Abstract
The relation between urban informality and industrial modernity is analyzed by examining very small businesses specialized in selling prepared food to workers in the transnational manufacturing plants ( maquiladoras ) along Mexico's northern border. In the urban setting along this border, the model of an export-driven industrialization is compatible with premodern aspects of the subsistence economy. In fact, it depends on subsistence activities for its very existence. As a consequence, informal services have emerged that help stabilize the work force needed by these plants. A survey of the owners of these microbusinesses has provided data for analyzing the organization and operation of this commerce and its relation with the family as a social unit. - Special issue: Latin America.
Translated title of the contribution | Street food: Urban informality and industrial modernity along Mexico's northern border |
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Original language | French |
Pages (from-to) | 42-53 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Sociologie du Travail |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Informal economy
- Informal sector
- Maquiladoras
- Mexico
- Small businesses
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Industrial relations
- Sociology and Political Science