Admission requirements
Admission to the MA International Relations and MA in Latin American Studies.
Description
This course offers a comprehensive exploration of informality, delving into its multidimensional nature and the intersectional dynamics that shape it. Through a critical lens, you will examine the experiences of informal workers and how informality perpetuates social hierarchies and economic inequalities.
The course is divided into four parts, each exploring a different theoretical approach to informality and its relationship to paid employment. You will learn about the historical context and modernization theories that contributed to the current concept of informality and the efforts to increase labour productivity and industrialization debates. The course also covers the neoclassical perspective on voluntaristic informality as well as structuralist critiques that understand informality as directly connected to the formal economy.
Throughout the course, you will develop critical thinking skills and gain a nuanced understanding of the role of informality in contemporary societies. You will analyse the various factors that contribute to informality, including modernisation, structural transformation, industrial policy, economic liberalisation, global supply chains, and social structures. The course pays special attention to the intersectional dynamics of power relations, exploring how gender, sexuality, race, nationality, ability, class, and age contribute to the production and reproduction of informality.
At the end of this course, you will have the necessary knowledge and tools to engage in informed discussions and debates about informality and its impact on social justice and economic development. The course aims to challenge any stigmatised views of informality and introduce you to a variety of perspectives so that you can make informed opinions on the subject matter.
Course objectives
A thorough comprehension of the various conceptualizations of informality, including its causes and effects across different geographies (Skill tags: Researching, analising).
The ability to evaluate and analyze different policies and interventions' impact on informal employment and its relationship with the formal economy (Skill tags: Researching, analising, collaborating).
The capacity to critically engage with the experiences of exclusion and adverse inclusion in the organization of informal employment in modern times (Skill tags: Analising, written communication).
A nuanced understanding of the multiple facets of informality and how they intersect with gender, sexuality, race, nationality, ability, class, age, and other markers of difference (Skill tags: Researching, oral communication, written communication).
The skill to synthesize complex information from a variety of sources and construct compelling arguments about the challenges of informality and potential policy solutions for a broader audience Skill tags: Researching, oral communication, written communication).
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
In this course, your overall grade will be determined by a weighted average of your performance on each assessment. These evaluations assess your proficiency in critical analysis and nuanced writing. Please refer to the following information for specifics on each assignment.
- Research problem (take-home assignment): 30% final grade
- Oral presentation and peer discussion: 10% final grade
3.. Final research paper: 60% final grade
This course on informality requires students to create a 1,500-word research proposal that presents a literature review of a chosen topic and formulates a research problem. Students must also provide a precise formulation of the research question, a preliminary list of methods, references, and sources, and present their draft research problem to peers, receive and provide feedback to others. The final research paper must be 4,000 words long (references and footnotes excluded) and submitted by a specific deadline.
Weighing
- Research problem (take-home assignment): 30% final grade
- Oral presentation and peer discussion: 10% final grade
3.. Final research paper: 60% final grade
Resit
If a student receives an unsatisfactory grade their final research paper, they will be given the opportunity to resubmit it.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
A full list of readings will be provided after registration. Each session will involve a combination of readings, discussions, and interactive activities.
Chen, M., & Carré, F. J. (Eds.) (2020). The Informal Economy Revisited: Examining the Past, Envisioning the Future. Routledge.
Gibson-Graham, J. K., and Dombroski, Kelly (2020). The Handbook of Diverse Economies. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Lewis, A. (1954). Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour. The Manchester School, 22(2): 139–191.
Fischer, Andrew Martin. "Locating modern poverty within the creation and division of wealth: Towards a structuralist and institutionalist political economy approach in poverty studies." In Poverty as Ideology: Rescuing Social Justice From Global Development Agendas, 184–220. International Studies in Poverty Research. London: Zed Books Ltd, 2018.
Hart, Keith. "Informal Income Opportunities and Urban Employment in Ghana".
Tania Murray Li. "To Make Live or Let Die Rural Dispossession and the Protection of Surplus Populations".
James Ferguson. "Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution".
Kesar, S., Bhattacharya, S., and Banerjee, S. "Contradictions and Crisis in the World of Work: Informality, Precarity and the Pandemic".
Gurminder Bhambra. "Colonial Global Economy: Towards a Theoretical Reorientation of Political Economy".
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.