Introduction to special issue: Transnational Street Business: Migrants in the Informal Urban Economy

Camilla Ida Ravnbøl, Trine Mygind Korsby, Anja Simonsen

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

Abstract

This special issue sheds light on transnational migrants’ engagement with
informal urban economies worldwide. Building on anthropological literature on
migration and economy, it proposes “transnational street business” as a new concept
for grasping transnational dynamics in the informal urban economy. Through ethno-
graphic case studies from different regions, the special issue illuminates how the con-
cept of “transnational street business” serves to analytically capture the urban street’s
multitude of economically entangled and interdependent transnational social alliances,
hierarchies, friendships, and networks. The concept encompasses the materiality of the
street and the goods that are exchanged and transacted in trade relations. It also high-
lights the skills for competition that are needed for orientation in legal and political
landscapes that cut across the formal and informal divides that migrants are faced with
when setting out to create a livelihood abroad.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftMigration and Society
Vol/bind6
Udgave nummer1
Sider (fra-til)1 - 15
Antal sider15
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023
Udgivet eksterntJa

Emneord

  • Business
  • Transnational migration
  • Trade
  • Informal urban economy
  • Ethnography

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