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The Unexpected Power of Informal Workers in the Public Square: A Comparison of Mexican and US Organizing Models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2016

Hugo Sarmiento ,
Chris Tilly ,
Enrique de la Garza Toledo  and
José Luis Gayosso Ramírez
Hugo Sarmiento
Affiliation:
University of California Los Angeles
Chris Tilly
Affiliation:
University of California Los Angeles
Enrique de la Garza Toledo
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa
José Luis Gayosso Ramírez
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa
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Abstract

Street vendors in Mexico and day laborers in the United States, both groups of informal workers who labor in public space, face formidable structural obstacles to securing their rights as workers. Despite their apparent vulnerability, these informal workers have built perhaps the most powerful informal worker organizations in their countries. In this article, we explore and explain to the extent possible the sources, forms, and limits of this unexpected power. We explore organizational and strategic commonalities as well as differences and seek to explain both.

Information

Type
Precarious Labor in Global Perspectives
Information
International Labor and Working-Class History , Volume 89: Precarious Labor in Global Perspectives , Spring 2016 , pp. 131 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © International Labor and Working-Class History, Inc. 2016 

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References

NOTES

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