Economic Strategies and Bargaining in Rural Kazakhstan: The Role of Household Networks and the post-Soviet State

Tabea Rohner

This doctoral research project seeks to study current developments in the realm of day-to-day economic activities in rural Kazakhstan through ethnographic research. Focusing its empirical research on one specific institution, the household, the project uses the concept of bargaining power in order to analyze local people’s economic actions and strategies. Research on bargaining power suggests that extra-household parameters are crucial in understanding the social relations and an individual‘s position within the household. This project seeks to determine those extra-household parameters which enable and constrain the household members in pursuing their goals and strategies. Specific attention is thereby given to the gender aspect, although other aspects such as age and material wealth are considered, too. The central question of this project is: How do extra-household social processes and related normative systems interplay with day-to-day economic activities and decision-making of rural Kazkah households as well as relations and individuals within these households?