Ainur Begim
About
Ainur Begim is currently on research leave at Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA. You can find her Georgetown profile here and a recent interview. She recently published an article on ESG, data-driven ethics, and sustainability, available here.
Ainur "Aina" Begim received her B.A. degree from Bates College and her M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. Aina was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo from 2017 to 2021. In 2016-2017 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Russian and East European Studies and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to graduate studies, Aina worked as a credit analyst on Wall Street.
Her research and teaching interests include sustainable finance; ESG data; energy transitions; financialization; entrepreneurship; pensions; economic anthropology and social studies of finance; Kazakhstan and Norway.
Aina is also affiliated with the Center for Energy Ethics, University of St Andrews, Cultures of Finance Group and “Oikos” Working Group, Institute for Public Knowledge (IPK), New York University, and the Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh.
Competencies
Research
Research interests include sustainable finance; ESG data; energy transitions; financialization; entrepreneurship; pensions; economic anthropology and social studies of finance; Kazakhstan and Norway.
Publications
2026
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Begim, Ainur.
(2026)
ESG investments, economic moralities, and data-driven ethics in the age of sustainability.
Journal of Cultural Economy
Academic article
2025
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Haapanen, Janina;
Strand, Øivind;
Begim, Ainur.
(2025)
Open innovation in the Nordics: Barriers to open banking.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
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Begim, Ainur.
(2025)
“If It Is Stocks, It Is Not Supposed to Be a Pyramid Scheme!” Financial Consultants, Illiberal Economies, and State‐Led Financialization in Postsocialist Kazakhstan.
Economic Anthropology
Academic article
2023
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Begim, Ainur.
(2023)
Surreal events, “TV zombies,” and social media in postsocialist Kazakhstan: Reflecting on violence in Russia’s sphere of influence.
HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
Academic article
2018
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Begim, Ainur.
(2018)
How to retire like a Soviet person: informality, household
finances, and kinship in financialized Kazakhstan.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Academic article
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2018)
Am I Muslim or Just Kazakh? Politics of Care in Postsocialist Kazakhstan.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
2010
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Begim, Ainur.
(2010)
Abschied von den Mythen. [The Modern Entrepreneur: Farewell to Myths.].
Impulse
Article in business/trade/industry journal
Journal publications
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2026)
ESG investments, economic moralities, and data-driven ethics in the age of sustainability.
Journal of Cultural Economy
Academic article
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2025)
“If It Is Stocks, It Is Not Supposed to Be a Pyramid Scheme!” Financial Consultants, Illiberal Economies, and State‐Led Financialization in Postsocialist Kazakhstan.
Economic Anthropology
Academic article
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2023)
Surreal events, “TV zombies,” and social media in postsocialist Kazakhstan: Reflecting on violence in Russia’s sphere of influence.
HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
Academic article
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2018)
How to retire like a Soviet person: informality, household
finances, and kinship in financialized Kazakhstan.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Academic article
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2010)
Abschied von den Mythen. [The Modern Entrepreneur: Farewell to Myths.].
Impulse
Article in business/trade/industry journal
Part of book/report
-
Haapanen, Janina;
Strand, Øivind;
Begim, Ainur.
(2025)
Open innovation in the Nordics: Barriers to open banking.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Begim, Ainur.
(2018)
Am I Muslim or Just Kazakh? Politics of Care in Postsocialist Kazakhstan.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Teaching
Courses
Outreach
2025
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2025) Speculation and Its Specters. Speculation and Its Specters , New Orleans, LA 20.11.2025 - 20.11.2025
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LectureBegim, Ainur. (2025) Words vs. Numbers: Finance, Data, and Storytelling in the Age of Sustainability. Words vs. Numbers: Finance, Data, and Storytelling in the Age of Sustainability , Washington DC 12.11.2025 - 12.11.2025
2023
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2023) Making Nature Count: Water, Data, and Finance. Everyday Life in Digitalized Worlds , Oslo, Norway 25.10.2023 - 27.10.2023
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2023) “Searching for Meaning and Objectivity: ESG Data and Responsible Investments in the Age of Sustainability". Departmental Seminar, UiO Department of Social Anthropology , Oslo, Norway 15.02.2023 - 15.02.2023
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur; Spears, Taylor. (2023) ENFOLDING THE NON-FINANCIAL INTO FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES: ESG AND THE INFRASTRUCTURES OF THE GLOBAL DERIVATIVES MARKETS. ENERGY ETHICS 2023: FINANCING THE FUTURE , St Andrews 06.06.2023 - 08.06.2023
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2023) Time, Money and Morality. Round Table: Time, Money and Morality, University of Leiden , Leiden 19.04.2023 - 21.04.2023
2022
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2022) Moral or Pragmatic? The Case of ESG. Energy Cafe, University of St. Andrews Energy Climate Finance Network , St Andrews, Scotland 07.06.2022 - 07.06.2022
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2022) Sustainable Finance, Regulation, and ESG Data through the Eyes of Practitioners. Guest Lecture at UiO Law Faculty 31.10.2022 - 31.10.2022
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Lecture
2021
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2021) “Greening” Finance in the Wake of the Pandemic: Sustainability Work and Hunt for Non-Financial Data. Finance’s Pandemic Promises, ERC-sponsored project The Hau of Finance: Impact Investing , University of Bologna 06.10.2021 - 07.10.2021
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2021) Data, Finance, and Ethics: The Case of ESG in Sustainable Finance. Norwegian Anthropological Association Annual Conference , Bergen 25.11.2021 - 26.11.2021
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2021) Words and Numbers: Sustainable Finance, Stories, and Data. Energy Ethics 2021 Conference "Energy Transitions and Planetary Futures" , St Andrews, Scotland 25.10.2021 - 27.10.2021
2019
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2019) Oil Wealth, Ethical Risks, and Market Reason. 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association , Vancouver 24.11.2019 - 24.11.2019
2017
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Academic lecture
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2017) How to Retire Like a Soviet Person: Informality, Household Finances, and Kinship in Financialized Kazakhstan. How to Retire Like a Soviet Person: Informality, Household Finances, and Kinship in Financialized Kazakhstan , Oslo 30.08.2017 -
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Academic lectureBegim, Ainur. (2017) Household Finances, Offshore Money, and Bonds of Kinship in Financialized Central Asia. Household Finances, Offshore Money, and Bonds of Kinship in Financialized Central Asia , Oslo 14.09.2017 -