Abstract
Informal reciprocal exchanges continue to shape people’s interactions in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. State retrenchment from the social sphere and growing inequality has markedly limited citizens’, access to scarce resources including housing. This has stimulated people’s involvement in informal exchanges. The article analyzes housing policy during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods taking a closer look at the process of housing allocation. It claims that despite formalization of housing distribution, citizens continue using informal networks to gain access to that scarce commodity in the post-Soviet period. The article draws on data collected from interviews, textual analysis, and original surveys conducted in Kazakhstan in 2011 and 2013.