Beyond the Crisis: Economic globalization and informal work in urban Argentina

Abstract

During the economic crisis in Argentina that peaked in 2002, rates of informal work rose to levels higher than those at any other time during the previous 60 years. Drawing on interviews with informal workers conducted in 2002, I address the connection of this informal work not only to the crisis conditions in the country at the time, but also to broader shifts in the nature of work in Argentina. In particular, I argue that a lack of availability of formal work, an increase in probationary employment, and an increase in contractual arrangements were all crucial components of the dependence on informal work seen during the crisis of 2002. Making sense of the experience of contemporary informal work in Argentina thus requires an acknowledgement of history of globalization of the Argentine economy, which was brought about in large part through the implementation of neoliberal policies that began in the 1980s and continue today. Durante la crisis económica en Argentina en el año 2002, la tasa de participación en el trabajo informal creció hasta el punto más alto que en los últimos 60 años. Usando datos de entrevistas realizadas en el 2002, en este artículo analizo la relación entre este trabajo informal y tanto las condiciones de crisis en el país durante este tiempo, como los cambios más amplios en el carácter del trabajo en Argentina. En particular, sostengo que la falta de disponibilidad del trabajo formal, un aumento en los contratos de prueba, y un aumento en la contratación de trabajadores independientes, fueron todos componentes críticos de la dependencia del trabajo informal durante la crisis del 2002. Para entender las experiencias actuales del trabajo informal en Argentina, se necesita un reconocimiento de la historia de la globalización de la economía argentina, que fue facilitado por la implementación de las políticas neoliberales que empezó en los 80 y que continúa hoy en día.

Informal Work in Latin America: Competing Perspectives and Recent Debates

“…In addition to its overall prevalence, rates of informal work have generally increased in most Latin American countries. In fact, notwithstanding the dubious data reported by Argentina in Table 1 (see Whitson 2007a for details), no country in the region has been able to significantly reduce the incidence of informality (Freije 2001).…”

“…In response to government policies which reduced formal job opportunities and promoted greater precariousness of employment, Argentine firms shifted large numbers of workers off the books and a growing segment of the workforce adapted by resorting to self‐employment. As a consequence, the economic crisis of 2001–2002 only exacerbated a trend toward greater levels of informal work dating back more than a decade (Whitson 2007a).…”

“…Alternatively, neo‐Marxist research views workers as unfortunate pawns within an exploitative global economic system which has made employment more precarious and poorly paid. Post‐structural approaches, however, ascribe agency to individuals and reject the universalizing portrayal of informal work as simply spaces of (neo‐Marxist) exploitation or (neoliberal) liberation (Whitson 2007a). Furthermore, post‐structural research incorporates the perspectives of marginalized and excluded groups, highlights the increasingly overlapping spaces of production (work) and reproduction (home), and reveals the non‐economic roles of work (Lawson 2007; Mitchell et al.…”

“…Risa Whitson's (2007a,b) recent research in Buenos Aires provides a provocative example of post‐structural perspectives on informality. Using a relational approach in which informal workers are embedded within networks of actors operating at a variety of scales (households, firms, cooperatives, social movements, governments, and multilateral organizations), Whitson focuses on the social and political functions of work.…”

Negotiating Place and Value: Geographies of Waste and Scavenging in Buenos Aires

“…For many porteños (Buenos Aireans), the effects of the crisis were felt most directly through the loss of employment and the paucity of job prospects. This was especially true for poor, informal workers, who were heavily reliant on the cash economy and worked in jobs such as domestic labor and home improvements that were increasingly viewed as unnecessary luxuries by their middle‐class employers (Whitson 2007). One effect of this was an explosion in the number of cartoneros , expanding from about 10,000 in Buenos Aires in 2001 to about 25,000 in early 2002, to over 40,000 later that year (Anguita 2003).…”