The Urban Informal Sector

Critical Perspectives on Employment and Housing Policies

Ray Bromley

• Publisher: Pergamon
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780080242705
• eBook ISBN: 9781483161488
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Labour Economics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The Urban Informal Sector is a collection of papers presented at a multi-disciplinary conference on ""The urban informal sector in the Third World, "" organized by the Developing Areas Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers in London on March 19, 1977. Contributors offer critical perspectives on the urban informal sector, with emphasis on employment and housing policies. Topics covered range from general reviews and national case studies to detailed studies of particular occupations in individual cities. This book is comprised of 12 chapters and begins by reviewing the relevance of dualist models of economic activities and enterprises, as applied to Third World countries, concentrating on the origins, diffusion, and deficiencies of the formal/informal dualist classification. Subsequent chapters explore the informal sector debate in studies of Third World poverty and employment; the nature of informal-formal sector relationships; the structure of the labor markets in the ""organized"" and ""unorganized"" sectors of urban economies in South India; and the problem of urban poverty, its relation to employment, and rising spatial inequalities in Brazil. Capitalist and petty commodity production in Nigeria is also discussed, along with John Turner's views on housing policy. The final chapter looks at the competition between the informal and formal sectors in the retail industry in Santiago, Chile. This monograph will be of interest to social and economic policymakers.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• THE URBAN INFORMAL SECTOR Critical Perspectives on Employment and Housing Policies
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Introduction - The Urban Informal Sector: Why Is It Worth Discussing ?
• Chapter 2. Informal Sector or Petty Commodity Production: Dualism or Dependence in Urban Development?
• Chapter 3. An Exploration into the Nature of Informal—Formal Sector Relationships
• Chapter 4. Quasi-Formal Employment Structures and Behaviour in the Unorganized Urban Economy, and the Reverse: Some Evidence from South India
• Chapter 5. Causes of Urban Poverty in Brazil
• Chapter 6. Capitalist and Petty Commodity Production in Nigeria: A Note
• Chapter 7. Petty Commodity Housing or Dweller Control? A Critique of John Turner's Views on Housing Policy
• Chapter 8. Housing in Three Dimensions : Terms of Reference for the Housing Question Redefined
• Chapter 9. Petty Production and Capitalist Production in Dakar: The Crisis of the Self-Employed
• Chapter 10. Organization, Regulation and Exploitation in the So-Called 'Urban Informal Sector5: The Street Traders of Cali, Colombia
• Chapter 11. Self-Employed Proletarians in an Informal Factory: The Case of Call's Garbage Dump
• Chapter 12. Competition between the Informal and Formal Sectors in Retailing : The Case of Santiago
• Index