The book is about the economic practices of traders and businesspeople from the Caucasus and China who work in local bazaars in Tbilisi and Beijing. It describes their activities, their motivations, their socio-cultural backgrounds, their work environments, and their interactions with one another. Contributing to a broader debate on the nature and role of informal economic practices in the post-Soviet periphery and processes of “globalization from below”, the book aims at providing a thick description of the embeddedness of bazaar traders’ economic behaviors and strategies in local and global political, economic, and cultural contexts, markets and supply chains.
Author(s): Susanne Fehlings
Series: Politics and History in Central Asia
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 357
City: Singapore
Praise for Traders, Informal Trade and Markets between the Caucasus and China
Contents
Note on Language
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction: Markets, Trade, and the Study of the Post-Soviet Economy
Marketplaces and Long-Distance Trade in Anthropology
Post-Soviet Markets and Their Background
Markets and Trade in Post-Soviet Economies
Fieldwork and Data Collection
Structure and Argument of the Book
References
2 From Chelnoki (Shuttle Traders) to Biznesmeny
Chelnoki
Biznesmeny and the Bazaar
Biznes in “Russian Beijing”
Levan’s Biznes
Lena’s Biznes
Giorgi’s Biznes
The Social Life of Biznes
Family and Kin
Business Partners and Friendship
Biznes Culture and Its Rules
Conclusion
References
3 Caucasian Biznes, Local Trade, and Entrepreneurship
Business Parameters
Location and Types of Commerce
Public Space (Street Vending)
Bazaars (FileRef="527398_1_En_3_Figv_HTML.png" Format="PNG" Color="BlackWhite" Type="Linedraw" Rendition="HTML" Height="32" Resolution="300" Width="230"‚ Lilos Bazroba)
Boutiques and Shopping Malls
Other Commercial Facilities and General Remarks
Personal Background
Age
Gender
Education, Personal Skills, and Ethnicity
Religion
Social Networks
Criminal Networks
Brotherhoods, Male Bonding, Transnational Experiences, and Friendship
Kin, Ethnic, and Interethnic Networks
Mobility
Goods
Quantity, Transport, and Frequency
Putting the Parts Together
Ideology: Ideas, Beliefs, and Value Systems
Entrepreneurs in Local Ecosystems
Defining the Local Entrepreneur
The Embedded Entrepreneur—A “Portrait of Nature”
Conclusion
References
4 Dealing with Institutional Frameworks
Loans
Lending by Private Credit Agencies (the Example of BIG)
Microfinance and the Banking Sector
Traders as Clients
Bureaucracy
Customs Clearance
Digitalization
Legislation
From Shevardnadze to the Rose Revolution
Law Versus Alternatives
Law’s Impact on Trade
Assessments of the State
Conclusion
References
5 Chinelebi: Chinese Entrepreneurs in the Caucasus
The Chinese Market at Lilo Bazroba
Hualing City and Sea Plaza
The Chinese Presence in Georgia
Globalization with a Chinese Face
The Georgia-China Partnership
Chinese-Georgian Encounters on the Ground
Hualing Group as Employer
Irakli’s and Lasha’s Experience
Mariam’s Experience
Hualing’s Encounters with Georgian Formal Institutions
Analysis of Chinese Activities in Georgia
“Cultural Brokers” and “Guanxi”
“Encompassing Accumulation”
Conclusion
References
Epilogue
References
Index
