The Unexpected Power of Informal Workers in the Public Square: A Comparison of Mexican and US Organizing Models

Street vendors in Mexico and day laborers in the United States, both groups of informal workers who labor in public space, face formidable structural obstacles to securing their rights as workers. Despite their apparent vulnerability, these informal workers have built perhaps the most powerful infor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational labor and working class history Vol. 89; no. 89; pp. 131 - 152
Main Authors Sarmiento, Hugo, Tilly, Chris, de la Garza Toledo, Enrique, Gayosso Ramírez, José Luis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.01.2016
Subjects
Comparative studies
Immigrants
Labor force
Labor unions
Manual workers
Neoliberalism
Noncitizens
Organizational power
Political power
PRECARIOUS LABOR IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Public spaces
Rights
Studies
Temporary employment
Vendors
Vulnerability
Wages & salaries
Workers
United States > US
Mexico
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Summary:Street vendors in Mexico and day laborers in the United States, both groups of informal workers who labor in public space, face formidable structural obstacles to securing their rights as workers. Despite their apparent vulnerability, these informal workers have built perhaps the most powerful informal worker organizations in their countries. In this article, we explore and explain to the extent possible the sources, forms, and limits of this unexpected power. We explore organizational and strategic commonalities as well as differences and seek to explain both.
ISSN:0147-5479
1471-6445
DOI:10.1017/S0147547915000368