Намуна Statement of Purpose

(Намуна)
Statement of Purpose

I am writing to apply for the Summer Course “Managing Social Vulnerability: Welfare and Penal Systems in Comparative Perspective” offered by the Central European University (CEU). I am a PhD student in sociology of law at Lund University in Sweden. My PhD thesis focuses on the role and effects of welfare structures on state-society relations and political stability in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. In my thesis, I consider the ‘welfare state’ as a political stability and security project deployed by policymakers as a means for the propagation of state authority. In this regard, my thesis is based on the argument that when coercive structures fail or does not adequately address political instability, welfare reforms (as a non-coercive strategy) can become an alternative means for maintaining political and social stability. Conversely, when non-coercive measures fail, governments largely opt for coercive strategies to ensure political stability. I will analyse these political stability strategies (coercive and non-coercive) from a comparative and historical perspective, looking at how dominance of one strategy or overlaps in the coercive and non-coercive strategies influence the emergence of forms of governance and state-society relations. These issues will be investigated largely in the context of post-Soviet Uzbekistan; however, comparative perspective will be taken from Scandinavia (case study of Swedish welfare state).

Reflecting the focus and aims of my PhD thesis, I am sure that CEU Summer Course “Managing Social Vulnerability: Welfare and Penal Systems in Comparative Perspective” is exactly in line with my research milieu. What makes this course particularly relevant to my PhD thesis is that it analyses welfare and penal systems from a comparative and historical perspective, looking at how welfare and penal systems evolved over time and across different global arenas. In this regard, this course will provide me with sophisticated understanding of the workings of welfare and penal systems in different historical and geographical contexts. Another advantage of the course is that it takes a new approach to studying welfare and punishment as interrelated state projects, and brings together these projects as a way of arriving at a broader understanding of state structure and power. In addition, the course has a clear empirical focus on what is happening – in concrete and practical terms – in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. From this perspective, the course will provide vantage point to better understand the nuances and complexities of welfare and penal systems across a range of geographical and historical cases.
I have taken many courses related to the welfare and penal systems due to my diverse educational background, ranging from law, public policy to sociology. My undergraduate studies in international law in Uzbekistan has equipped me with sophisticated understanding of various penal systems, international human rights law and the role of law in social control, while master’s studies in public policy at Maastricht University in Netherlands has provided me with the-state-of-art knowledge in topical issues of comparative social policy, poverty and inequality, economics and politics of the welfare state. These diverse backgrounds provide me with interdisciplinary bedrock for devising cohesive research problems, and imbue my works with variegated concepts and methods. Because of my diverse educational background, and interdisciplinary research focus, I believe that my educational background will be in line with summer course topic.
Currently revising the third of four articles, I expect to complete all the work for the Ph.D. by December of 2012. The last (fourth) article of my PhD thesis is about “Political Stability through Welfare Reforms: a Comparative study of Central Asia and Western Europe” and therefore, the CEU Summer Course has a direct relevance, as the course examines welfare and penal systems from a comparative and historical perspective. In this regard, during the course I would like to discuss and further develop my thesis article through consultations with the faculty and fellow participants.
In conclusion, I am putting myself forward for CEU Summer Course Program as a researcher who studies the effects of welfare structures on state-society relations and political stability in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. I am sure that the knowledge and experience obtained at the CEU Summer Course will make huge contribution to my academic and professional objectives.

Sincerely,

Rustamjon Urinboyev