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A multi‑level, interdisciplinary toolkit for studying alternative orders POLCA’s methodology integrates theory‑driven design, multi‑level case analysis, and mixed methods to study the interplay of formal and informal orders in non‑Western governance. It synthesizes legal pluralism, socio‑legal theory, political economy, anthropology, and public administration to render authoritarian and hybrid leg
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/project/methodology - 2026-04-17
Why POLCA—and why now?The wave of democratic optimism that accompanied the end of the Cold War has been tempered by a global expansion of authoritarian rule and hybrid governance forms. In many post‑socialist societies, formal legal transplants and institution‑building have coexisted with persistent informal orders and low trust in state institutions. Mainstream reform strategies, often designed a
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/project/rationale - 2026-04-17
SOCIAL Sociology of Authoritarian Law: Insights from Central Asia POLCA The Political Economy of Legal and Governance Reform in Non-Western Societies. Insights from Central Asia MARS Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective (link to another website) MOCCA Multilevel Orders of Corruption in Central Asia (link to another website) CENTRAL ASIAN LAW Legal Cultures and Business Environment
https://www.norca.lu.se/home - 2026-04-17
International and Regional Norms, Initiatives, Discourses, Institutions Reading contested norm entrepreneurship in EurasiaResearch Stream 1 investigates how international and regional norm entrepreneurs shape, contest, and transform Central Asia’s governance landscape. Western actors—EU member states, international organizations, and development agencies—diffuse rule‑of‑law, human rights, and good
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/streams/stream-1 - 2026-04-17
National/Central‑Level Processes, Initiatives, Policies, Laws Inside hybrid legality: executive by‑laws, parallel sectors, and reform trajectoriesResearch Stream 2 explores the inner workings of national legal design and governance in Central Asia. It focuses on alternative, non‑Western, and traditional structures; executive decrees and by‑laws that create parallel governance sectors; administrati
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/streams/stream-2 - 2026-04-17
Local Meso‑/Micro‑Level Institutions, Actors, Social Norms, Practices Everyday orders: morality, trust, and compliance beyond formal venuesResearch Stream 3 turns to the everyday arenas where citizens, entrepreneurs, civil society actors, and low‑level officials navigate ethics, legality, respectability, solidarity, and stigma. It studies societal watchdogs, informal mobilization, legal pluralism,
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/streams/stream-3 - 2026-04-17
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/publications/books - 2026-04-17
The POLCA project is implemented through a broad international network of academic institutions, policy organisations, and civil society actors.Project partners are organised into two categories, reflecting their formal role in the Horizon Europe project structure:BeneficiariesInstitutions that are signatories to the Horizon Europe Grant Agreement and are formally responsible for the implementatio
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/partners - 2026-04-17
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/news - 2026-04-17
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/news/calendar - 2026-04-17
LUND UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN Rustamjon Urinboyev, Principal Investigator Rustam Urinboyev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University. Rustamjon works at the intersection of the sociology of law and ethnography, studying migration, corruption, governance, and penal institutions in the context of Russia and Central Asia. His current research focuses on (1) migratio
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/team - 2026-04-17
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/blog - 2026-04-17
NORCA (Nordics – Central Asia) is an interdisciplinary research platform based at Lund University, dedicated to advancing research, dialogue, and policy-relevant knowledge on Central Asia from Nordic and global perspectives.NORCA brings together scholars, practitioners, and institutions working on law, governance, political economy, migration, corruption, and social transformation in Central Asia
https://www.norca.lu.se/about-norca-nordics-central-asia - 2026-04-17
This section will host publications produced within the NORCA (Nordics – Central Asia) research platform.Publications will include peer-reviewed journal articles, academic books and book chapters, policy briefs, working papers, and other research outputs resulting from NORCA-affiliated projects and collaborations.As NORCA is a newly established platform, publications will be added on a rolling bas
https://www.norca.lu.se/publications - 2026-04-17
Institutions collaborating with the POLCA project under the Horizon Europe grant agreement. Lund University Coordinator Malmö Universitet (Sweden) University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) Ozbek Kadin Haklari Dernegi (Türkiye) Univerzita Karlova (Czechia) Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Germany) SIA Biznesa Augstskola Turiba (Latvia) University of the West of England, Bristol (United Kingdom) S
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/partners/beneficiaries - 2026-04-17
Institutions collaborating with the POLCA project without beneficiary status under the Horizon Europe grant agreement. Anticorruption Business Council of the Kyrgyz Republic Kurultai PE Tebigy Kuwwat Public Association Tajik State University of Commerce Zhetysu University named after Ilyas Zhansugurov University of Tsukuba Tashkent International University Tashkent State University of Law Eurasian
https://www.norca.lu.se/polca/partners/associated-partners - 2026-04-17
