Dr Balihar Sanghera
Small Group Project 2022-23
Income inequalities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia: finance, rent and wealth in the age of neoliberal capitalism
With Elmira Satybaldieva & Ilya Matveev & Kuat Akizhanov
The project’s main purpose is to develop an understanding of the impact of financialisation and rent extraction (rent-seeking activities or rentierism) on economic inequality. The distributional patterns and their relations to neoliberalisation in three former Soviet countries of Eurasia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) between 2000 and 2020 will be analysed and compared. This research addresses the question whether financialisation and rentierism facilitate uneven capital accumulation, and generate conditions that increase income and wealth disparities.
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Biography
Dr Balihar Sanghera has contributed to debates on the nature of capitalism and morality, exploring the ethical dimensions of economic relations and practices through qualitative research projects. In 2023, he was honoured with the prestigious Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) Edward Allworth Lifetime Service to the Profession Award for his extraordinary lifetime contributions to Central Eurasian Studies.
Prior to joining the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Kent in 2004, Dr Sanghera worked at the American University – Central Asia, Novosibirsk State University and the University of Central England in Birmingham. He studied for a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Lancaster and an MSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Oxford, before earning his PhD in Sociology from the University of Lancaster.
Prior to joining the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Kent in 2004, Dr Sanghera worked at the American University – Central Asia, Novosibirsk State University and the University of Central England in Birmingham. He studied for a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Lancaster and an MSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Oxford, before earning his PhD in Sociology from the University of Lancaster.
Biographical details correct as of 19.04.26