Wage Labor and Social Inequality in Kinshasa's Informal Economy

A Class Analysis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3607374
AutoresHéritier Mesa (0000-0002-1673-6501, Université Libre de Bruxelles, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen245-246
Páginas319-340
Fecha de publicación2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCahiers d études africaines (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-0055 • E-ISSN: 1777-5353
EditorialOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/etudesafricaines.36545
OpenAlexW4281683234
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas36

This article explores the social trajectories of some "informal workers" and the dynamics of inequality they highlight. The study investigates how the structure of labor relations reveal class relations and unequal social positionalities more broadly within the informal economy. The research draws from ethnographic data collected about three forms of income-generating activities in Kinshasa: street bread, second-hand clothing, and urban agriculture. While access to capital offers some the opportunity to successfully develop a profitable income-generating activity, the limited access to various forms of capital constrains many to sell their labor power-often with weakened bargaining power-to those in possession of capital. Conversely, some actors have successfully overcome the constraint of the forms of asymmetric labor relations within the informal economy and secured a relatively decent living despite their precarious position

Bargaining power · Constraint (computer-aided design) · Economics · Inequality · Informal sector · Labour economics · Market economy · Microeconomics · Position (finance) · Possession (linguistics) · Power (physics) · Social class · Social inequality · Wage · African Studies and Ethnography · French Urban and Social Studies · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender