5,669
edits
Difference between revisions of "GIP-Sandbox"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
|+ Transformation map of informality: from informality through migration to gender inequality CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. © World Economic Forum Strategic Intelligence | |+ Transformation map of informality: from informality through migration to gender inequality CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. © World Economic Forum Strategic Intelligence | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Figure 1 !! Figure | ! Figure 0.1.1 !! Figure 0.1.1 !! Figure 0.1.1 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| [[File:Figure 1 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 2 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 3 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] | | [[File:Figure 1 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 2 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 3 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] | ||
| Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
Urban informality embraces everyday tactics that people use to appropriate and claim space, cope with scarce resources and strategically bypass or bend official regulations. It can be readily observed in the form of unregulated occupation of public or private buildings ([[squatting]]), land grabbing, construction of buildings for residential and commercial pur- poses without permits, establishing of slums and shantytowns and the | Urban informality embraces everyday tactics that people use to appropriate and claim space, cope with scarce resources and strategically bypass or bend official regulations. It can be readily observed in the form of unregulated occupation of public or private buildings ([[squatting]]), land grabbing, construction of buildings for residential and commercial pur- poses without permits, establishing of slums and shantytowns and the | ||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ | |||
|- | |||
! Figure 0.1.2 !! Figure 0.1.3 !! Figure 0.1.4 | |||
|- | |||
| [[File:Figure 4 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 5 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] || [[File:Figure 6 - Transformation map of informality.png|border|x500px]] | |||
|} | |||
emergence of temporary, unregulated settlements as a result of the mass displacement of populations due to war or natural disasters (see typol- ogy in the introduction to Chapter 11). Informal settlements are not only a result of housing shortages; their formation can be a strategic choice made in response to the lack of affordable housing and access to employ- ment opportunities in urban areas where employment opportunities tend to be concentrated. [[Colonias]] in the USA (see 11.1 in this volume), favelas in Brazil, slum cities in India and campamentos in Chile accommodate millions of people. Less visible, perhaps, is the informal housing of the rich (Pow 2017; Martínez and Chiodelli 2021). | |||
The focus on informal networks in Figure 0.1.4 reveals the less obvious side of informality – the impact of personal connections on various aspects of human and social life. Whether it is about knowing the right person to find accommodation, arrange transport, release a package held at customs, or find a tutor, in many parts of the world connections are indispensable for getting things done. Connections are part and parcel of cooperation and solidarity, and their strength and quantity directly affect one’s quality of life. Strong connections guarantee better support and informal care as people are more likely to help those with whom they share a bond. Informal networks offer a sense of belonging and bonding ties that correlate with well-being and happiness, and even weaker connections serve as bridging ties. The networks channel social capital that serves to improve life chances and provide practical benefits to everyone involved, as captured in the entry about the reproduction of aristocrats in France (see les rallyes mondains, 2.1 in this volume), alongside the emotional benefits associated with friendship, security and happiness. | |||
However, a wealth of social capital can also have a negative effect by encouraging dependence on informal contacts and generating corrupt behaviour. Informal networks can restrict personal choice and have a ‘lock-in’ effect. Ultimately, individuals might feel trapped by the expectations of their connections. While insiders experience the burden of inclusion, outsiders feel deprived and excluded from access to resources and opportunities. As Chapter 5 on belonging and Chapter 7 on gaining advantage show, this duality also applies to infor- mal social networks, which foster sociability and cohesion for insiders while excluding outsiders. | |||
Interpreting the invisible part of the informal iceberg is not a straightforward undertaking. The focus on the invisible, unarticulated and immeasurable in informality studies concurs with the school of suspicion, associated with Paul Ricoeur’s famous analysis of the great ‘masters of suspicion’, each of whom came up with an idea of falseness of consciousness – Karl Marx (class interest), Sigmund Freud (sex) and Friedrich Nietzsche (will power) (Ricoeur 2008 [1970]; Coyne 2020). Informality studies seeks to relativise the intellectual rigidity and intrinsic biases of approaches based on formalisation, visibility, articulation and measurability. The strategic interactive maps of informality have made a step in this direction by complicating the picture of the world with evidence of informal shortcuts that pervade contemporary societies. | |||