Revisiting policy epistemologies on urban informality: Towards a post-dualist view

Abstract

The presence of street vending in the urban global South indicates a vibrant economy that is often tagged as informal. When situated in the larger contexts, it persists in an atmosphere of poverty and inequality. Amid the social conditions that produce economic vulnerability, how do state institutions regulate urban informal vending? What policies do they enforce to manage the insecurity, resilience and resistance of street vendors? What are the emerging patterns from these regulations? This paper presents and analyzes a set of policy epistemologies based on state rules on informal vending in selected global South cities. Building on the structuration theory, the paper draws from secondary ..