Informality and Nonprofits in East Central European Capitalism

Abstract:     
This paper presents an analysis of nonprofit organizations - the organizational infrastructure of civil society - in East Central Europe, from one important respect: by placing them in the context of the comparative historical sociology of the region's widespread informality. This involves two steps: (1) summarizing an argument about the role of informality in East Central European capitalism today in order to (2) outline its implications for the study of post-state-socialist nonprofits. Most of the empirical examples come from Hungary. These examples serve illustrative purposes and are intended as devices to provoke new analysis. They are meant to open, rather than close, discussion.

Keywords: informality, East Central Europe, nonprofit organizations, Hungary, cliques, social network assets

Accepted Paper Series