C3: Economic Survival Strategies in the Context of Unrecognized Statehood

Dr. Sabine von Löwis (ZOiS)

Little is known about how economic elites and other economic actors (e.g. employers and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises) channel their economic interests and activities in the post-Soviet de facto states of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria or try to change distribution conflicts that result from the reorganization of economic relations in their favor.

The project analyzes the individual economic survival strategies and strategies of small and medium sized businesses (SME) to cope with non-recognition. The social complexity of the de facto states currently does not allow any generalized statements about how these conflicts affect local entrepreneurship, the organization of economic exchange relationships and the associated dispute over access to economic resources (e.g. trade), and vice versa. Therefore, the project focuses on the context-sensitive analysis of de facto (sub)state strategies of individuals and SME.