CSA Week 7: Informality by Catherine Dolan https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri Please post your ideas, questions, comments on the issues brought up by the weekly readings here. en-us 2021-01-09 22:10:21 UTC 2021-02-27 07:05:31 UTC hello@padlet.com Yana Kremer https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1187253843 It is interesting to note what devastating consequences youth unemployment has not only for the individual and their family, but also for the nation - previously unknown to me was the fact that the vast unemployment in Kenya contributed to the 2007 election violence, though it makes sense when thinking about it. Unemployment often leads youth into substance abuse, especially alcohol, which in turn contributes to recklessness. The surplus of time and the lack of responsibilities (much more so for male than for female youths) also contributes to said recklessness. And finally, the frustration that comes with having talent and education but no opportunities also fuels envy.]]> 2021-02-10 13:32:49 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1187253843 Xin Huang 684139 https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1233682616 This article reminds me of an article I read before. It was about young Chinese software engineers who went to Africa to start their own business because they felt that Africa's market situation was now very similar to China at the beginning of the Thousand Seals and was full of opportunities. Africa did not go through the same process of primitive capital accumulation as Western countries or even have a long feudal agricultural economy like some East Asian countries. It is fascinating to see how the sophisticated business model of capitalism has taken root directly in Africa but is continuously being adapted to local conditions]]> 2021-02-23 20:44:41 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1233682616 Nazra Ranmall https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1234098636 Piracy has become a sort of cultural phenomenon in recent years. Pirates are often vilified in movies and pop culture references (memes). This piece points out the reasonings behind piracy - people become pirates in hopes for a better future. That's it. However, they are considered as a threat, most certainly by Western countries, and have to be eradicated. I also enjoyed the historical analysis on "pirates" and "privateering" - this led me to ask several questions. Europeans have dominated the sea centuries before Somali pirates controlled the waters. If Western countries are trying to eliminate Somali pirates...isnt there a sort of irony here? Europeans were also "pirates", but they're never described as so. When we think of pirates who do we think of? Well, just how Disney and popculture references describe them - dark skinned individuals. ]]> 2021-02-23 23:18:48 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1234098636 BRYONY C https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1235766445 It was fascinating to learn about the ways Catalyst seemingly existed for the betterment of the lives of disadvantaged individuals in Kawangware, but on closer inspection was actually exclusionary and divisive in its favoritism of a certain kind of entrepreneurial individual. Although it claimed to provide training, it was only willing to 'train' subjects to a certain extent before dismissing them. I find the lack of authentic investment in the wellbeing of the individuals the program seeks to help deplorable, and can't help wondering if a negative experience with Catalyst would have had consequences for the self esteem of the young people involved. ]]> 2021-02-24 11:31:44 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1235766445 Tom Vickery https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1235807690 'Hustling is about hope and having some hope of moving up'  - DiNuzio's reference to the articulations of everyday life gave a fascinating insight into the language surrounding the reproduction of marginality. Street hustlers of the informal economy, appeared to be left on their own to navigate the entangled, albeit organised, web of the street economy. This provoked a language that almost romanticised the hustle's ability to grant individuals stability and social mobility. DiNuzio frames this articulation in the broader reinforcement of existence that actually makes both goals of stability and mobility incredibly difficult to achieve because it cements their position in the lower rungs of economic society.]]> 2021-02-24 11:46:25 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1235807690 Yukie Suzuki https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1237937095 It is interesting to know about Somali pirates as economic actor in Somalia. Also, this article shows how pirates economy woks and it is informal economy in collapsed state. There are people who are getting profit from pirates and diya group reduces the risk of piracy by making it collective. If pirates are eliminated by outsiders, they will suffer because they lose their source of income. Do people, especially who accuse piracy and insist to eliminate them, know this fact? Do they think about local economy and people?]]> 2021-02-24 18:49:42 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1237937095 Nikhil https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1240603498 This paper drew sharp parallels from the histories of maritime piracy across different seas and oceans to shed light on some of the technologies of piracy used by Somali pirates during the 2007-2012 period. Although the paper did not expand on the modern geopolitical forces that played a huge role in arranging the potential for piracy in the region - that of large-scale fishing trawlers jeopardising local fishing economies, a true form of resource appropriation - the paper nonetheless reframes the interlockages between the formal and informal economy, legal and haram. 

As per our lecture, the assumptions of dualisms are deconstructed in the paper as well as giving evidence to alternate forms of regulation and institutional apparatus that simply differ from the Western/Global North conception. 

It was also interesting to note that aside from the themes of agency and independence, the pirate's social groups and wider connections were ultimately dependent on the eternal monsoon and natural ebb and flow of opportunity in time. ]]> 2021-02-25 12:11:04 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1240603498 Wider reading on informality on the African continent https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1240651556 Meagher K. (2016) ‘The Scramble for Africans: Demography, Globalisation and Africa’s Informal Labour Markets’, The Journal of Development Studies, 52:4, 483-497

I just read this article in one of my core development modules and it obviously links pertinently to our topics this week. A wider lens on informality and its potential future - both to individuals and in regard to global powerful polities/production of labour.

Idea we could investigate in relation to East Africa specifically:

"As developed countries manoeuvre to gain access to this valuable resource, the colonial scramble for African territory that took place in the nineteenth century seems set to repeat itself in the twenty-first century as a transnational scramble for African labour. As with earlier scrambles for African resources, it is not clear that Africans will be the
beneficiaries."

-Nikhil
]]> 2021-02-25 12:26:36 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1240651556 Lois Douglas https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1241417708 An insightful account of the marginalised community in Nairobi, Kenya. These urban youths are at the margins of formal markets and are reliant on what is known as the 'second economy.' BoP offer entrepreneurship in place of employment, encouraging these minorities to transform from jobless youths to young entrepreneurs. Africa is not creating the number of jobs needed to absorb young people; falling under the category of 'poor.' In so being, this is linked to the rapid unplanned urbanisation - these individuals have become liabilities to opportunities which is inclusive capitalism. The tantalising prospect of 'making it,' lures youths toward the entrepreneurial sector as BoP pride themselves, "A key strategy for turning social crisis into economic opportunity."]]> 2021-02-25 15:04:56 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1241417708 Helina Shebeshe https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1242310744 It is interesting the way ‘arada’ is used in general discourse in Amharic now to connote someone who is clever but also shrewd about it. Generally in referring to financial/monetary dealings, the way that label is applied gives an indication as to the ‘respectability’ of the action. 

Its also interesting that “seretegna sefer” which translates to “workers neighbourhood” spawned this kind of informal sustained unemployment/street labour
]]> 2021-02-25 17:41:33 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1242310744 Oliver McK https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243489746 For me this paper revealed that the question of social mobility is not simply a question of economic opportunities. Many other factors affect what might generally be described as 'prospects' including imagination, understanding of self, environment, social relationships, culture etc. The informal market is a melting pot of particular forms of these things which are hard to disentangle. ]]> 2021-02-25 22:15:45 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243489746 Josh Dowley https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243646756 I enjoyed the article but felt that there should have been mention of the system of ethnic federalism that has been in place since the 1991 regime change. Given that Di Nunzio is considering social mobility within street hustling economy, which includes how people interact with each other, ethnicity should be analysed; especially given that employment is a cause of migration, which has caused conflict in the past as people cross ethnic lines and become an ethnic minority in another region. De Nunzio also touched upon government employment programmes but stated that they are ‘dependent on membership of either party, or youth or women’s organisation’ (444). Under a system of ethnic federalism in which the EPRDF is made up of ethno-nationalist parties, ethnicity must have an effect on employment in these programmes. Another perspective on street hustlers could be provided by exploring this. 

]]> 2021-02-25 23:36:55 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243646756 Melany N. Barasa https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243720425 This article is bigger than just Eastleigh and Garissa lodge, it's more complex than just that, it ties in a lot of categories, it is part of the story of a nation and a diaspora. 

I would like to challenge or rather expand the statement made that "wider Somali success in business only heightens desire for a viable state in Somalia itself" (2013:335) Yes, it does, but as well, Somalis feel loyalty to a variety of overlapping and competing nationalist visions, the reality i feel on the ground is grainy, given conceptions of Somalinimo, greater Somalia and belonging. The reality is grainy at best, and i feel the wording should be flexible enough to elaborate/accommodate these nuances. 

This article to me also demonstrates the staying power of refugee entreprenuership,through Garissa lodge.I want to be careful about how i say this, because refugees worth is not based on how useful they are to the place they are seeking refuge at. 
"Other Kenyan-Somali businesses in Eastleigh almost certainly opened after traders in north eastern towns such as Manders and El Wak were able to capitalize on their role in cross border trade" (339) I was able to understand eastleigh's role through Somalis, both Kenyan Somalis and Somalis in Kenya in regional politics, a great case study for de-territorialized politics.

 When Carrie and Lochery speak of Chinese entering the market (342) I found this extremely interesting, Somali vendors are known to have the most competitive prices with best value/quality for services without drama "in international trade there is tribalism", however the rise in prominence of Chinese influence, is perhaps altering this as they also have cheap goods, and the politics of that. 

This paper is an excellent example of the interconnectedness of the political, the social, and the economic. I have questions that would be directed at the Kenyan government; what does this mean in the context of this article for business people with a precarious immigration status ? and what about the East African Community (EAC) ? and locking Somalia out of joining it since 2013 ? despite its integration in the East Africa (sourcing jeans from Uganda etc) 

Personally speaking, this paper was very very interesting to read. It sits right at the intersection of all the topics I am interested in and was very mentally stimulating to me, specifically Somali Migration and Diaspora in East Africa and South Africa as a Migration Student and Sino relations in East Africa . I particularly loved to see Emma Lochery, her work/ research is of much interest to me. ]]> 2021-02-26 00:21:00 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243720425 Melany N Barasa https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243813930 This is such an exemplar piece of anthropological scholarship. Not only does it map piracy in the Somali context, but analyses the relationship between the state and citizens as well as interrogate clan/ diya formations and their interrelationships all while managing to position piracy within a global piracy history dating back to the treaty of tordesilas and its changing definitions. Such a nice paper for understanding the anthropology of social economics
 
I am drawn to the concept of "return to the sea" that I see woven throughout this text it is particularly powerful in the statement "navigating time in the aftermath of capture constructed obligations and structures of debt that forced one to remain indebted to the sea" (517) indebted to the sea , interesting choice of words, not indebted to pirates or whomever but the sea. Think that there is something here that can be fleshed out, the sea perhaps being uplifted as the 'ultimate equalizer' the sea doesn't choose sides, when we go back earlier in the text we the quote "In my head I have planned that I will help find one more ship. One more ship gives me enough for a future and then I'm out of this dirty work"(507) that one exemplifying this return to the sea. As well later toward the end when hassan says "piracy didn't give me a future, maybe becoming an ex-pirate will" (518) its still a return to the sea, despite a rejection of it. 

Somalis have redefined piracy in the modern age as we know it "in this sense piracy can be understood as a uniquely Somali phenomenon... " (519) "Somali piracy... was domesticated within local social worlds of obligation and responsibility"(518) not power and accumulation as has been broadly described in media (Osman,2017) through the CNN effect.

I want to speak to the military industrial complex and the 'Somali project' that USA's "war on terror" and this history that it has with Somalia is heavily invested, notable by it army bases in Kenya and Djibouti, in due to its path dependence. (Warah, 2014)in the text we see the increased policing and legislation surrounding Indian ocean waters with a "naval coalition assembled with war ships... and reversal of hundreds of years of maritime regulation, merchant shipping was re-armed with private security guards carrying a mandate to fight pirates at sea" (518) contributing to the aforementioned military industrial complex a whole other issue on its own. Is this really a "victory for this 21st century global war on piracy"? what does this say about the most marginalized in the global economy ? what does this say about the state of the global economy ? 

Another thing worth mentioning is the formation of economies and economic systems during the Cold War era and the after effects of it, and as well the lasting effects of Structural Adjustment programs in East Africa

Final question the article had me asking is, can the state illegalize kinship ? ]]> 2021-02-26 01:17:11 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1243813930 Shahlaa Kurji https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244193532 This article served as a conformation for some thoughts and views I already had. Africa has a large younger population, however due to corruption and a lack of properly allocated resources, there is so much wasted potential and time and time again, African countries are missing out on socio-economic progression due to the lack of support and investment in their youth populations. 
Being the most familiar with Kenya as it is my home country, I am aware of so many initiatives and businesses started in the slums and lower income areas but these people often struggle to make ends meet as a result of limited support, they are often forced to take on whatever work they can to put food on the table and innovation and creativity is put on the back burner. 
In my opinion, the subject of growth and entrepreneurship in Africa mustn’t be approached through a westernised lens and shouldn’t follow the cookie cutter mould of what innovation and creativity is in the west. ]]> 2021-02-26 06:10:07 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244193532 Kiyingi Muddu https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244319379 The structures of street economy create ambiguities; first that one may not necessarily need college education or informal training to join it; second that one has to learn street language and be street smart to survive. The Government's formalisation of street hustling by "deciding who gets employed" as a parking assistant or omnibus tout, (and one may think usually based on state allegiance) shows that state regulation is either done as perfunctory political appeasement, or as political scapegoat to youth unemployment. Moreover such approaches problematise social mobility.

  ]]> 2021-02-26 07:45:40 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244319379 Kenza Bensaid https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244357181 I found the concept of social navigation quite interesting as it emphasized how the people in Arada manage to navigate/hustle through their situation in order to survive. While they are managing to move away from an initial point of poor economic conditions, they remain unable to reach and access real opportunities of change when it comes to their marginalisation and social differentiation. In this sense, they are always in movement, navigating, but no 'harbour' is willing to welcome them. ]]> 2021-02-26 08:06:15 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244357181 Tanya Clarke https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244458006 This article is very similar to other articles I have read about BoP work in Asia and west Africa. I found the Catalyst example interesting in how youth were 'trained' with a new way of working and thinking that became embodied in the work they went out to do. It all sounded super positive and life changing, however I was left wondering what the impact is on youth who are so heavily criticised in order to gain results and what the level of competition and individuality would incarnate in this generation for the future. Sales IS NOT for everyone, its a very hard solitary road. It felt that whilst there were many benefits to the project, it was clear that results were elusive. How sustainable is this and why are organisations like Catalyst not invested in company structures that create teams and better job security with prospects that really genuinely help develop people and their aspirations?]]> 2021-02-26 08:57:26 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244458006 Tosin Asaolu https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244520974 Pulling my thoughts together from this and other readings as well as from my other Africa modules, it seems that the Structural Adjustment Policies that sub-Saharan African countries entered into from the late 1980s onwards have had a material impact in framing what appears to be an innate African entrepreneurial leanings. For the people at the BoP, if there is no one holding vicarious responsibility for shaping and providing for basic amenities and securities, it becomes necessary to be creative in finding ways to meet those basic needs. A lot of the SSA countries are only c.60 years old and signed these policies with conditionalities within 30 years of becoming countries, whilst working on becoming nations for the most part. A running theme through most of the SAPs were that governments needed to slimline so that the private sector could invigorate the economy. This, I think was a misstep as most of these young countries had not put the infrastructure in place to support a competitive economy. I think that this is one of the reasons that informality has thrived and why young people in particular have to think outside the box to create their own sense of economic security. ]]> 2021-02-26 09:27:34 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244520974 Rebecca Luff https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244555322 This paper was interesting in how BoP initiatives view to transforming jobless youths into young entrepreneurs as a moral transformation, “to change one’s life”. They congratulate themselves as a vital method for “turning social crisis into economic employment”, as the possibility of success transforms youth into “productive citizens” in that preventing them from causing harm and civil unrest. ‘Impressionable’ youths are taught not simply how to sell products but how to transform themselves with entrepreneurial skills, with essences of self-help and self-empowerment. Teaching them to uptake what came to my mind as a western ‘entrepreneurial habitus’ and attributes of professionalism, including skills, dress, style and speech ]]> 2021-02-26 09:42:33 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244555322 Ariel Collier 6860201 https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244563575 I thought it was interesting that the participants of street hustling knew and understood this lifestyle as unsustainable but also unavoidable. Like in the case of the tourist guides, the informant placed hi long term goals in the chance of meeting a western partner to essentially save him from his circumstances. Looking to the west as a place for opportunities and your home as a trap is difficult to navigate.]]> 2021-02-26 09:46:22 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244563575 Maria Marrone https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244581537 While I really appreciated the personal accounts that gave insight into particular experiences from people in Arada, I believe I would have gained more from the work if there had been more of a context for the systems the inhibit social mobility. I saw a lot of parallels for the perpetuation of the informal economy with studies from other places in the world. It seems that there is a pattern in the kind of organized chaos that takes place within a network of marginalized people but I think this piece could have been more informative to this culture and location if there had been more of a delineation of the systems in power. ]]> 2021-02-26 09:54:33 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244581537 motivations https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244707481 The catalyst scheme of turning ‘idlers’ into entrepreneurs (notably not ‘salesmen’) played into the common neoliberal rhetoric of looking out for oneself, and in doing so adding to the moral mission of helping the nation grow. It was interesting to question the motivations behind the scheme - what does it mean for them to be so selective, often excluding those who don’t fit the specific role of a prosperous entrepreneur. What does it mean that some youth are further excluded from this process, despite its offer of 'inclusive markets' and drawing the marginazlied into the 'embrace of market opportunities'? I think the idea of the entrepreneur as a 'beneficiary and catalyst, producer and product' perhaps answers the question on motivations quite aptly. 
Emma N ]]> 2021-02-26 10:51:46 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244707481 Jennifer https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244965672 This account of those involved in the informal economy In Eastleigh is strikingly different from the  other readings this week relating to informal economies elsewhere in East Africa. One of the key differences appears to be the  social networks available to this Somali  community through ongoing relationships both with family in Somalia, but perhaps more importantly with family in the international diaspora. So, unlike the Catalyst enterprise in Nairobi for example, it appears to be possible for the entrepreneurs of Eastleigh to make the ‘economic transition’ that eludes those in the informal sector elsewhere. Their success seems to be a community success, whereas failures in the Nairobi Catalyst ‘entrepreneurs’ are individual failures.
 
The paper  also illustrates how the informal economy encompasses activities across a spectrum from  small scale ’hustles’ through to large enterprises which actually cross over into the formal economy. Interestingly, the state is able to gather substantial tax revenues from Eastleigh which entitles the community to demand services from the state. 
]]> 2021-02-26 12:50:56 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1244965672 The Catalyst Conundrum 2473522 https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1247708634 Despite its promise of economic liberation and empowerment through the vehicle of entrepreneurship (for those who were prepared to work hard for it), I found the Catalyst recruitment initiative to be misleading and somewhat exploitative. Its real objective, it appears, was to promote the selling of products, rather than to offer an impartial, comprehensive training programme, where the primary focus was not on the numerical aspect of business. I found Its policy of inclusion and exclusion (based on the number of sales a young person was able to make) extremely damaging and did nothing but promote unhealthy competition and division among its participants. One interviewee admitted to feeling 'pressure' to make a sale, while another confessed to not always being transparent about Catalyst's motive, when speaking to potential recruitees. Although a few interlocutors reportedly achieved some success with the scheme, others were barely able to meet the cost of living. The fear of not hitting required sales targets, (as opposed to being excited at the prospect of becoming business owners), appeared to be the overriding concern of most of the Catalyst apprentices, which in my opinion, defeats the whole purpose of the programme. Suffice to say, self-improvement and self-empowerment, is about so much more than just making a sale. Laura A]]> 2021-02-27 05:32:37 UTC https://padlet.com/cd171/e4qhlrzmof45fsri/wish/1247708634