From ‘Relative Surplus Population’ and ‘Dual Labour Markets’ to ‘Informal’ and ‘Formal’ Employment and Enterprises: Insights About Causation and Consequences

Abstract

This essay traces the intellectual history of the concepts ‘informal’ sector and ‘informal economy’ from Karl Marx to Arthur Lewis, Barry Bluestone, Keith Hart and S. V. Sethuraman. (This article is based upon a lecture given to first-year MA students in the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.) It shows how the Marxian dynamics of ‘relative surplus population’ has been replaced by the concept of ‘informal economy’. It also discusses the dynamic role of population pressure on agriculture in many countries of the Global South. Finally, it is suggested that the strategies advocated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since the 1970s have tended to narrow the areas of investigation promoted by them.