From Informality to Popular Economy: distinguishing realities and connecting approaches

Resumen

Over the last decades, rather than decreasing, informality has grown and furthered debates and studies among academics, activists and policy-makers. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity of the phenomena commonly associated with the concept of informality and correlates, such as informal sector and popular economy, results in a lack of consensus within the current literature. This is partly due to some theoretical and conceptual choices which hinder the formulation of frameworks capable of distinguishing among the various aspects of informality. The first aim of this paper is to clarify some of these issues, such as the prevailing understanding of the various realities that intertwine under the mantle of informality only by contrasting them with the formal economy, the use of all-encompassing concepts of little discriminating value, and, still, the mainstream theories’ lack of recognition of the plurality of logics underlying economic institutions and behaviors. Secondly, the paper puts forward a conceptual distinction between informal employment and informal economy, as well as a clearer understanding of the scope of concepts such as informal work and popular economy. In order to capture these nuances, a bottom-up perspective is adopted, allowing to apprehend the informal economy according to its specific features, such as its relational assets and the role fulfilled by the principle of domesticity. Finally, the article stresses the need to recognize the plurality of logics underlying the economy, in order to properly assess the meanings of the economic practices of the popular sectors and their role in development processes.

Key words: informal economy; popular economy; ILO