Why Informal Workers Organize: Contentious Politics, Enforcement, and the State

Over two billion workers, or 50% of the global workforce, are informal workers. Despite decades of research suggesting that they rarely organize or participate in civil society and politics, millions of informal workers around the world are starting and joining unions. This book challenges the conventional wisdom on the informal sector by documenting that informal workers organize in nearly every country for which data exists, but to varying degrees. The central argument of the book is that informal workers organize where state officials encourage them to.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 15 November 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Over two billion workers, or around 50% of the global workforce, are classified as informal workers. It's surprising that academics know so little about the political or civic engagement of these workers. Any individual who holds a job but does not pay taxes on taxable income, does not possess the necessary license for their occupation, or is not enrolled in a compulsory social security system is considered an informal worker. For many years, scholars contended that informal workers seldom formed or engaged in civil society and politics. However, millions of informal workers worldwide are initiating and joining unions. Why do informal workers organize? In nations like Bolivia, informal workers such as street vendors, fortune tellers, witches, clowns, gravestone cleaners, sex workers, domestic workers, and shoe shiners unite in formidable unions. National informal worker organizations in South Africa, South Korea, and India represent millions of citizens. According to the data presented in this book, informal workers organize in nearly every country for which data is available, albeit to varying degrees. This raises a related question: Why do informal workers organize in some places more than others? The reality of informal work depicted in this book and supported by surveys in 60 countries, over 150 interviews with informal workers in Bolivia and Brazil, ethnographic data from multiple cities, and administrative data upends the conventional wisdom on the informal sector. The contrast between scholarly expectations and emerging data underpins the central argument of the book: Informal workers organize where state officials encourage them to.

Weight: 488g
Dimension: 241 x 165 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192847812