12th InASEA conference
THE SOCIAL LIFE OF INFORMALITY:
VERNACULAR GOVERNANCE,
CLIENTELISM, AND GREY ECONOMIES IN
SOUTHEAST EUROPE
8-11 OCTOBER 2026
CALL FOR PAPERS
Organisers:
The Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology,
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics,
“Sts. Cyril and Methodius” University in Skopje
ABOUT THE TOPIC
Across Southeast Europe, public life is deeply shaped by practices that exist beyond the boundaries of formal institutions and legal definitions: informal arrangements, clientelist networks, personalized governance, and grey economic activities. Rather than viewing these phenomena as mere dysfunctions or residues of underdevelopment, this conference seeks to explore them as deeply embedded, historically situated, and socially meaningful practices.
This event brings together scholars, researchers, and practitioners to reflect on the social life of informality — how people navigate institutions, forge relationships, and secure livelihoods through alternative and often vernacular forms of organization. Informality, clientelism, and the grey economy are not simply exceptions to the rule of law; they are part of the rule’s lived reality, coexisting with formal systems in ways that are often adaptive, ambivalent, and ethically complex.
Too often, dominant policy discourses impose singular and moralizing definitions of these practices, overlooking the local logics, cultural histories, and everyday negotiations through which they emerge. This conference invites us to move beyond normative frameworks and toward a more anthropological and ethnographically grounded understanding — one that centers lived experience, historical depth, and moral reasoning.
By tracing how governance actually functions in everyday life — in homes, markets, offices, neighborhoods, and kinship networks — we can better understand the vernacular forms of statehood, legitimacy, and cooperation that sustain social life in times of uncertainty and
institutional fragility.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome contributions that explore the ambiguous and situated nature of informality, clientelism, and grey economies, especially through qualitative, ethnographic, and historically informed approaches. We are interested in how these practices are shaped by and shape social
relations, moral economies, and historical memory, as well as how they relate to broader processes of transition, globalization, and digital transformation.
Submissions may focus on any part of Southeast Europe, and comparative or transregional perspectives are encouraged.
Key Themes (suggested, but not limited to):
Ethnographies of informality: how people solve problems, navigate bureaucracy, and build networks in everyday life.
Clientelist arrangements: political loyalty, social obligation, and personalized systems of exchange.
Grey economic activity: informal labor, hybrid livelihoods, and everyday entrepreneurship in precarious contexts.
Moral economies and vernacular ethics: how people define fairness, obligation, and legitimacy in informal transactions.
Historical legacies: how socialist, imperial, or post-conflict histories continue to shape informal governance.
Discretion, negotiation, and workaround cultures in public administration and social services.
Kinship, friendship, and local solidarities as foundations of informal systems.
Digital transformations of informality: new platforms, apps, and networks for informal exchange.
Urban space and informality: housing, infrastructure, and informal urban planning.
Everyday engagements with the state: how the state is interpreted, invoked, or circumvented.
Gendered and generational dimensions of informal life and economic survival.
Beyond binaries: challenging the dichotomy between formal and informal, legal and illegal, modern and traditional.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words, clearly outlining the research question, approach, and key insights.
Please include a short biographical note (max 150 words) for each author.
We welcome submissions from early-career scholars, doctoral researchers, and practitioner-researchers, alongside established academics.
Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, or methodological.
For panel submission: title of the panel, names of panellists (no more than four panellists per
panel), abstracts of each panellist (no more than 300 words), and their short biographies (no
more than 100 words).
Submission Deadline: 27 February 2026
Notification of Acceptance: 27 April 2026
CONFERENCE FORMAT
The conference will feature keynote lectures, thematic panels, and roundtable discussions
designed to foster open, interdisciplinary exchange. Select contributions may be invited for
inclusion in a special journal issue or an edited volume on informality, clientelism, and
everyday governance in Southeast Europe.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For abstract submissions and inquiries, please contact: inasea2000@gmail.com
For updates and full conference details: Dushica Brachikj and Aleksandar Meshkov
inasea2000@gmail.com
REVIEWING COMMITTEE
Elena Barbulescu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Nebi Bardhoshi, Tiranë, Albania
Alenka Bartulović, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Danijela Birt Katić, Zadar, Croatia
Ioannis Manos, Thessaloniki, Greece
Robert Pichler, Viena, Austria
Ljupcho S. Risteski, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Ljupcho S. Risteski, President of the Committee, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Mirjana Mirchevska, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Ilina Jakimovska, Head of IEA, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Davorin Trpeski, Dean of FNSM, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Ana Ashtalkovska Gajtanoska, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Ines Crvenkovska Risteska, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
Viktor Trajanovski, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
CONFERENCE SECRETARIES
Dushica Brachikj, IEA, FNSM, UKIM, Republic of North Macedonia
Aleksandar Meshkov, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
CONFERENCE FEE
InASEA members who have paid their membership dues for the past two years will be asked to pay an on-site only Conference fee of 40 EUR.
Non-InASEA members and members who have not paid their dues will be asked to pay an on-site Conference fee of:
80 EUR for participants from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece,
Kosova, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey; 120 EUR for participants from all other countries.
For all participants who have paid the Conference fee, the conference organizers will cover full accommodation and meals during the Conference.
For conference participants who do not require accommodation and meals, the conference
fee is 40 EUR.
ACCOMMODATION SUPPORT AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Co-financing of accommodation and travel costs will be available for young scholars (Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers up to the age of 35) who are not employed and do not have access to other funding sources (e.g., project funds). Eligible applicants may receive
financial support up to a maximum of 150 EUR.
The final decision will be made by the Organizing Committee.
