The programme will involve 17 doctoral students from the consortium’s 14 universities in Europe and Canada. The doctoral students will explore how society, law and politics interact in authoritarian countries in Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
The European Research Council (ERC) is contributing SEK 52 million. The Swiss State Secretariat for Research, Education and Innovation (SERI) is providing an additional SEK 9 million.
“This funding will enable us to build a robust doctoral programme focused on authoritarian legal landscapes. We will use innovative concepts and methodological tools to ensure that the doctoral students gain a deep understanding of the complex relationships between law, society and governance,” says Rustam Urinboyev, a sociology of law researcher at Lund University and the project manager.
Arbitrariness and unpredictability are common problems during fieldwork in authoritarian states. Laws are often numerous, contradictory and inconsistently enforced. To ensure that the doctoral students can conduct their research in the five Central Asian countries, the consortium has joined forces with local associations, companies and authorities.
The research will generate new knowledge to support policy reforms that promote democratisation and good governance in authoritarian states. This material will then be translated into useful strategies for policymakers and practitioners in the EU and beyond.
“Sociology of Authoritarian Law: Insights from Central Asia” is the first doctoral network led by Lund University within the framework of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme. For Rustam Urinboyev, on the other hand, this is nothing new. The grant is his fourth from the ERC since 2019.
