Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Africa's Informal Workers explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household 'coping strategies' and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal 'workers' make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade.Africa's Informal Workers is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social transformations.

Drawn from a CODESRIA conference on 'Intellectuals and Nationalism', the essays of this book look at different responses to the African predicament from prominent writers like Soyinka, Ngugi, and Achebe, the military men in power and the students who defy repression. It suggests that intervention by international agencies who claim to promote 'democracy' and 'empower the youth' may reinforce authoritarian attitudes and structures, and gives voice to the outrage, ridicule, revolutionary ardour and reformist caution of those directly affected. It also exposes the shallow pretences of those in power as well as the hypocrisy and arrogance of the foreign helpers, and concludes that being an 'insider' or an 'outsider' is less important than being committed to listen to ordinary people.

This collection of essays investigates how structural adjustment and economic liberalisation have impacted upon labour regimes - e.g., trade unions; and upon state and civil society relations, and processes of democratisation. The studies resulted from a conference hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, in co-operation with the Department of Political Science, University of Stockholm. Cases and responses of the seven African countries in attendance - Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe - are documented. Examples include: liberalisation and the case of Senegalese industrial relations; trade unions and capacity building in the Nigerian textile industry; the labour exodus in a liberalising South Africa; and authoritarianism and trade unions in Egypt.

Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, "Africa's Informal Workers" explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household 'coping strategies' and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal 'workers' make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade."Africa's Informal Workers" is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social transformations.