawing on extensive fieldwork among migrants from Uzbekistan who have served prison sentences in the Russian Federation, the book analyses the everyday practices of Central Asian Muslim prisoners in Russian penal institutions. The special emphasis is placed on Muslim prisoners’ religious practices, ethnic identities and their interaction with the traditional Russian prison sub-cultures.
2) Law, Society and Corruption: Lessons from the Post-Soviet Context, Abingdon: Routledge (contract signed, forthcoming 2023)
A book project on the role of society’s informal norms and ‘non-monetary currencies’ in the emergence, explanation, persistence and ubiquitousness of corruption. These questions will be explored in the context of Uzbekistan, a post-Soviet country with the hybrid legal culture which embodies the peculiar mixture of Soviet, Western and Islamic legal cultures.
Second and third authors on this book project: Måns Svensson and Tolibjon Mustafoev
3) ADLAW: Administrative Law Reform and Legal Integration in Hybrid Political Regimes (2021-2025)
The ADLAW project, entailing international collaboration between Lund University and the University of Manchester, aims to produce a new framework for interpreting processes of constitutional legitimation in hybrid political regimes. It analyses two constitutional orders in the former Soviet sphere of influence, in Tatarstan and Uzbekistan. These constitutional orders are representative examples of an increasingly frequent type of hybrid constitutionalism. This type is marked by the fact that: (1) it provides relatively strong guarantees for access to law; for claims against administrative agencies; and for protecting individual rights against violation by public bodies; (2) it does not provide strong mechanisms for competitive democracy or for rotation of governmental office. Consequently, responsibility for the construction of recognition for law and of legitimacy for the polity as a whole is partly displaced into legal institutions.
The Co-PI of the project is Dr. Chris Thornhill, Professor of Law at the University of Manchester, UK
The ADLAW project is funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet)
4) Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia (2020-2024)
The main aim of the Central Asian Law project is to promote greater understanding and explanation of the interconnections between legal cultures, local business environments and governance in Central Asia. More specifically, the project aims to: 1) produce new empirical knowledge on legal cultures and business ethics in the region; 2) engage with, and challenge, existing theoretical paradigms within socio-legal studies, law, economic and business sciences, Central Asian studies (post-Soviet studies, more generally) and governance scholarship; 3) provide strategic intelligence for business actors interested or already operating in the region; 4) inform international organizations and decision-makers in the EU and Central Asia on possible ways to improve the business and investment climate, the rule of law and governance in the region
The project is funded by the European Commission H2020 MSCA - RISE Programme. Project budget: € 1.1 million)
Selected Publications in English
- The Political Economy of Non-Western Migration Regimes: Central Asian Migrant Workers in Russia (co-authored with Sherzod Eraliev) [Palgrave International Political Economy Series] (2022)
- Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia [University of California Press] (2020)
- Labour, Mobility and Informal Practices in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe: Power, Institutions and Mobile Actors in Transnational Space (co-authored with Rano Turaeva) [Routledge BASEES series] (2021)
- Informal civil society initiatives in non-Western societies: mahallas in Uzbekistan (co-authored with Sherzod Eraliev) Central Asian Survey
- Living Law, Legal Pluralism, and Corruption in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan. The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 45 (3), 372–390. (co-authored with Måns Svenssson)
Publications
Displaying of publications. Sorted by year, then title.
Law, Society, and Corruption: Exploring (Anti-) Corruption From Interdisciplinary and Multilevel Perspectives
Rustam Urinboyev, Tolibjon Mustafoev
(2023) Research Report/Coursebook in Sociology of Law
BookInformality and Uzbek Migrant Networks in Russia and Turkey
Rustam Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2023) The Central Asian World
Book chapterLaw, Society and Corruption: Lessons from the Post-Soviet Context
Måns Svensson, Rustam Urinboyev
(2023) Law, Justice and Power series
BookEthnicity, Migration and Digital Labour: Mobile Phone Technology Use Among Uzbek Migrants
Rustam Urinboyev
(2022) Oxford Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity and Communication
Book chapterEveryday Transnational Lives of Uzbek Migrants in Russia: A Socio-Legal Perspective
Rustam Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism
Book chapterThe Political Economy of Non-Western Migration Regimes: Central Asian Migrant Workers in Russia and Turkey
Rustam Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) Palgrave International Political Economy Series
BookInformal civil society initiatives in non-Western societies: mahallas in Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) Central Asian Survey, 41 p.477-497
Journal articlePolitical vs. Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: The Illegal, Immoral, and Illegitimate
Rustam Urinboyev
(2022) Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness: Supplementing the State for the Invisible and the Vulnerable , p.223-247
Book chapterEveryday Geopolitics of Uzbek Migrants in Russia and Their Left-behind Families in Uzbekistan
Sherzod Eraliev, Rustam Urinboyev
(2022) Eastern Europe and Eurasia in the Global Age: Narrating Geopolitics and Culture
Book chapterUnderstanding Labor, Law and Informality in Non-Western Migration Regimes
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.1-32
Book chapterMigrant Labor Markets in Russia and Turkey
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.113-143
Book chapterThe Shadow Economy and the Street World as a Migration Arena
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.145-180
Book chapterInformality and Migrant Agency in Non-Western Migration Regimes
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.181-188
Book chapterRussian and Turkish Migration Regimes in a Comparative Perspective
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.33-50
Book chapterParallel Worlds of Uzbek Migrants in Russia and Turkey
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.51-77
Book chapterDocumentation and Legalization Arenas in Moscow and Istanbul
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Sherzod Eraliev
(2022) International Political Economy Series , p.79-111
Book chapterUnderstanding and Theorizing Migrants’ Experiences in Non-Western, Non-Democratic Migration Regimes
Rustam Urinboyev
(2021) Central Asian Affairs, 8 p.306-311
ReviewUrinboyev, R. (2021). Immigration and Refugee Law in Russia: Socio-Legal Perspectives. By Agnieszka Kubal. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2019. xxii, 205 pp. Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £85.00, hard bound. Slavic Review, 80(2), 445-446. doi:10.1017/slr.2021.137
Rustam Urinboyev
(2021) Slavic Review, 80 p.445-446
ReviewIntroduction: Labour, mobilities and informal practices in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe
Rano Turaeva, Rustam Urinboyev
(2021) BASEES series
Book chapterSmartphone Transnationalism in Non-Western Migration Regimes: Transnational Ethnography of Uzbek Migrant Workers in Russia
Rustam Urinboyev
(2021) Routledge BASEES series , p.89-113
Book chapterLabour, Mobility and Informal Practices in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe: Power, Institutions and Mobile Actors in Transnational Space
(2021) Routledge BASEES series
BookMigration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia
Rustam Urinboyev
(2020)
BookCentral Asian Law: Legal Cultures, Governance and Business Environment in Central Asia. A Collection of Papers from Central Asian Guest Researchers Seconded to Lund University
(2020) Research Report in Sociology of Law
BookPrecarious Times for Central Asian Migrants in Russia
Sherzod Eraliev, Rustam Urinboyev
(2020) Current History, 119 p.258-263
Journal articleWhy Control Immigration? Strategic Uses of Migration Management in Russia. By Caress Schenk. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018. xvi, 374 pp. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Figures. Tables. $71.25, hard bound.
Rustam Urinboyev
(2019) Slavic Review, 78 p.529-533
ReviewEveryday Corruption and Social Norms in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev
(2019) , 19 p.1-31
Working paperCorruption in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance , p.1-1
Book chapterLocal Government in Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance
Book chapterNegotiating Spaces and the Public–Private Boundary: Language Policies Versus Language Use Practices in Odessa
Abel Polese, Rustam Urinboyev, Tanel Kerikmae, Sarah Murru
(2018) Space and Culture
Journal articleCorruption, Informality and ‘Living Law’ in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) Kalabalik. Bulletin of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 4 p.10-10
Journal articleMigration, Transnationalism, and Social Change in Central Asia: Everyday Transnational Lives of Uzbek Migrants in Russia
Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) Eurasia on the Move. Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Dynamic Migration Region , p.27-41
Book chapterPolitical vs Everyday Forms of Governance in Uzbekistan: the Illegal, Immoral and Illegitimate Politics and Legitimacy in Post-Soviet Eurasia
Rustam Urinboyev, Abel Polese, Måns Svensson, Laura L Adams, Tanel Kerikmae
(2018) Studies of Transition States and Societies, 10 p.50-64
Journal articleMahalla
Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality: Understanding Social and Cultural Complexity, 2 p.69-72
Article in encyclopediaEveryday Life Governance in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Laura L Adams, Måns Svensson, Rustam Urinboyev
(2018) Contemporary Central Asia: Societies, Politics, and Cultures , p.487-487
Book chapterCorruption, Social Norms and Everyday Life in Uzbekistan
Rustam Urinboyev, Måns Svensson
(2017) Political Corruption and Governance , p.187-210
Book chapterEstablishing an "Uzbek Mahalla" via Smartphones and Social Media: Everyday Transnational Lives of Uzbek Labour Migrants in Russia
Rustam Urinboyev
(2017) Contemporary Central Asia: Societies, Politics, and Cultures , p.119-119
Book chapterInformality currencies: a tale of Misha, his brigada and informal practices among Uzbek labour migrants in Russia
Rustam Urinboyev
(2017) Post-socialist Informalities Power, Agency and the Construction of Extra-legalities from Bosnia to China
Book chapterArbeitsmigration und Schattenwirtschaft in Russland
Rustam Urinboyev
(2017) Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West, 7 p.18-18
Journal articleLiterature Review of Social Media in Professional Organisations 2000-2015 : Work, Stress, Power Relations, Leadership, Librarians, Teachers, and Social Workers
Kari Rönkkö, Rustam Urinboyev, Måns Svensson, Lupita Svensson, Hanna Carlsson
(2017)
ReportMahallah
Rustam Urinboyev
(2017) The Global Informality Project / Encyclopaedia of Informality
Article in encyclopediaInformal Welfare and Everyday Acts of Resistance to the State in Post-Soviet Central Asia. An Ethnographic Study of Mahalla Institutions in Rural Fergana, Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2016) Festskrift till Karsten Åström , p.521-542
Book chapterInformality currencies: a tale of Misha, his brigada and informal practices among Uzbek labour migrants in Russia
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Abel Polese
(2016) Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 24 p.191-206
Journal articleChild Rights, Classroom and School Management: A Systematic Literature Review
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Per Wickenberg, Ulf Leo
(2016) International Journal of Children's Rights, 24 p.499-521
Journal articleMigration and Transnational Informality in Post-Soviet Societies : Ethnographic Study of Po rukam (‘handshake’) Experiences of Uzbek Migrant Workers in Moscow
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2016) Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series , p.70-93
Book chapterMigration and Parallel Legal Orders in Russia
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2016) Aleksanteri Insight - Expert Opinion Series, 4
OtherParadoxes of Local Government Reform in Post-Soviet Central Asia
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2016)
Conference paperMigrantarbetare inom jordbruket – arbetsmiljö och arbetsvillkor
Måns Svensson, Anders Wigerfelt, Rustamjon Urinboyev, Ulla Nilsson, Margareta Littorin, et al.
(2015) Arbetsliv i omvandling, 1
BookLocal Government Capacity in Post-Soviet Central Asia
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2015) Viesoji Politika Ir Administravimas, 14 p.177-199
Journal articleEveryday Forms of Resistance to the Law: An Ethnographic Study of Street Vendors in Bogotá
Ana Maria Vargas Falla, Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2015) Droit et Société, 91 p.623-638
Journal articleInformal Welfare and Everyday Acts of Resistance to the State in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Case Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2015)
Conference paper: abstractRethinking Informality in Post-Soviet Societies. An Ethnographic Study of “Po-Rukam“ (Handshake Deal) Experiences of Uzbek Migrant Workers in Moscow, Russia
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2015)
Conference paper: abstractMahalla and People’s Everyday Energy Struggles in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan: The Unraveling of Uzbekistan’s Islamic Legal Culture and Administrative Traditions
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2015)
Conference paper: abstractRethinking Corruption in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan: Ethnography of “Living Law”
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Måns Svensson
(2014) Eugen Ehrlich‘s Sociology of Law , p.207-235
Book chapterIntroduction to the Special Issue: Islamic Public Administration: First Explorations in the former Second World (and other Regions)
Abdillah Noh, Wolfgang Drechsler, Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2014) Halduskultuur - Administrative Culture, 15 p.120-122
Journal articleIs there an Islamic Public Administration Legacy in Post-Soviet Central Asia? An Ethnographic Study of Everyday Mahalla Life in Rural Ferghana, Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2014) Halduskultuur - Administrative Culture, 15 p.157-178
Journal articleEveryday Experiences of Energy in Rural Ferghana, Uzbekistan: Reconstructing the Notions of "Community" and the "State"
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2014)
Conference paper: abstractLiving Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia : A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2013) Lund Studies in Sociology of Law, 40
DissertationDiskriminering och psykosocial ohälsa : migrantarbetare i jordbruket
Måns Svensson, Anders S Wigerfelt, Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2013) Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv
Journal articleLiving Law, Legal Pluralism, and Corruption in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Måns Svensson
(2013) Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 45 p.372-390
Journal articleCorruption in a culture of money: Understanding social norms in post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Måns Svensson
(2013) Social and Legal Norms , p.267-284
Book chapterLiving Law and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Central Asia: A Case Study of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2013)
Conference paper: abstractMigrant Agricultural Workers and Their Socio-‐economic, Occupational and Health Conditions– A Literature Review
Måns Svensson, Rustamjon Urinboyev, Anders Wigerfelt Svensson, Peter Lundqvist, Margareta Littorin, et al.
(2013) SSRN Working Papers series
Working paperPublic administration developments in post-Soviet Central Asia
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2013) The Past, Present and Future of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe , p.296-303
Book chapterCorruption, Informality and ‘Living Law’ in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2013) , p.31-31
Conference paper: abstractWelfare as a means for political stability : a law and society analysis
Måns Svensson, Rustamjon Urinboyev, Karsten Åström
(2012) European Journal of Social Security, 14 p.64-85
Journal articleMigrantarbete inom den gröna näringen
Måns Svensson, Rustamjon Urinboyev, Ulla Nilsson, Margareta Littorin, Anders Wigerfelt-Svensson, et al.
(2012)
ReportMahalla Institutions in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2012)
Conference paper: abstractCorruption in a “culture of money”: Understanding social norms in post-Soviet Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2012)
Conference paper: abstractPolitical stability through welfare reforms : a comparative study of Central Asia and Western Europe
Rustamjon Urinboyev, Måns Svensson
(2012)
Conference paper: abstractLaw, Social Norms and Welfare as Means of Public Administration: Case Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2011) NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, IV p.33-57
Journal articleBridging the State and Society: Case Study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2011) Norms between law and society: A collection of Essays from Doctorates from Different Academic Subjects and Different Parts of the World, Lund Studies in Sociology of Law 37 p.115-133
Book chapterUnderstanding public administration reforms in clientalistic Uzbekistan: the interplay between law and social norms
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2011)
Conference paper: abstractSocial security as a means for political stability : a law and society analysis
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2011)
Conference paper: abstractPublic administration reforms in Uzbekistan : myth or reality
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2010)
Conference paper: abstractSocial norms, law and the welfare as means of social control : case study of Mahalla Institutions in Uzbekistan
Rustamjon Urinboyev
(2010)
Conference paper: abstract
Background
Rustam Urinboyev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology of Law. He is an interdisciplinary socio-legal scholar, studying migration, corruption, governance and penal institutions in the context of Russia, Central Asia and Turkey. He is the author of Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia (2020), published by the University of California Press.