Gulzat is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Swansea University. She received her Ph.D. and MA in Sociological Research Methods from University of Essex. Her research is focused on various illegal economic activities in the Eurasian region. Dr. Botoeva is interested in studying illegal and informal economies (crypto-mining, small-scale gold mining, small-scale hashish production) in a post-Soviet context, primarily through qualitative research methods and ethnographies of crime.She has published in Theoretical Criminology, The International Journal of Drug Policy, and Central Asian Survey.

Dr. Assel Tutumlu

Assel is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Near East University, Northern Cyprus. She received her Ph.D. in Global Affairs from Rutgers, State University of New Jersey (USA) and two MA degrees in Politics from the New School for Social Research (New York, USA) and International Affairs (American University, USA). Her research explores the nature of authoritarian regimes in Central Asia and beyond, particularly looking into the discursive and disciplinary practices. She appeared on Al-Jazeera, BBC, TRTWorld, and France24. Her work was published in Europe-Asia Studies, Central Asian Survey, Security Journal, Journal of EurasianStudies, Problems of Post-Communism.