Eugenia Pesci
visiting research fellow, Doctoral Researcher
E-Mail: eugenia.pesci@helsinki.fi
Current Research Project:
PhD project titled “Activating the unemployed: ideas and practices of street-level bureaucrats in public employment services. The case of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan”. The research is done within the framework of the Horizon2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - International Training Network project MARKETS: “Mapping Uncertainties, Challenges and Future Opportunities of Emerging Markets: Informal Barriers, Business Environments and Future Trends in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia“ |
Fields of Research:
- Social and labour market policies in post-soviet countries;
- Labour precarity and migration in/from Central Asia
Short CV
Educational background
31/08/2021 – Present: Doctoral Researcher, Doctoral Program in Political, Societal, and Regional Change, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland;
09/2016 – 10/2018: Master of Arts (magna cum laude), Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe (MIREES), School of Political Sciences, University of Bologna, Forli campus, Italy;
09/2011 – 04/2015: Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude), European Languages and Cultures, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
Work Experience
01/04/2021 – 31/10/2024: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early-Stage Researcher, Horizon2020 MSCA ITN “Markets” Project, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland;
10/2020 – 03/2021: Project Officer, OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan;
04/2020 – 09/2020: International Consultant, OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan;
09/2019–03/2020: International Intern, OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan;
11/2018 – 05/2019: Trainee, Delegation of the European Union to Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
01/2018 – 04/2018: Intern, Italian Institute of Culture, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Publication
Pesci, E. Making sense of Kyrgyzstan’s employment paradox, Idäntutkimus, 3(2024) (in Finnish);
Pesci, E. (03 September 2024). “If you are able to work, you must work”. The shift from Welfare to Workfare in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation;
Pesci, E. (27 May 2024). Behind the May 18 violent outburst in Kyrgyzstan: between the privatization of higher education and the exploitative nature of the garment industry, Vlast.kz: https://rb.gy/mlwzsl;
Pesci, E. (2024). ’Koshumcha’ in Ledeneva A., Teague E., Matijevic P., Moisé G.M., Majda P., Toqmadi M. (eds.) The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality. Volume 3. London: UCL Press;
Pesci, E., & Dzhamangulov, K. (2023). Active Labour Market Policies in the Kyrgyz Republic: Addressing Employment Barriers for a More Inclusive Labour Market? OSCE Academy Policy Brief #90;
Pesci, E. (2022). Urban Informality and Development, in: Informality, World Economic Forum Strategic Intelligence Team.
Teaching
09/2023 – 10/2023: Co-Lecturer, MA course “Public Administration and Governance in Post-Socialist Eurasia”, University of Helsinki, Finland;
17/09/2023: Co-Lecturer, MA course “Political Economies in/of the Global East”, Tampere University, ExpREES program, Finland;
Lecture title: The Value of Work: Unemployment, Labor Precarity, and Social Reproduction in Central Asia
04/04/2024: Guest Lecturer, MA course “Remapping the Post-Soviet Space”, MA MIREES, University of Bologna, Italy. Lecture Title: “The End of the Workers’ State: De-constructing the Myth of PostSoviet Workers’ Quiescence”
10/2023 – 12/2023: Co-Lecturer, MA course “Political Behavior in the Post-Socialist Space”, University of Helsinki, ExpREES program, Finland;
09/2023 – 10/2023: Co-Lecturer, MA course “Public Administration and Governance in Post-Socialist Eurasia”, University of Helsinki, Finland;
10/2022 – 12/2022: Co-Lecturer, MA course “Political Behavior Across Eurasia”, University of Helsinki, ExpREES program, Finland;
Fellowships
12/2022 – 07/2024: Associate Research Fellow, OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan;
05/2023 – 07/2023: Research visit, ITN Markets secondment, Public Opinion Research Institute, Astana, Kazakhstan;
15/03/2023 – 15/05/2023: INREES Visiting Fellowship Program, Central & East European Studies Department, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
.