Grounded on an analysis of informalized labour in the urban economy of Dar es Salaam, Processes of Economic Informalization explores the conceptual politics involved in the political construction of the informal economy – diverse economic activities that are not regulated or protected by the state, now estimated to make up more than sixty per cent of all employment worldwide.
The author draws attention to the dynamic political, legal, and social processes shaping the formal-informal boundary. Fundamentally, the book argues that ‘informal economy’ presents a normative and essentially contested concept which is implicated into reconfigurations of legal institutions, labour organization and struggle, and practices of state governance. Based on interviews, ethnographic notes, and a review of policy documents and current academic literature, it illustrates how competing conceptions of the informal economy serve to normalize and justify but also contest specific forms of capitalist accumulation processes and social order. Highlighting the …
Grounded on an analysis of informalized labour in the urban economy of Dar es Salaam, Processes of Economic Informalization explores the conceptual politics involved in the political construction of the informal economy – diverse economic activities that are not regulated or protected by the state, now estimated to make up more than sixty per cent of all employment worldwide.
The author draws attention to the dynamic political, legal, and social processes shaping the formal-informal boundary. Fundamentally, the book argues that ‘informal economy’ presents a normative and essentially contested concept which is implicated into reconfigurations of legal institutions, labour organization and struggle, and practices of state governance. Based on interviews, ethnographic notes, and a review of policy documents and current academic literature, it illustrates how competing conceptions of the informal economy serve to normalize and justify but also contest specific forms of capitalist accumulation processes and social order. Highlighting the thorny role conceptions of the informal economy play in its construction as well as in its governance, the book makes a timely intervention that challenges conventional positions in the debate on the appropriate regulation of informalized labour.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of global political economy, international relations, labour studies, and development studies.
A Fascinating, Micro Examination of "Informal" Labor in Tanzania
4 stars
This is an illuminating qualitative dive into informal labor in Tanzania, showing the challenge with even defining that concept as a clear category and the unintuitive challenges in attempting to stringently formalize much of that work. Steiler does an impressive job combining interviews and other sociological data to provide a deep perspective of many types of workers in this space, the importance of valuing this labor, and the development of "informal" careers. I do wish there was more quantitative data not just on Tanzania but more widely to connect these micro observations to broader trends, however. Highly recommend
