Political Economy of Informalization
Based on previous work on the informal economy, which has critically examined the concept of the informal economy in the context of wider societal processes, such as the ongoing post-Fordist restructuring of Western economies, as well as the parallel processes of the adjustment of Western welfare states, the aim of this proposal is to further extend my research on this salient aspect of contemporary socioeconomic development. If successful, during my sabbatical year, I plan to write three additional studies, developing the notions of informalization from above and informalization from below. These studies will be based on previously collected empirical data. Spending four weeks at the York University in Toronto will allow me to develop this research problematic in an environment conducive to such work. The 117th ASA Annual Meeting “Bureaucracies of Displacement.”, August 5-9, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, would provide an opportunity to present the results of my research to the broader academic community. The articles will become the basis of a monograph that will further contribute to the current academic and policy debates on the issue of the informal economy.
Final report
Political Economy of Informalization (SAB21-0072) – Zoran Slavnic, Linköping University
The Project's Most Important Results and Publications
The primary objective of my sabbatical project was to systematize and further develop my previous research on the informal economy by writing at least three new scientific papers, ultimately leading to a book on the political economy of informalization. The first planned article focused on the relationship between the informal economy and self-employment, with particular attention to immigrant self-employment. The second article aimed to synthesize my previous research on the intersection of the informal economy and migration. The third article examined informalization from above, specifically the strategic adjustments of large businesses.
During the spring of 2023 and my stay at Toronto Metropolitan University (May–June 2023), I concentrated on editing a special issue of Critical Sociology entitled International Migration and Economic Informalization. The issue was slated to include an introduction and one of my own articles on the topic. However, over the course of this project, I somewhat revised and expanded the initial theoretical framework guiding my research.
Traditionally, the informal economy has been understood as small-scale economic activity undertaken by individuals on the margins of society, particularly owners of small businesses, including immigrant entrepreneurs. My research (Slavnic, 2010) demonstrates that this perspective captures only one side of the phenomenon (informalization from below), while large corporations and state economic activity (informalization from above) play a far more significant role in driving informalization. These actors leverage such strategies to adapt to neoliberal economic and political trends. During my sabbatical, I aligned my theoretical perspective with scholars like Breman and Linden (2014), who argue that the informal economy is increasingly becoming the dominant organizing principle of economic life in the Global North. The informal strategies employed by states and large firms are a key force behind the erosion of the welfare state and the transformation of traditional relationships between labor, capital, and the state. Building on this, Keith Hart (2015) contends that the informal economy can no longer be understood merely as an economic phenomenon; it has evolved into a fundamentally political one, shaping dynamics at both national and international levels.
This theoretical evolution influenced my work on the Critical Sociology special issue (co-edited with Klara Öberg). My refined theoretical perspective is outlined in the introduction to the issue (Slavnic & Öberg, 2025). Initially, I had planned to explore these issues further in my contribution to the special issue, resulting in three drafts (each approximately 8,000–9,000 words):
• North-South Divide, International Migration, and the Informal Economy
• Causes, Drivers, and Consequences of Economic Informalization and Migration Flows
• Informal Economy and Irregular Migration
Although these drafts were not ready for publication in the special issue, I presented and discussed sections of them at the World Congress of Sociology in Melbourne (July 2023), which I co-organized with Klara Öberg. These texts will be incorporated into my forthcoming book, Political Economy of Informalization, under contract with Edward Elgar Publishing, scheduled for publication in late 2025 or early 2026.
Resulting Publication:
Slavnic, Z., & Öberg, K. (2025). International Migration and Economic Informalization. Critical Sociology, 51(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241279261, OA at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/08969205241279261
Additional Project Outcomes
• Visiting Researcher at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement (TMCIS), Toronto Metropolitan University (May 1–June 8, 2023)
• Seminar Presentation: International Migration and Economic Informalization (TMCIS, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University, May 18, 2023)
• *Session Co-organizer at the XX ISA World Congress of Sociology (June 25–July 1, 2023, Melbourne, Australia) with Klara Öberg:
o Sessions: International Migration and Economic Informalization: A Denationalized Perspective (Parts I & II)
o Discussant: David Fasenfest
• Participation in Academic Conferences:
o Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Reckonings and Re-imaginings (May 29–June 2, 2023, York University, Toronto)
o 56th Annual Canadian Sociological Association Meeting (May 29–June 2, 2023, York University, Toronto)
o 119th American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (August 9–13, 2024, Montréal, Québec)
o Nordic Migration Research Conference (August 14–16, 2024, Bergen, Norway)
• **Conference Organizer (in collaboration with CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University):
o Legal Status, Temporality, and Integration: Changing Migration Regimes and the Precarization of Citizenship (September 3–5, 2024, Norrköping)
o This conference is a direct outcome of my academic stay at TMCIS, facilitated by the professional networks I established there. The collaboration involved applying for conference funding from FORTE and organizing the event. The dissemination of conference results is expected to lead to a special issue or edited volume.
New Research Questions and Theoretical Adjustments
As outlined above, my theoretical refinement has implications for the book's structure. Specifically, the chapter on the relationship between the informal economy and small business will be removed or modified. However, this topic will still be addressed through the inclusion of relevant republished chapters from my earlier work.
Regarding the chapter on informal strategies of large companies, it will remain but with some modifications, focusing on offshore subcontracting as an informal strategy within the broader context of North-South relations.
Dissemination of Results and Collaborative Efforts
The Legal Status, Temporality, and Integration conference in Norrköping is a direct result of my collaboration with colleagues at Toronto Metropolitan University. My seminar at TMCIS, where I presented my research, was well attended both in person and online. Additionally, the ISA Congress session in Melbourne 2023 generated such high interest that we were granted two slots to accommodate all accepted presentations.
Planned Publications
• Open Access Book:
o Political Economy of Informalization (Edward Elgar Publishing, The Future of Work and Employment series)
o Agreement Ref. No.: IKOS-2024-00219
o With this contract, the publisher (Edward Elgar Publishing) undertook to publish the electronic Open Access version of the book without any embargo period.
Cited Publications
• Breman, J., & van der Linden, M. (2014). Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level. Development and Change, 45(5), 920–940.
• Hart, K. (2015). How the Informal Economy Took Over the World. In P. Märtenbäck, H. Mooshammer, T. Cruz, & F. Forman (Eds.), Informal Market Worlds Reader: The Architecture of Economic Pressure (pp. 33–44). NAI010 Publishers.
• Slavnic, Z. (2010). Political Economy of Informalization. European Societies, 12(1), 3–24.
• Slavnic, Z., & Öberg, K. (2025). International Migration and Economic Informalization. Critical Sociology, 51(1), 7-16.
* Participation in the congress funded from another source (FORTE Grant number: 2017-02036)
** The organization of the conference was financed from another source (FORTE Grant number: GD-2023/0034)
The Project's Most Important Results and Publications
The primary objective of my sabbatical project was to systematize and further develop my previous research on the informal economy by writing at least three new scientific papers, ultimately leading to a book on the political economy of informalization. The first planned article focused on the relationship between the informal economy and self-employment, with particular attention to immigrant self-employment. The second article aimed to synthesize my previous research on the intersection of the informal economy and migration. The third article examined informalization from above, specifically the strategic adjustments of large businesses.
During the spring of 2023 and my stay at Toronto Metropolitan University (May–June 2023), I concentrated on editing a special issue of Critical Sociology entitled International Migration and Economic Informalization. The issue was slated to include an introduction and one of my own articles on the topic. However, over the course of this project, I somewhat revised and expanded the initial theoretical framework guiding my research.
Traditionally, the informal economy has been understood as small-scale economic activity undertaken by individuals on the margins of society, particularly owners of small businesses, including immigrant entrepreneurs. My research (Slavnic, 2010) demonstrates that this perspective captures only one side of the phenomenon (informalization from below), while large corporations and state economic activity (informalization from above) play a far more significant role in driving informalization. These actors leverage such strategies to adapt to neoliberal economic and political trends. During my sabbatical, I aligned my theoretical perspective with scholars like Breman and Linden (2014), who argue that the informal economy is increasingly becoming the dominant organizing principle of economic life in the Global North. The informal strategies employed by states and large firms are a key force behind the erosion of the welfare state and the transformation of traditional relationships between labor, capital, and the state. Building on this, Keith Hart (2015) contends that the informal economy can no longer be understood merely as an economic phenomenon; it has evolved into a fundamentally political one, shaping dynamics at both national and international levels.
This theoretical evolution influenced my work on the Critical Sociology special issue (co-edited with Klara Öberg). My refined theoretical perspective is outlined in the introduction to the issue (Slavnic & Öberg, 2025). Initially, I had planned to explore these issues further in my contribution to the special issue, resulting in three drafts (each approximately 8,000–9,000 words):
• North-South Divide, International Migration, and the Informal Economy
• Causes, Drivers, and Consequences of Economic Informalization and Migration Flows
• Informal Economy and Irregular Migration
Although these drafts were not ready for publication in the special issue, I presented and discussed sections of them at the World Congress of Sociology in Melbourne (July 2023), which I co-organized with Klara Öberg. These texts will be incorporated into my forthcoming book, Political Economy of Informalization, under contract with Edward Elgar Publishing, scheduled for publication in late 2025 or early 2026.
Resulting Publication:
Slavnic, Z., & Öberg, K. (2025). International Migration and Economic Informalization. Critical Sociology, 51(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241279261, OA at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/08969205241279261
Additional Project Outcomes
• Visiting Researcher at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement (TMCIS), Toronto Metropolitan University (May 1–June 8, 2023)
• Seminar Presentation: International Migration and Economic Informalization (TMCIS, CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University, May 18, 2023)
• *Session Co-organizer at the XX ISA World Congress of Sociology (June 25–July 1, 2023, Melbourne, Australia) with Klara Öberg:
o Sessions: International Migration and Economic Informalization: A Denationalized Perspective (Parts I & II)
o Discussant: David Fasenfest
• Participation in Academic Conferences:
o Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Reckonings and Re-imaginings (May 29–June 2, 2023, York University, Toronto)
o 56th Annual Canadian Sociological Association Meeting (May 29–June 2, 2023, York University, Toronto)
o 119th American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (August 9–13, 2024, Montréal, Québec)
o Nordic Migration Research Conference (August 14–16, 2024, Bergen, Norway)
• **Conference Organizer (in collaboration with CERC Migration, Toronto Metropolitan University):
o Legal Status, Temporality, and Integration: Changing Migration Regimes and the Precarization of Citizenship (September 3–5, 2024, Norrköping)
o This conference is a direct outcome of my academic stay at TMCIS, facilitated by the professional networks I established there. The collaboration involved applying for conference funding from FORTE and organizing the event. The dissemination of conference results is expected to lead to a special issue or edited volume.
New Research Questions and Theoretical Adjustments
As outlined above, my theoretical refinement has implications for the book's structure. Specifically, the chapter on the relationship between the informal economy and small business will be removed or modified. However, this topic will still be addressed through the inclusion of relevant republished chapters from my earlier work.
Regarding the chapter on informal strategies of large companies, it will remain but with some modifications, focusing on offshore subcontracting as an informal strategy within the broader context of North-South relations.
Dissemination of Results and Collaborative Efforts
The Legal Status, Temporality, and Integration conference in Norrköping is a direct result of my collaboration with colleagues at Toronto Metropolitan University. My seminar at TMCIS, where I presented my research, was well attended both in person and online. Additionally, the ISA Congress session in Melbourne 2023 generated such high interest that we were granted two slots to accommodate all accepted presentations.
Planned Publications
• Open Access Book:
o Political Economy of Informalization (Edward Elgar Publishing, The Future of Work and Employment series)
o Agreement Ref. No.: IKOS-2024-00219
o With this contract, the publisher (Edward Elgar Publishing) undertook to publish the electronic Open Access version of the book without any embargo period.
Cited Publications
• Breman, J., & van der Linden, M. (2014). Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level. Development and Change, 45(5), 920–940.
• Hart, K. (2015). How the Informal Economy Took Over the World. In P. Märtenbäck, H. Mooshammer, T. Cruz, & F. Forman (Eds.), Informal Market Worlds Reader: The Architecture of Economic Pressure (pp. 33–44). NAI010 Publishers.
• Slavnic, Z. (2010). Political Economy of Informalization. European Societies, 12(1), 3–24.
• Slavnic, Z., & Öberg, K. (2025). International Migration and Economic Informalization. Critical Sociology, 51(1), 7-16.
* Participation in the congress funded from another source (FORTE Grant number: 2017-02036)
** The organization of the conference was financed from another source (FORTE Grant number: GD-2023/0034)