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Inclusive Futures for Informal Workers in Cities in the Global South I.
Panel P28a at conference DSA2022: Just sustainable futures in an urbanising and mobile world.
This panel will explore how informal workers might be included in urban development in cities in the Global South and how greater inclusion can be brought about to ensure more just and sustainable urban futures.
Long Abstract:
Long Abstract: As rapid urbanization in the absence of formal job creation will likely lead to the growth of informal economic activity in cities throughout the Global South, there is a clear need to imagine and work towards more inclusive futures for informal workers. This panel will explore what these futures might look like, focusing on examples of inclusion in particular urban contexts, the conditions and processes that (have) brought these about, and the possible insights that can be drawn from them for the promotion of inclusion elsewhere.
Participants are encouraged to address one or more of the following topics:
1. Particular political economy arrangements that facilitate or limit possibilities for inclusion, including political systems, institutions, decision-making processes, or patterns of ownership and accumulation.
2. The extent to which organization within the informal economy can facilitate inclusion, what can be learned from different forms organization has taken and different strategies that have been employed, and how organization in the context of informal work can be placed within the history of labour and/or social movements.
3. The successes and/or failures of policy efforts to promote inclusion in specific contexts, surrounding, for example, the interests they have served and the extent to which they have been truly inclusive for all workers in relation to class, gender, race/ethnicity/religion, and other divisions.
4. Possible strengths and shortcomings of the international policy architecture for promoting inclusion for informal workers, including ILO Recommendation 204, the New Urban Agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
5. Emerging trends surrounding, and challenges to, the promotion of inclusion for informal workers, including de-democratization, changes in global production and consumption, rising inequality, the politics of migration, and efforts to address climate change and public health challenges.
6. The role that scholarship can play in bringing about inclusive futures.
Methodology: This panel will consist of a 40-minute discussion of key themes emerging from panelists’ presentations, which all participants will be able to view in advance. All participants will also be encouraged to reflect on how the arguments and materials presented by panelists relate to contexts they are familiar with, one or more of the six panel topics outlined above, and broader trends in the field of Development Studies, and are invited to prepare any questions and/or comments to contribute to what will hopefully be an engaging conversation.
What are the connections between the future of work, the future of development, and the future of the planet? This paper will bring these transition narratives in dialogue as a radical way of decentring production, growth and employment in our visions of sustainable futures around the world.
Paper long abstract:
What are the connections between the future of work, the future of development, and the future of the planet? Ecological economics and degrowth theorists have over the past decade built an arsenal of arguments to connect planetary sustainability with a need to reduce rates of production and to disentangle notions of progress from the imperative of growth. Yet the ecological case for reducing working hours is very much in nascent form: the arguments connecting work-based society as ecologically harmful to imaginaries of redistributing and redefining work are under-explored both in theory and in policy. Furthermore, it remains unclear how and if theories of degrowth and reducing work as a route towards ecological sustainability resonate in the global South, where growth remains the dominant paradigm - as does the capitalist productivist work ethic. However, a key body of scholarship and practice that has challenged the hegemony of mainstream development in the Global South has been post-development, which links with degrowth in questioning the core assumptions of 'marketworld' and offers alternative visions of future flourishing. And yet the connection between post-development and post-work, despite the obvious parallels, has yet to be theorized or analytically clarified. This paper aims to address this disconnect, and in so doing seeks new paths toward weaving together theories of environmental justice, post-development and post-work. We argue that bringing these transition narratives together opens up radical analytic and policy possibilities for decentring production, growth and employment in our visions of sustainable futures around the world.
Forming the legal protection for online transportation service drivers in Indonesia has an important role in encouraging more women to work as many as men with they feel safe in the scope of income and protection. This can bridge gender-inclusivity for a sustainable future.
Paper long abstract:
Globalization and technology development have increased the use of digital technology, especially in Indonesia. The use of digital technology is rapidly changing the existing industry. One of the industries that have seen the most visible changes is the transportation service, which has been changing from conventional to online service.
The fundamental innovation in this online industry is in the use of digital technology that allows it to reach a wider market and business partners in the form of passenger, food, and shopping delivery. This innovation encourages inclusivity in the scope of gender because the business partners encourage women to work as partners as same as men. But, practically, especially in the cities, there is still gender disparity among the drivers. It means that the comparison percentage of men drivers and women drivers is still lame. In addition, the bargaining power that those online transportation service companies have is very high causing more marginalization towards women drivers. This happens because of the non-existence of legal protection for the drivers that cause the inclusivity decrease among genders. Legal protection is needed in terms of minimum wage, partners, and protection from sexual-harassment. Legal protection can make women empowered and safe. Furthermore, this can reduce the bargaining power that the companies have. So that, there will be more women as drivers, and reduce the gender disparity. This can maintain the existence of workers in the informal scope that has been a part of city development for a sustainable future.
The paper offers critical insights into the barriers faced by informal working women in accessing the amenities and services of cities by studying their everyday mobility, in Kochi city in Kerala, India.
Paper long abstract:
Freedom of movement and access in cities are generally designed considering ethnic majorities- heterosexual, able-bodied men (Hidayati et al., 2010). Studies show that women make more complex movements than men for fulfilling their responsibilities (Whitzman, 2013). However, due to lack of access to various amenities and services in everyday life in cities, women in urban areas are not as equally benefited as men. Access is one of the important parameters to consider while planning for inclusive cities. In this paper, we explore the barriers due to lack of access in cities by examining the factors affecting the everyday mobility of women. Using a case study of Kochi city in Kerala, India, the study investigated the diverse factors which impact the mobility of informal working women. We conducted a systematic review of literature on the subject to identify a set of initial factors that affect the everyday mobility of women in cities. Field studies include Interviews with key stakeholders, participant observation and mobility mapping. We intend to develop a socio-spatial framework embedding intrinsic factors (individual attributes such as age, income, marital status) and extrinsic factors (spatial and urban planning attributes such as residing location, public transport availability and affordability, gender-inclusive design features, safety features, etc.) and access. The framework helps to understand the relative importance of each factor, thereby aiding planners to identify the areas of intervention for effective gender-sensitive interrelationships planning and design.
The paper explores avenues through which compromises beneficial to the host mining communities in Jos can be reached between stakeholders, to avoid re-enactments of the scenarios of conflict and environmental degradation in Nigeria's Niger Delta area.
Paper long abstract:
In Jos, artisanal mining, the mainstay of many youths, is characterized by the dearth or absence of technology, capital, and modernized mining applications, yet portending 'huge' economic benefits for living above poverty. This paper examines mining governance, or the lack of it within the informal economic sector, and the implications for the activities of the artisanal miners, the host communities, the ecosystem, etc. on the Plateau. It evaluates the expectations of the artisanal miners from the government and vice versa that thrive on diverse perspectives, developed in response to actions and activities related to the mining of these resources. Governance processes emphasize formal procedures of mineral extraction which entail documentation, the acquisition of mining rights or leases from the ministry of solid minerals, and the use of specialized equipment. Conversely, artisanal miners are propelled by perceptions of 'ownership', proximity to the mineral resources within their communities, and socioeconomic factors including poverty and unemployment, above considerations for life on land and environmental protection. The paper evaluates the policy processes and responsibilities for economic advancement, the environment, implications for inclusiveness, opportunities for access, and transitions from the informal to the formal economy, in line with the ILO Recommendation 204. Using qualitative methods, the study appraises critical issues with direct links to policy that appertain mining-related conflicts, mechanisms of production, consumption, growth, dimensions of engagement with key stakeholders, and futuristic interventions to guarantee sustainable futures for the host communities.
The study examined how governance in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, affects informal economic strategies/coping mechanisms and how it builds or damages economic empowerment and popular engagement processes. It identified the viability of the informal sector and its link with institutional processes.
Paper long abstract:
Abstract
The study examined how governance in contemporary Bayelsa State, Nigeria, affects informal economic strategies and coping mechanisms and how it, in turn, builds or damages economic empowerment targets and popular engagement processes. This was motivated by the need to ascertain if increasing informal economic networks and associations foster economic empowerment and how institutional processes shape the access of informal sector operators to resources and decision-making structures in Bayelsa State. Data was sourced via Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) from seventy-six (76) respondents drawn from the retail sub-sector, personal service sub-sector, production sub-sector, members of business associations, and institutions/agencies of government. Findings revealed that there exists among informal sector operators, a deliberate improvisation of informal associational networks that serve as a coping mechanism for growing and sustaining economic empowerment imperatives. While such initiatives were considered crucial for navigating informal choices, operators within the sector leverage on built social capital through personal ties, ethnic and religious bonds, and friendships to advance economic interest and actions. Again, rather than complement the economic gains made by an increasing associational network, institutional processes lack a bottom-up approach which accounts for the neglect and consistent crises between government officials and operators of the informal sector in Bayelsa State. The study concluded by identifying the economic viability of the informal sector. To this end, institutional processes that promote engagement of the sector in decision-making should be encouraged by the government of Bayelsa State.
Keywords: Governance. Informal Economy. Bureaucracy. Economic Empowerment. Nigeria.
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Short Abstract:
This panel will explore how informal workers might be included in urban development in cities in the Global South and how greater inclusion can be brought about to ensure more just and sustainable urban futures.
Long Abstract:
Long Abstract: As rapid urbanization in the absence of formal job creation will likely lead to the growth of informal economic activity in cities throughout the Global South, there is a clear need to imagine and work towards more inclusive futures for informal workers. This panel will explore what these futures might look like, focusing on examples of inclusion in particular urban contexts, the conditions and processes that (have) brought these about, and the possible insights that can be drawn from them for the promotion of inclusion elsewhere.
Participants are encouraged to address one or more of the following topics:
1. Particular political economy arrangements that facilitate or limit possibilities for inclusion, including political systems, institutions, decision-making processes, or patterns of ownership and accumulation.
2. The extent to which organization within the informal economy can facilitate inclusion, what can be learned from different forms organization has taken and different strategies that have been employed, and how organization in the context of informal work can be placed within the history of labour and/or social movements.
3. The successes and/or failures of policy efforts to promote inclusion in specific contexts, surrounding, for example, the interests they have served and the extent to which they have been truly inclusive for all workers in relation to class, gender, race/ethnicity/religion, and other divisions.
4. Possible strengths and shortcomings of the international policy architecture for promoting inclusion for informal workers, including ILO Recommendation 204, the New Urban Agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
5. Emerging trends surrounding, and challenges to, the promotion of inclusion for informal workers, including de-democratization, changes in global production and consumption, rising inequality, the politics of migration, and efforts to address climate change and public health challenges.
6. The role that scholarship can play in bringing about inclusive futures.
Methodology: This panel will consist of a 40-minute discussion of key themes emerging from panelists’ presentations, which all participants will be able to view in advance. All participants will also be encouraged to reflect on how the arguments and materials presented by panelists relate to contexts they are familiar with, one or more of the six panel topics outlined above, and broader trends in the field of Development Studies, and are invited to prepare any questions and/or comments to contribute to what will hopefully be an engaging conversation.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 7 July, 2022, -Liz Fouksman (King's College London) Elise Klein (ANU)
Nadhif Fadhlan Musyaffa (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta) Latif Adiatma Habibi (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
Fathima Zehba M. P. (National Institute of Technology, Calicut) Mohammed Firoz C (National Institute of Technology Calicut, India) Lakshmi Priya Rajendran (University College London)
Nanji Rimdan Umoh (University of Jos) John Baling Fom (University of Jos)
Victor Sokari (Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria)