Abstract

Africa's Informal Workers is a vigorous examination of the informalization and casualization of work, which is changing livelihoods in Africa and beyond. Gathering cases from nine countries and cities across sub-Saharan Africa, and from a range of sectors, this volume goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual agency, addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal workers make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organized actors, providing grounds for tension but also opportunities for alliance. The collection examines attempts at organizing across the formal-informal work spheres, and explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers. Part of the ground-breaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers is a timely exploration of deep, ongoing economic, political and social transformations.
Ilda Lindell is a researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and an associate professor of human geography at Stockholm University. She has authored book chapters and journal articles in Urban Studies, Habitat International, Geografiska Annaler and Third World Quarterly. She is also the author of Walking the Tight Rope (2002). The Nordic Africa Institute (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet) is a center for research, documentation and information on modern Africa. Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the Institute is dedicated to providing timely, critical and alternative research and analysis of Africa and to co-operation with African researchers. As a hub and a meeting place for a growing field of research and analysis the Institute strives to put knowledge of African issues within reach for scholars, policy makers, politicians, media, students and the general public. The Institute is financed jointly by the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).
'This collection, with its excellent editorial introduction, makes a groundbreaking contribution to understanding the ways in which informal workers are developing new forms of collective organisation for exercising voice and agency, illustrating both the scope for and constraints on their ability to exert political influence.' Carole Rakodi, The University of Birmingham 'This collection brings together empirical studies from varied contexts, based primarily in Africa, many by African scholars, allowing a crucial opportunity for new perceptions and comparisons, and for identifying key dynamics to track into the future.' Jane I. Guyer, Johns Hopkins University 'This cutting-edge volume is indispensable reading for urbanists, activists and policy makers.' Edgar Pieterse, University of Cape Town