The Informal Post-Socialist Economy by Jeremy Morris Abel Polese

Author:Jeremy Morris, Abel Polese [Jeremy Morris, Abel Polese]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138204041
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2016-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

Every stick has two ends (Russian saying)

[V]I do not know how to talk about blat. It is a good and bad thing at the same time. When I moved to a new flat I had to sign a contract with a gas supplier and this was extremely difficult, not to say impossible. I went to the company managing gas supplies and started swinging from one room to the other. Everywhere there was another document missing and waiting time for a simple installation would be more than six months. As an alternative I was shown that one could contact one of the companies whose contact numbers was on a board in a corridor.

I went to the board and selected the only company providing a land line phone (all the others gave a mobile number and one could not even be sure they existed). I called the number and an old Jew said that he was ready to assist me to get a contract. It turned out that he had worked in the gas company for several decades and knew everybody who counted, but also all the rules and exceptions. We met up, agreed on a sum, and I was shocked at how easy it then became to get a contract. All doors immediately opened. The fixer was a wise and reasonable man, who asked a reasonable price, found an exception to the rule (why I had to jump the queue) and knew whom to inform about the exception. Ever since, I have maintained contact with him and whenever there is an issue to be solved I know I can go to him.

[P]Giving favours in exchange for money may not technically be blat as it has been studied by other scholars (Humphrey 2002; Ledeneva 1998). However, one should also note the different role money has come to play in different times. Objects are what they come to be (Thomas 1991) and their meaning and significance changes depending on context (Parry and Bloch 1989). The significance of money and commodities has been changing since the end of the USSR, a culture of chocolate and cognac (Patico 2002) has given way to a widespread use of money and its perception as a commodity (Polese 2008). Money, in this case, is now used with a social function and can help establish a relationship, as other scholars have noted (Ledeneva 2006). For instance, one of my informants befriended her doctor thanks to the fact that the first two or three times she had paid extra money, a pattern that Rivkin-Fish has also observed in the Russian context (2009).

[V]The bad thing about blat is that it may be used foolishly. My IT specialist lives in Irpin (a small town outside Kiev) in a very big house. Once I went to his place and I was surprised by the amount of space he has at his disposal. He said he wanted to buy a car and asked for help to choose it. In the end he picked a very expensive jeep and bought it with cash.

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