Africa Now

About the editor

Acronyms

Introduction: the changing politics of informality – collective organizing, alliances and scales of engagement

Introduction

Locating the ‘informal’

The emergence of new organized actors

Differentiation in the informal economy and associational dynamics

Relations with dominating power

Organizing across the formal–informal ‘divide’

International organizing

Complex landscapes of actors and the politics of informality

The contributions

PART ONE | The political dynamics of collective organizing

1 | Seen but not heard: urban voice and citizenship for street traders

Introduction: the informal economy of the urban South

Urban governance and institutions

Methods

Table 1.1 2006 Human Development Index (HDI) ratings, UNDP

Manifestations of ‘urban voice’

Four contrasting traditions

2 | The politics of vulnerability: exit, voice and capture in three Nigerian informal manufacturing clusters

Introduction: from exit to voice?

Associational origins

Internal organization

External linkages

Conclusion

3 | Women leaders and the sense of power: clientelism and citizenship at the Dantokpa market in Cotonou, Benin

Introduction

Female power in West African markets

Dantokpa market – the economic and political heart of Benin

Women’s market associations in a post-colonial perspective

The heritage of women’s influence at Dantokpa

Emerging male leaders and women’s organized responses

Conclusion

PART TWO | Constructing alliances: organizing across the formal–informal ‘divide’

4 | Alliances across the formal–informal divide: South African debates and Nigerian experiences

The problem: bridging the formal–informal divide

A South African debate: the failure of bridging

Union leadership and popular forces: Nigerian experiences

The industrial union perspective

The tailors’ perspective

Union failure: a new labour aristocracy?

Interviews, Kaduna, February 2007

5 | Self-organized informal workers and trade union initiatives in Malawi: organizing the informal economy

Introduction

The economic and political context of organization

Self-organization in the informal economy: case study of street vendors’ associations

Trade union initiatives in the informal economy

Organizing the informal economy – which way?

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

6 | Moments of resistance: the struggle against informalization in Cape Town

Introduction

New incoming realities, new ways of organizing?

Post-apartheid unionism and the dilemmas of alliance-building

Confronting the threat and reality of neoliberalization in Cape Town

Concluding remarks

Acknowledgements

7 | The possibilities for collective organization of informal port workers in Tema, Ghana

Introduction

Informalization and the possibilities for organizing

Informalization and casualization in Ghana

The alliance between MDU and the local unions: what are the benefits?

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

PART THREE | International dimensions of organizing

8 | The ‘China challenge’: the global dimensions of activism and the informal economy in Dakar

Introduction

Organizing in the bounded and local informal economy

Informalizing, nationalizing and globalizing Dakar

Responses and strategies: traders, consumers and Chinese immigrants

Reflections on organizing in the informal economy

Acknowledgement

9 | Passport, please: the Cross-Border Traders Association in Zambia

Introduction

Background

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Appendix: typology of goods sold at the COMESA Flea Market, Lusaka, and their sources

Interviews

10 | Informal workers in Kenya and transnational organizing: networking and leveraging resources

Introduction

The political economy of informal work

The informal economy and organizing in Kenya

Characteristics of local associations

KENASVIT and local organizing

KENASVIT’s activities

KENASVIT and transnational organizing

Local achievements and challenges

Concluding remarks

Notes

Introduction

Chapters 2 and 3

Chapters 5, 6 and 7

Chapters 9 and 10

Bibliography

About the contributors

Index