What is informal labour?
Assignment in SOSANT2530
Department of Sociology and Human Geography
University of Oslo, spring 2016
Word count:
Content:
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Definitions and concepts
3.0 Views on informal labour and reasons to why people work within it
5.0 Relationship between informal and formal labour
5.0 Causes of informal labour
6.0 Conclusion
1.0 Introduction
Usually when we talk about informality, we talk about the informal economy and the informal sector. Oxford´s dictionary definition of the word ‘informal’ is: “(Of economic activity) carried on by self-employed or independent people on a small scale, especially unofficially or illegally” (“Definition of Informal”, n.d.). However, as Sian Lazar writes
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The precariat is a social class, often the working class, which consists of people suffering from precarity. Precarity is a condition of living without security or predictability, especially little or no job security and few employment rights (Maxwell, 2009).
When I talk about labour I mean physical work that is performed by workers, often as employees. Later in this text I will also mention capital. Capital can have several meanings and in this context I mean wealth in the form of financial or physical assets.
Further in this text I will also talk about capitalists (who are supporters of capitalism), and neoliberalism. Capitalism is defined as “an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market” (“The Free Dictionary”, 2003). Capitalists are defined as investors of capital in business (“The Free Dictionary”, 2003). They often have a lot of money and property, and use their capital to produce more capital.
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The workers are not learnt to work with the machines. Have to do so by looking at other trying by themselves when the supervisors are gone. Yet, it is good for the factories if they know how to work the machines.
Restriction of production and labour relationship
Power and economical structure+
Who is in the control? When is the control lost?
Description of work and as an object of union activism
5.0 Causes of informal labour
The main factors for causes of informal labour are different from one country to another and it can be aspects like culture, location, politics, and economy that initiate this “process”.
If we look at the case of Rio de Janeiro, then it was neoliberal policies that impacted the poor. Deindustrialization of the city brought unemployment, and urban revitalization programs promoted the privatization of public space (Miller, 2014, p.37).
page 37, miller. page 43 page 1, Sheffield
6.0 Conclusion
People have different opinions about informal labour. Somebody thinks it is a good thing, somebody think it is bad. It depends on the circumstances: where they live, how their live is and which aspects of their lives are more important to
Lora Jo Foo. “The Yale Law Journal”, Vol. 103, No. 8, Symposium: The Informal Economy
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According to Marx, the 'capitalist mode of production' is a product of the 'industrial revolution' and the division of labor coming from it. By virtue of this division,...
Child Labor is one of the reasons why children stop schooling or do not study at all. But first, what is child labor? Not all child work is considered child labor. According to Aldaba, Lanzona and Tamangan (2004), one must incorporate both national and international definition regarding child labor considering 3 factors which include the type of activity the child is engaged to, their age and parental supervision. Basically, children who are engaged to any work which is considered as the “worst form” are called child labourers. This “worst forms” of work are occupations that endanger the general welfare and long-term development of a child. Age is also a factor regarding child labor. If a child under the age of 15 years old works without any supervision of parents, they are considered as child labourers since they are not guided by their parents and the work done by the child, even if it is not the “worst form” is also considered as child labor. Other definitions of child labor include that of Edmonds and Pavcnik (2005), wherein child labor is defined as “economic activities deleterious to the well-being of children” which also means that these are work dangerous to the health and welfare of a child. The United Nations define such activity as “any work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work or – if they are old enough to work – because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them”. This only means that whether a child is a minor or at a legal age, if the work done by these children is unsuitable for their age, it is still considered as child labor. Child labor is also defined as a work that has too much responsibility for a child and is not appropriate for their age. Furthermo...
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