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Hidden economy

Women and the informal economy in urban Africa : from the margins to the centre

Upphovsperson: Kinyanjui, Mary Njeri
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | London ; Uppsala : Zed Books ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2014
Ämnesord: Africa, Kenya, Nairobi, Informal sector, Hidden economy, Women, Economic conditions, Women workers, Urban planning, Women’s role, gender roles, case studies, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In this highly original work, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui explores the trajectory of women's movement from the margins of urbanization into the centres of business activities in Nairobi and its accompanying implications for urban planning.While women in much of Africa have struggled to gain urban citizenship and continue to be weighed down by poor education, low income and confinement to domestic responsibilities due to patriarchic norms, a new form of urban dynamism - partly informed by the informal economy - is now enabling them to manage poverty, create jobs and link to the circuits of capital and labour. Relying on social ties, reciprocity, sharing and collaboration, women's informal 'solidarity entrepreneurialism' is taking them away from the margins of business activity and catapulting them into the centre.Bringing together key issues of gender, economic informality and urban planning in Africa, Kinyanjui demonstrates that women have become a critical factor in the making of a postcolonial city.

Market-based and Rights-based Approaches to the Informal Economy : A comparative analysis of the policy implications

Upphovsperson: Vainio, Antti
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Informal sector, Hidden economy, Government policy, Development research, Research methods, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This Policy Dialogue compares two very different conceptions of the informal economy that are prominent internationally: a market-based approach and a rights-based approach. It reflects upon the policy implications of adopting one perspective or the other, and argues that the terms ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘worker’ are often ideologically charged rather than a reflection of the structural positions of the ‘informals’. The paper is critical of a market-based perspective and of the related notion of informal entrepreneurs, as these may lead to policy recommendations that undermine the already fragile livelihoods of many people. The ideas presented in this paper are part of a work in progress and are intended to promote further debate about sustainable policy-making aimed at enhancing the economic and social standing of vulnerable people in the informal economy.

Africa's informal workers : Collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa

Medarbetare: Lindell, Ilda
Utgivare: London ; Uppsala : Zed Books ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Africa South of Sahara, Urban areas, Economic conditions, Social change, Informal sector, Social movements, Trade unionism, Hidden economy, Livelihood, Survival strategies, case studies, Sociology, Sociologi
Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal ‘workers’ make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade. Africa’s Informal Workers is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social  transformations.

Reconsidering informality : perspectives from urban Africa

Upphovspersoner: Hansen, Karen Tranberg | Vaa, Mariken
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Informal sector, Hidden economy, Employment, Land use, Livelihood, Urban areas, Urban planning, Urban housing, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi
This book brings together two bodies of research on urban Africa that have tended to be separate: Studies of urban land use and housing, and studies of work and livelihoods. Africa’s future will be to an increasing extent urban. Nevertheless, the inherited legal, institutional and financial arrangements for managing urban development are inadequate. The recent decades of neo-liberal political and economic reforms have increased social inequality across urban space. Access to employment, shelter and services is precarious for most urban residents. Extra-legal housing and unregistered economic activities proliferate. Basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. The result is the phenomenal growth of the informal city and extra-legal activities. How do urban residents see these activities? What do they accomplish through them? How can these “informal” cities be governed? The case studies are drawn from a diverse set of cities on the African continent. A central theme is how practices that from an official standpoint are illegal or extra-legal do not only work but are considered legitimate by the actors concerned. Another is how the informal city is not exclusively the domain of the poor, but also provides shelter and livelihoods for better-off segments of the urban population.