A focus on needs: toward a more nuanced understanding of inequality and urban informality in the global North

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in work on urban informality in Northern cities. While this newfound focus is welcome, a problem arises when it comes to conceptualizing various practices under study. Specifically, I argue for the importance in differentiating the informality of need – defined here as practices undertaken to fulfill basic needs like housing and income generation – from the informality of desire – defined as activities that serve interests of leisure, aesthetics, and convenience. Using the case of the Red Hook food vendors in Brooklyn, New York, I show how ignoring needs can lead to imprecise conceptualizations, misunderstood intentions, and misread political subjectivity when it comes to informal actions. I move on to show how existing theories concerning informality in the North fail to provide tools for understanding the specific characteristics of needs-based informal practice. I close the paper by arguing that need-driven informality deserves its own set of conceptual tools, and I determine that by turning to Southern theory on informality and inequality, Northern scholars can open helpful new pathways for theory.