Out of the Shadows: Political Action and the Informal Economy in Latin America

Front Cover
Penn State Press, 2006 - Political Science - 280 pages

Since the beginning of scholarly writing about the informal economy in the mid-1970s, the debate has evolved from addressing survival strategies of the poor to considering the implications for national development and the global economy. Simultaneously, research on informal politics has ranged from neighborhood clientelism to contentious social movements basing their claims on a variety of social identities in their quest for social justice.

Despite related empirical and theoretical concerns, these research traditions have seldom engaged in dialogue with one another. Out of the Shadows brings leading scholars of the informal economy and informal politics together to address how globalization has influenced local efforts to resolve political and economic needs&—and how these seemingly separate issues are indeed deeply related.

In addition to the editors, contributors are Javier Auyero, Miguel Angel Centeno, Sylvia Chant, Robert Gay, Mercedes Gonz&ález de la Rocha, Jos&é Itzigsohn, Alejandro Portes, and Juan Manuel Ram&írez S&áiz.

 

Contents

The Informal Economy in the Shadow of the State
23
Risk and Regulation in Informal and Illegal Markets
49
Neoliberalism Markets and Informal Grassroots Economies
81
Cumulative Disadvantages Among
97
A Contentious
165
The Even More Difficult Transition from
195
Informal Politics in the Mexican Democratic
219
Do You Think Democracy Is a Magical Thing?
241
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
269
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

Patricia Fern&ández-Kelly is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Princeton University, where she also holds an appointment with the Office of Population Research.

Jon Shefner is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee.

Bibliographic information