Paper short abstract:

Using a participatory photovoice approach with casual wage workers and self-employed food establishment operators in Accra, this paper investigates local perspectives of “good” work and the transformative potential of collective action in informal urban economies.

Paper long abstract:

In lower-income countries, the majority of the workforce sustain their livelihoods in the informal economy. Previous research has highlighted the vulnerability and precarious working conditions of informal labour. Yet, there is little research on workers’ own conception of “good” work and collective action by informal economy workers to enhance their working conditions accordingly. This paper presents preliminary findings from a transdisciplinary photovoice project with informal casual and self-employed workers in Accra’s food service sector to address these gaps. The food service sector in Accra provides a pertinent case study due to its rapid growth, large informal (and female) labour force, and the unique presence of an umbrella trade union organization for informal workers – a rarity in sub-Saharan Africa. We employ interpretative phenomenological analysis to reveal the lived experiences of informal economy workers based on in-depth interviews and workers’ own photographs of key aspects of their everyday work activities. In addition, we use group sessions among photovoice participants and a workshop with union representatives to identify collective demands and ways to improve the design of union membership and benefits. These empirical findings are then embedded into the wider history and politics of Ghana’s informal economy to assess the extent to which they can provide grassroots transformative tools for social justice and revalorise informal workers in the absence of formal protections. We conclude with implications for the policy agenda on decent work, spearheaded by the ILO and policymakers in lower-income countries, as well as for the governance of informal urban economies.