KURULTAI Research & Consulting

About the Platform

NORCA (Nordics – Central Asia) is an interdisciplinary research platform based at Lund University, dedicated to advancing research, dialogue, and policy-relevant knowledge on Central Asia from Nordic and global perspectives. It brings together scholars, practitioners, and institutions working on law, governance, political economy, migration, corruption, and social transformation in Central Asia and other non-Western societies.

The platform serves as a hub for EU-funded research projects, international collaboration, academic dissemination, and engagement with policymakers, civil society organizations, and international stakeholders.

Core Mission

• Generate cutting-edge, empirically grounded research on Central Asia
• Foster interdisciplinary and comparative approaches across regions and disciplines
• Support capacity-building, training, and academic exchange
• Translate research findings into policy-relevant insights for global audiences

Hosted EU Research Projects

• SOCIAL — Sociology of Authoritarian Law: Insights from Central Asia
• POLCA — Political Economy of Legal and Governance Reform in Non-Western Societies
• MARS — Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective
• MOCCA — Multilevel Orders of Corruption in Central Asia
• CENTRAL ASIAN LAW — Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia
• MINARET — A Sociology of Post-Imperial Islamic Legal Cultures

Leadership Team

• Rustamjon Urinboyev — Head of NORCA; Principal Investigator of SOCIAL, POLCA, MARS, MOCCA, CENTRAL ASIAN LAW; Associate Professor of Sociology of Law at Lund University
• Sherzod Eraliev — Senior Researcher, Department of Sociology of Law, Lund University
• Chekhros Kilichova — Project Assistant, NORCA

Based at

Department of Sociology of Law, Lund University, Sweden

Project Overview

The latest World Migration Report reveals that, in 2020, 12 of the top 20 destinations for international migrants were non-Western countries. Despite this shift, mainstream literature predominantly concentrates on the experiences and policies of migrants in Western liberal democracies, leading to a noticeable gap in the representation of major non-Western migration destinations in current migration studies.

The MSCA-funded project MARS aims to enhance global, regional, and national comprehension of migration governance through research and a staff exchange programme focusing on non-Western migration regimes.

Project Aims

• Gather empirical data on non-Western migration regimes
• Contribute to relevant theoretical debates in migration studies
• Develop innovative methodological approaches
• Translate research findings into policy-relevant formats
• Enhance migration governance practices globally

Beneficiaries (13 European Universities)

• Lund University (Coordinator)
• Leiden University
• University of Helsinki
• University of Zurich
• University of Salzburg
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Warsaw
• Istanbul Medipol University
• Marmara University
• Vilnius University
• University of Eastern Finland
• Society for the Protection of Uzbek Women's Rights in Turkey
• University of Bristol

Associated Partners (14 Organizations)

• General Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan
• Nazarbayev University
• Kurultai Research and Consulting
• Migrant Info
• American University in Cairo
• Vatandoshlar Public Foundation
• University of Ghana
• University of Gadjah Mada
• University of Tsukuba
• Eurasian Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies
• University of the Western Cape
• Tashkent State University of Law
• The Fletcher School at TUFTS University
• Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

Geographical Focus

Central Asia, Middle East, North and West Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Latin America

Coordinated by

Lund University, Sweden — through the NORCA platform

Project Overview

MOCCA is a 4-year research and training project funded by the European Commission's HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01-01 — MSCA Staff Exchanges 2021 programme (project number 101085855), running from 01/01/2023 through 31/12/2026.

The project is intended to contribute to global and national efforts of understanding and counteracting corruption by conducting interdisciplinary research on the multilevel orders of corruption in five countries in post-Soviet Central Asia.

Funding & Programme

• Funding scheme: European Commission HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE-01-01
• Project number: 101085855
• Duration: 01/01/2023 – 31/12/2026 (4 years)
• Programme type: MSCA Staff Exchanges 2021

Beneficiaries (9 European Universities)

• Lund University (Project Coordinator)
• Charles University
• Marmara University
• Istanbul Medipol University
• University of Zurich
• Vilnius University
• Aarhus University
• University of Helsinki
• Estonian Business School

Partners in Central Asia (10 Organizations)

• General Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan
• Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov
• Kurultai Research and Consulting
• Tebigy Kuwwat Social Unit Enterprise
• Anticorruption Business Council under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
• OSCE Academy in Bishkek
• Tajik State University of Commerce
• Tashkent State University of Economics
• Eurasian Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies
• Westminster International University in Tashkent

Geographical Focus

Five post-Soviet Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Project Overview

POLCA is a Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Staff Exchanges programme that tackles a fundamental challenge in global governance: why decades of rule‑of‑law and democratization efforts have so often struggled to deliver in non‑Western contexts.

The project's core premise is that law and governance reforms cannot be understood — or improved — without engaging the alternative institutions and norms that organize social life outside formal state structures. POLCA integrates interdisciplinary research with hands‑on exchanges across sectors and regions.

Three Interconnected Goals

• Collect original empirical data and produce new theoretical perspectives on how non-Western institutions and norms shape legal and governance trajectories
• Engage with and contribute to scholarly debates in law, development and governance — decentering Western-centric approaches and enriching them with perspectives from Central Asia
• Translate findings into strategic intelligence and policy insights for international organizations, development agencies, and decision-makers within and beyond the European Union

Consortium Architecture

• 10 universities in Europe and North America
• 10 universities in Central and East Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and others)
• 10 non-academic partners spanning civil society, think tanks, public administration academies, anti-corruption councils, and law enforcement training bodies — including Kurultai Research and Consulting

Alternative Orders Framework

POLCA's novelty lies in its alternative orders framework: a multi-level lens that examines how global and regional norms intersect with national legal design and local social orders. Instead of viewing informal practices as mere anomalies, POLCA treats them as social facts that can complement or compete with state law.

Training & Exchange Mission

The programme equips researchers with language skills, fieldwork preparation suited to authoritarian settings, and interdisciplinary methods — from ethnography and doctrinal analysis to mixed quantitative approaches. Exchanges between academic and non-academic partners are structured to build durable collaborations and to cultivate transferable skills.

Geographical Focus

Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Coordinated by

NORCA — Lund University, Sweden