Illegal but licit? Informal Practices in Post-Socialism

This presentation deals with the multitude of forms citizens may engaged in informal economic practices in the former socialist regions. Going beyond a conception of informality as opposed to the formal sector, the paper will demonstrate the fluid nature of informal transactions straddling the crossroads between illegal, illicit, socially acceptable and symbolically meaningful practices. Challenging reductively economistic perspectives on cross-border trading, undeclared work and other informal activities, this presentation illustrates the wide variety of interpretive meanings that people ascribe to such practices. Alongside ‘getting by’ and ‘getting ahead’ in recently marketised societies, these meanings relate to sociality, kinship-ties and solidarity, along with more surprising ‘political’ and moral reasonings.