Search results

Informal economic activities appear to constitute a growing component of all economic transactions in the US and some other industrialized nations, despite the traditional view that such activities would dissipate with advanced capitalism (cf Castells and Portes 1989, Tanzi 1982). The study of these activities, particularly by sociologists, has likewise grown in recent years. For example, at the 1995 ASA annual meetings in Washington DC, a formal session was devoted entirely to such work, an annual feature of recent vintage. That year's session produced some six papers, five case studies with a US focus and a general typology on informal work, which are reviewed here. As a group, these papers provide numerous insights into various aspects of informal work in the US. Yet, in the end, they raise at least as many questions as they answer, no doubt a reflection of the infancy of the field of study.

Focuses on street vending in Chicago, in the USA, taking a historical perspective. Shows how it was used to alleviate unemployment in the volatile progressive era but then became mired in complaints about corruption and vice. Uses a case study of an entrepreneurial Mexican family and highlights the wisdom of earlier days by showing how street vending offers a series of choices that are different from the choices made by larger forms only in that they are more accessible to the poor.

At issue in the debate over home employment is whether paid work performed in the home exploits workers or enables them to decide when and where to do their work. Converting the terms of the debate into a set of variables, I compare blue‐collar workers in manufacturing industries by work location. Although observed differences are open to varying interpretations, I conclude that as a group the home workers in this sample may be choosing to work at home. However, my analyses also demonstrate the diversity of home working arrangements, and that worker's ‘choices’ are socially shaped such that home employment has different meanings and consequences for different groups of workers. I further argue that the exploitative potential in home work cannot be dismissed because the findings are controversial, and the sample most likely underrepresents home workers, especially those most vulnerable to exploitation. Evidently, more research is necessary on the diversity of home working arrangements and their implications.

It is fascinating to think about the growth of the literature on the informal economy since Hart and Ferman and Ferman first considered the problem in very different contexts in the early 1970's. In fact some intellectual history would probably be appealing for students of this literature. Irrespective of the knowledge gained from conducting an intellectual history, social scientists should be aware that many, if not most, of the empirical and theoretical problems they study have roots in different philosophical problems (Leaf, 1979). The “informal” economy is no exception. To situate the following collection of articles on the informal economy in one useful philosophical context, I will discuss in this introduction two distinct strategies of social science investigation. Having spelled out these strategies, I will then consider how each of the papers stands in relation to them.

The Mexican-American population has experienced a dramatic increase in ethnic entrepreneurship over the last several decades. In an attempt to explain this development, 25 Mexican-American entrepreneurs were interviewed in the Chicago area. These interviews focused upon the specific ethnic strategies used by these entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between the opportunity structures for entrepreneurship in the United States economy and the unique group characteristics or capacities for entrepreneurship characterizing the Mexican-American population. Based upon these interviews, we found that the favored ethnic strategy used by Mexican-American entrepreneurs involved attempts at socializing the economic encounter between co-ethnic customers and entrepreneurs. These socializing activities were examined using Goffman's frame analysis, with particular attention devoted to the collective organization of customer and entrepreneur experience in terms of an ethnic frame.

Attempts to shed light on the mental health needs of ethnic minorities and the inadequacies of the existing mental health needs for them. Considers the drawbacks in the delivery system and provides guidelines for improved assessment, treatment, treatment strategies and preventative measures. Uses analysis of recent psychological and sociological developments in the field of mental health.