*CfP: What is informality and what could be? Examples from the Latin American region* Panel (and book project) for the 4th International Conference on the Economics of Informality 2024 <https://live.eventtia.com/es/the-economics-of-informality-2024/Submission-and-Registration> December 11th (at U Rosario) and 12th (at Uniandes), Bogota, Colombia. Deadline 5 July 2024, submissions in English are prioritised (the conference is in English) but Spanish is welcome Organizers: Abel Polese, Elio Della Monica, Griet De Lombaerde, Miria Gambardella This is part of the EU-funded project PRESILIENT “Post-pandemic resilient communities: is the informal economy a reservoir for the next generation of digitalized and green businesses in the Global South?” https://www.presilient-dn.eu/ *Rationale* Informality is thriving. A simple academic search of the word generates over 100,000 results across several disciplines, including informal economy (Hart *1973* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#>), informal housing (Turner *1968* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#>), informal land management (Leaf *1992* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#>), and informal planning (Roy *2005* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#> cited in Boanada-Fuchs and Fuchs *2018* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#>, 414). But this “academic popularity” has also generated some kind of confusion since now “informality” is often used to simply mean “the opposite of formal”. This should come as no surprise since “informality” is an intuitive and moldable idea (Peattie *1987* <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791#>), a “socially embedded” and “performed role” (Müller 2019) that can be adapted to various contexts, research objects, and ideologies. However, these approaches are flown in at least two ways: First, it does not acknowledge that all human practices are born informal (non-regulated) and some of them become regulated and “formalised” when a state, society or community feels the need to nail them down through formal rules. Second, it generates a concept that is too flexible to be used in a single situation. Applicability of one same theoretical tool (informality) to virtually any context, makes it challenging to define proper correlations or link social phenomena and power relations together. As a result, different world regions, and disciplines, use “informality” with significantly divergent meanings, which generates even more confusion when debating between scholars or trying to “theorise informality” The panel (and the book project that will follow) has been conceived with the two-folded goal of: 1) collect empirical evidence on informal practices and uses of informality in the Latin American and Caribbean region 2) (based on the above evidence), taxonomize and theorize informality for the region and tease out the peculiarities and main features of studying informality in the region To do this, we welcome contributions that deal with a variety of forms of informality in the region, from everyday to political informality to urban governance, shadow economies, and precarious labour (and beyond, if you have further ideas, you are welcome to share them). For a starting discussion, you are welcome to refer to the open access article What is informality? (Mapping) “the art of bypassing the state” in Eurasian spaces - and beyond <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791>). A table below this call can also be indicative of the kind of informalities we are referring to here. If interested, please send an abstract and a short biographical statement by the 5th of July to presilient.dn@gmail.com and cc to eliodellamonica8@gmail.com, miria.gambardella@uab.cat, griet@efst.hr NB the language of the conference is English but if we have enough papers we can also edit a volume in Spanish (and we regularly organise events in Spanish). You can also submit an abstract in Spanish: you are welcome to do so, keeping in mind that for this conference we will prioritise English but for other events Spanish will be welcome. Flavors of Informality and Their Advantages/Disadvantages (Source: Polese 2018 <https://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Informality_in_Ukraine_and_beyond:_one_name,_different_flavours...with_a_cheer_for_the_Global_Encyclopaedia_of_Informality> ) Legal Perception Social Perception Pluses Minuses *Informal governance and **sistema* Reciprocity may be treated as nepotism or corruption but there is no legal framework to deal with the situation where everyone has something to hide Ranges from 'necessary evil' to get things done to 'evidence of advanced degradation of a country and its society' Avoids collapse. A last minute or *ad-personam* solution is usually found The perspective of no development. Effectiveness depends on people. When they change, everything starts from zero again *Shadow economy and informal labour* Tax non-compliance and failure to register a company is illegal Hard to find someone openly condemning it. It is usually 'us' against the (bad) state and usually justified or understandable as the attitude by those not directly affected by it Allows a large amount of people to survive. Can be used as a starting point to think of tax and other reforms Takes away revenues from state budget; puts the country in a negative light with regards to the business environment; represents an additional cost to secure compliance *Informal payments and corruption* Tax non-compliance and failure to register a company is illegal Hard to find someone openly condemning it. It is usually 'us' against the (bad) state and usually justified or understandable as the attitude by those not directly affected by it Allows a large amount of people to survive. Can be used as a starting point to think of tax and other reforms Takes away revenues from state budget; puts the country in a negative light with regards to the business environment; represents an additional cost to secure compliance *Informality and policy-making (everyday informality)* There is virtually no debate or awareness Little reflection. It is treated as an exception to a usually widely accepted rule or behaviour People who are unable to meet state requirements or act as they are supposed to can still 'live with the rule' and need not take action, protest or challenge the state Generates a gap between policy-makers (setting impossible objectives) and the people (especially those who cannot live with these objectives) -- <https://www.tol.org/client/article/28463-where-your-grandmas-kitchen-belongs-in-a-museum.html?fbclid=IwAR0UbDCVvSm-C1nOVn8jB5_whil1nDfozRoUJtazsPaL9aEtpReLikKRKdo>Dr Abel Polese <http://iicrr.ie/people/fellows/dr-abel-polese/> (ORCID <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9607-495X>), IICRR, Dublin City University Editor: Studies of Transition States and Societies <http://www.tlu.ee/stss> ________________ Out now (e-book €5.99) The SCOPUS Diaries and the (il)logics of Academic Survival A Short Guide to Design Your Own Strategy And Survive Bibliometrics, Conferences, and Unreal Expectations in Academia <https://www.kobo.com/de/de/ebook/the-scopus-diaries-and-the-il-logics-of-academic-survival> ...recent blogs and short pieces - Beyond packaging: The obscure art of introvert networking <https://researchwhisperer.org/2023/09/05/introvert-networking/> - The unsustainability of the “pay-as-you-go” publishing model <https://researchwhisperer.org/2023/03/07/unsustainability-of-pay-as-you-go/> - What “the 4-hour work week” can teach an idealist researcher <http://researchwhisperer.org/2022/06/21/4-hour-working-week-and-the-researcher/> - “Ukrainian Dispatches”: Fleeing Kyiv with kids, ex-wife, her husband and two cats <https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/03/ukrainian-dispatches-1-fleeing-kyiv-with-family-and-pets/> - What is informality? (Mapping) the art of bypassing the state <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2021.1992791?src=> - Open access at no cost? Just ditch academic journals <https://researchwhisperer.org/2021/06/22/open-access-at-no-cost/?unapproved=52731&moderation-hash=a5fd9b34898892f2d169c0264096b875#comment-52731> - Jigsawing your salary - the happy and untenured researcher <https://researchwhisperer.org/2021/02/02/happy-and-untenured-researcher/> - Did your productivity under lockdown increase? Nope, I was busy staying alive <https://www.editage.com/insights/did-your-productivity-under-lockdown-increase-nope-i-was-busy-staying-alive-but-i-learned-a-lesson-or-two-on-mental-health> - What is the best publisher for your book? 4 variables to consider <https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2019/11/05/four-variables-consider-when-choosing-publisher-opinion> - Why was my article desk rejected? Reflections of an editor <https://academic-chatter.com/blog/why-was-my-article-desk-rejected/> - Is public engagement just a nightmare? <https://patthomson.net/2020/02/10/is-public-engagement-just-a-nightmare/> - Fail again, fail better and then write a book about it (genesis of the scopus diaries) <https://thesiswhisperer.com/2019/09/11/fail-again-fail-better-and-then-write-a-book-about-it/> - Reflections on academic fundraising: the art of getting there <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/08/19/reflections-on-academic-fundraising-the-art-of-getting-there/> - <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/08/19/reflections-on-academic-fundraising-the-art-of-getting-there/>4+1 reasons why you should not apply for external funding <https://researchwhisperer.org/2019/08/27/dont-apply-for-funding/> - Estonia: where your grandma's kitchen belongs in a museum <https://www.tol.org/client/article/28463-where-your-grandmas-kitchen-belongs-in-a-museum.html?fbclid=IwAR0UbDCVvSm-C1nOVn8jB5_whil1nDfozRoUJtazsPaL9aEtpReLikKRKdo> - Informality in Ukraine (and beyond): one name, many different flavours <http://www.in-formality.com/wiki/Informality_in_Ukraine_and_beyond:_one_name,_different_flavours...with_a_cheer_for_the_Global_Encyclopaedia_of_Informality> - Rethinking Statehood in the Middle East and North Africa <https://www.crcpress.com/Rethinking-Statehood-in-the-Middle-East-and-North-Africa-Security-Sovereignty/Polese-Santini/p/book/9780367180881> - Evaluating public policy effectiveness through informality? Reflections on Ukraine <https://www.tol.org/client/article/28112-ukraine-corruption-bribery-informal-payments-government.html> - Governance Beyond The Law: The Immoral, The Illegal, The Criminal <https://www.palgrave.com/cn/book/9783030050382> - The ATO Museum in Ukraine: Constructing Identities? <http://www.tol.org/client/article/27560-the-museum-of-anti-terrorist-operations.html> - Identity and Nationalism in Everyday Post-Socialist Life <https://www.routledge.com/Identity-and-Nation-Building-in-Everyday-Post-Socialist-Life/Polese-Morris-Pawlusz-Seliverstova/p/book/9781138736412> - Too much corruption or simply too much talk of corruption? "the two informalities" <http://www.academia.edu/29796509/Too_much_corruption_or_too_much_talk_of_corruption_the_two_informalities_> - Nation Branding and Nation Brochuring: Building Identity in Estonia <http://www.academia.edu/29796509/Too_much_corruption_or_too_much_talk_of_corruption_the_two_informalities_> - Turkmenistan: How I Met (or Didn’t) the President <http://www.academia.edu/29796509/Too_much_corruption_or_too_much_talk_of_corruption_the_two_informalities_> - In Search of a Turkmen Nation <http://www.academia.edu/29796509/Too_much_corruption_or_too_much_talk_of_corruption_the_two_informalities_> - Ukraine: in Connections We Trust <http://www.academia.edu/29796509/Too_much_corruption_or_too_much_talk_of_corruption_the_two_informalities_> - Rethinking Statehood in the Middle East and North Africa: Security, Sovereignty and New Political Orders <https://www.crcpress.com/Rethinking-Statehood-in-the-Middle-East-and-North-Africa-Security-Sovereignty/Polese-Santini/p/book/9780367180881> Dr Abel Polese Associate Professor Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Dublin City University, Ireland Email. abel.polese@dcu.ie -- * *Séanadh Ríomhphoist/Email Disclaimer* *Tá an ríomhphost seo agus aon chomhad a sheoltar leis faoi rún agus is lena úsáid ag an seolaí agus sin amháin é. 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