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From Sectors to Circuits: Re‐Describing Senegambian In/Formal Practices in Europe, and Beyond

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  • Joris Schapendonk
  • Marieke Ekenhorst

Abstract

While earlier accounts approach the informal economy as a sign of underdevelopment, particularly in the Global South, recent studies tend to re‐frame informal economic practices by acknowledging how it allows various actors to create spaces to manoeuvre. In this context, scholars emphasise the multiple linkages between formal and informal economic domains. To push this notion of intersected practices further, we move away from the notion of the ‘informal sector’ – as a domain with clear demarcations and introduce the notion of in/formal circuits. The latter highlights the multiple interrelations between activities and fluid geographies involved. From this starting point we analyse the socio‐economic activities of Senegalese and Gambian migrants living in Europe. Based on ethnographic fieldwork that started in Barcelona but also involved other places, we illustrate the ways they navigate in/formal circuits and the extent to which these navigations come with mobility within Europe, and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Joris Schapendonk & Marieke Ekenhorst, 2020. "From Sectors to Circuits: Re‐Describing Senegambian In/Formal Practices in Europe, and Beyond," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 111(5), pages 705-717, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:111:y:2020:i:5:p:705-717
    DOI: 10.1111/tesg.12401
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Huib Ernste & Karel Martens & Joris Schapendonk, 2012. "The Design, Experience and Justice of Mobility," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 103(5), pages 509-515, December.
    2. Tokman, Victor E., 1978. "An exploration into the nature of informal--formal sector relationships," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 6(9-10), pages 1065-1075.
    3. Griet Steel, 2012. "Whose Paradise? Itinerant Street Vendors' Individual and Collective Practices of Political Agency in the Tourist Streets of Cusco, Peru," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 1007-1021, September.
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