Reading Development

Random readings on society, politics and change – Jorge Carrillo

Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic

Digital labour platforms have been widely promoted as a solution to the unemployment crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has also highlighted the harms to gig workers—who … Continue reading →

Sunday, 22 August 2021 · Leave a comment

A Value Theory of Inclusion: Informal Labour, the Homeworker, and the Social Reproduction of Value

Critically engaging with Marxist-Feminist debates, this article argues that only interpretations of social reproduction as value-producing capture the features of contemporary informalised labour relations. Building on early social reproduction analyses … Continue reading →

Monday, 12 July 2021 · Leave a comment

Informality and pension reforms in Bolivia

How social protection programmes affect work choices is a question that has been at the centre of labour economics research for decades. More recently, a scant literature has focused on … Continue reading →

Monday, 28 June 2021 · Leave a comment

On international solidarity in a resilient and sustainable urban food system

What does a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic mean for the transition to a sustainable food system for cities? Using the concrete Dutch initiative Support Your Locals that emerged in … Continue reading →

Monday, 8 February 2021 · Leave a comment

The Role of Informal Work in Supplementing Americans’ Income

Data from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking indicate that, over the course of a month, more than one-quarter of adults engage in some informal work outside of a … Continue reading →

Tuesday, 2 February 2021 · Leave a comment

Informality, Inequality, and Feminization of Labor

Using two novel datasets of the size of the informal economy and income inequality, this study provides evidence on the nexus of informality and inequality with particular attention to the … Continue reading →

Sunday, 10 January 2021 · Leave a comment

Planning for a world beyond COVID-19: Five pillars for post-neoliberal development

Our five priorities are not meant to be exhaustive, but aim to stimulate debate on the key levers needed to place communities, nations and indeed the globe on a different … Continue reading →

Saturday, 9 January 2021 · Leave a comment

De-Democratisation and the Rights of Street Vendors

For a large segment of the urban poor in Kampala, Uganda, street vending has long served as a key livelihood strategy in the absence of formal employment opportunities and a … Continue reading →

Saturday, 9 January 2021 · Leave a comment

COVID-19: Capitalist and postcapitalist perspectives

This opinion piece discusses key weaknesses of advanced capitalism exposed in the origin and economic repercussions of Covid-19 and, conversely, aspects of grassroots organising and speculation pointing in a postcapitalist … Continue reading →

Tuesday, 24 November 2020 · Leave a comment