Reading Development

Random readings on society, politics and change – Jorge Carrillo

Informality, culture and governance in the global South

This paper provides an epistemological critique of informality by focusing on cultural governance in two cities of the global South, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Dakar, Senegal. Aiming to enrich … Continue reading →

Thursday, 23 January 2020 · Leave a comment

Protecting the entrepreneurial poor: A human rights approach

[Article behind paywall] Half of the working poor in developing countries are informal entrepreneurs – they make a living by engaging in commercial activities in the shadow economy. A series … Continue reading →

Wednesday, 8 January 2020 · Leave a comment

Informality – addressing the Achilles heel of social protection in Latin America

WIDER 2019 Annual lecture was delivered by Santiago Levy and discussed the challenges of social protection in economies with large informal sectors, such as in Latin America. Currently less than … Continue reading →

Sunday, 5 January 2020 · Leave a comment

Street Vending and Competitive Advantage: Towards Building a Theoretical Framework

The study examines the strategies adopted by street vendors or hawkers in Ghana in a bid to gain competitive advantage. Drawing on six focus group meetings held with street vendors … Continue reading →

Thursday, 2 January 2020 · Leave a comment

Modes of Informal Urban Development: A Global Phenomenon

The concept of informality has often been misunderstood. Its, especially, urban character is rarely appreciated. With respect to urban development, it was once thought to distinguish the Global South, a … Continue reading →

Sunday, 29 December 2019 · Leave a comment

Explaining and tackling the informal economy: an evaluation of competing perspectives

This paper provides an evidence-based evaluation of the competing ways of explaining and tackling the informal economy. Conventionally, participants have been viewed as rational economic actors who engage in the … Continue reading →

Saturday, 28 December 2019 · Leave a comment

Addressing Informality in Cities

Informality is a key contributor to successful emerging economies while on the other hand it drives socio-spatial inequality. Understanding and addressing the dynamics of informality is therefore strategic. This policy … Continue reading →

Friday, 25 October 2019 · Leave a comment

The street market as animated space

“This ethnography of Chapel Market in Islington uncovers an animated space replete with its own actors, history, currents of activity, and interrelations with authorities and with government. There is a … Continue reading →

Saturday, 5 October 2019 · Leave a comment

Assembling street vending

Current scholarship on street vending in cities of the global south have mainly focused on street vendors and their politics of resistance against the state’s revanchist and exclusionary policies. This … Continue reading →

Saturday, 28 September 2019 · Leave a comment