Research interests

• The social and economic costs of ‘transition’ in post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine
• How coping tactics are developed in response to economic marginalisation
• State - society relations and welfare reform in post-Soviet regions
• The role of social capital and informal economies in negotiating economic uncertainty in everyday life
• The post-release experiences of Gulag survivors
• Northern restructuring and the use of ‘geography’ as a welfare tool

Current and recent research

Dr Round's research is concerned with the social and political geographies emerging from the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is particularly interested in the forms of individual/community coping strategies developed as a response to the economic marginalisation which has occurred across post-Soviet regions. Within this he explores how such practises are spatially constructed, which helps reveal unequal power dynamics in state/society relations and the role that corruption plays in everyday life.

In Magadan and Moscow Dr Round explores individual/community responses to marginalisation amongst senior citizens and the politicisation of ageing. In St. Petersburg, to explore the underlying causes of Russia’s demographic crisis, he researched amongst middle-aged men working within the city’s informal economies. In several locations in Ukraine he has examined the nature and role of informal work practices across generations. Underlying to all of this work is a critical reading of social capital theories and explorations of the complex nature of everyday life.

Surviving post-socialism: evaluating the role of the informal sector in Ukraine
(with Professor Colin Williams, Management School, The University of Sheffield)
This project, supported by the ESRC, examines the nature and roles of informal economies in Ukraine. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies informal practices were studies in numerous locations in the cities of Kyiv, Uzhgorod and Kharkiv. Of particular interest is the ways in which individuals/households develop practices as a response to the economic marginalisation caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Further to detailing the actual coping mechanisms themselves the group explored how these practices shape/utilise/replicate the spaces in which they take place in/through and the role that social capital plays in everyday life. This helps theorise how post-Soviet spaces are constructed and the multitude of processes involved in the ‘transition’ away from command economy structures.

The post-release experiences of Gulag survivors in Magadan and the materik
(in cooperation with Oleg Dudnik and Emilia Kosterina)
This project explores how Gulag survivors reconstructed their lives after their release from incarceration and the differences in responses between those who were forced to remain in Magadan and those who returned to the materik (mainland).

Russia’s demographic crisis: the impact on middle aged men
The role of this work is, currently, to examine the stresses of everyday life for this group, their responses, an examination of their coping strategies against marginalisation, their relationships with state and NGO structures and how this group is ‘framed’ within current development debates. The research is centred around men operating outside of St. Petersburg’s formal economies and was supported by the British Academy.

The social costs of ‘transition’: the social and geographical restructurings of the Russian far north
Tthe key aim of this project is to explore the survival strategies of marginalised senior citizens in climatically inhospitable settlements located in the Russian far north. Drawing on these findings the research critically examines the responses to the region’s problems at local, regional, federal and international levels, with a particular emphasis on the World Bank’s northern resettlement scheme. The work was supported by the ESRC.

Key Publications since 2001

Round, J., Williams, C and Rodgers, P. (2008) Everyday Tactics and Spaces of Power: the role of informal economies in post-Soviet Ukraine. Social and Cultural Geography, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 171 – 185.

Round, J., Williams, C. and Rodgers, P. (2008) Corruption in the post-Soviet workplace: the experiences of recent graduates in post-Soviet Ukraine. Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 149 – 166.

Rodgers, P., Round. J. And Williams, C. (2008, forthcoming) Workplace crime and the informal economy in Ukraine: employee and employer perspectives. International Journal of Social Economics.

Round, J. (2008) Transitional economies. In Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. (Eds.) International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography. Elsevier, Oxford.

Round, J. (2008) The importance of place in everyday life in post-Soviet Russia. In Kay, R. (Ed.) Trans-National Issues, Local Concerns and Meanings of Post-Socialism: Insights from Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond. University Press of America, Lanham.

Rautio, V. and Round, J. (2008, forthcoming) Industrial Development in Remote Resource Regions: From Local to Global. In Tykkyläinen, M and Rautio, V. Russia’s Northern Regions on the Edge: Communities, industries and populations from Murmansk to Magadan. Kikimora, Helsinki.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2008, forthcoming) Beyond hierarchical representations of the formal/informal employment dualism: some lessons from Ukraine. European Societies.

Round. J. (2008) The economic marginalisation of post-Soviet Russia’s elderly population and the failure of state ageing policy. In Goodman, R and Harper, S. Ageing in Asia: Asia's Position in the New Global Demography. Routledge, Oxford. pp 68 – 84 (reprint of Oxford Development Studies article).

Round. J. (2008) Demographic Transformations. In Daniels, P., M. Bradshaw., D. Shaw. and J. Sidaway (Eds.) An Introduction to Human Geography: Issues for the 21st Century. Prentice Hall, London.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Re-thinking the nature of the informal economy: some lessons from Ukraine. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 425-441.

Раунд , Дж. (2007) Конструирование феномена «бедности» в постсоветской России. Под редакцией П.В. Романова, Е.Р. Ярской-Смирновой. Социальная политикав современной России: реформы и повседневность, «Вариант», ЦСПГИ, Москва. pp. 167 – 197.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Beyond negative depictions of informal employment: some lessons from Moscow. Urban Studies, Vol. 44, No. 13, pp 1 – 18.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Beyond Market Hegemony: Re-Thinking the Relationship between Market and Non-Market Economic Practices. International Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol.1, No. 3, pp. 147 - 161.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Rethinking Livelihood Strategies in East-Central Europe: Some Lessons From Ukraine. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 201–214.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007 forthcoming) Re-theorising the nature of informal employment: some lessons from Ukraine. International Sociology.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Beyond formalisation: rethinking the future of work. Foresight. Vol. 9. No. 3, 30 – 42.

Round, J. (2007 forthcoming) ‘Surviving the Gulag: the social and cultural legacies of Stalin’s forced labour system’. In Boren, T. (Ed.) Årsboken Ymer 2007 (Yearly anthology published by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography).

Williams, C., Round, J. and Rodgers, P. (2007) Beyond the formal/informal economy binary hierarchy. International Journal of Social Economics. Vol. 34. No. 6, pp. 402 – 405.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007) Evaluating the penetration of capitalism in post-socialist Ukraine. Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp 415 – 429.

Williams, C. and Round, J. (2007 forthcoming) A critical evaluation of romantic depictions of the informal economy. Review of Social Economy.

Round, J. and Rautio, V. (2006) Iskurityöläinen Harmaassa Taloudessa: Keski-ikäisten Miesten Syrjäytyminen Venäjän Työmarkkinoilla. Idäntutkimus (The Finnish Review of East European Studies). No. 4, pp. 3 – 15.

Williams, C. Round, J. and Rodgers, P. (2007) The Hidden Enterprise Culture of Ukraine. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 119-136.

*Round. J. (2006) The economic marginalisation of post-Soviet Russia’s elderly population and the failure of state ageing policy. Oxford Development Studies. Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 441 – 456.

Williams, C., Round, J. and Rodgers. P (2006) Beyond Necessity and Opportunity Driven Entrepreneurship: Some Case Study Evidence From Ukraine, Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship. Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 22 – 33.

*Round, J. (2006) Marginalised for a lifetime. The everyday experiences of gulag survivors in post-Soviet Magadan. Geografiska Annaler: B. Vol. 87, No. 1, pp. 15 – 34.

Раунд , Дж. (2006) Бедность в пост-советской России. Журнал социальной политики. Tom 4, No. 3, pp 319 – 349.

Round, J. (2006) Senior Citizens in Russia and Ukraine. Generations Review, Vol. 16, No.2, pp 30 – 33.

*Round, J. (2005) Rescaling Russia's geography: the challenges of depopulating the northern periphery. Europe-Asia Studies. Vol. 57, No. 5, 705 – 727.

*Round, J. and Kosterina, E. (2005) The construction of ‘poverty' in post-Soviet Russia. Perspectives on European Politics and Society. Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 403 – 434.

Round, J. (2005) Food and social networks: keys for survival in post-Soviet Magadan. id21 – available at http://www.id21.org/id21ext/r1jr1g1.html

Round, J. (2004) From inclusion to exclusion: barriers to the ‘formal' post-soviet Russian labour market. Journal of International Economic Development. Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 76 – 97.

Round, J. (2003) Russia's Demographic Crisis: the Impact on Middle-aged Men. Analysis of Current Events, December, pp.10 – 14.