Informality as global capitalism's unconscious

Abstract

Drawing on the burgeoning field of Global Libidinal Economy, this article argues that informality (i.e., the informal economy) is global capitalism's unconscious, both hiding and revealing the latter's instability and shadowy, indeed “dirty” if not “dangerous,” underside. On the basis of a fieldwork-based case study in Recife, Brazil, we bring out informality's exploitative dimensions—unspoken yet crucial to the functioning of capitalist markets; as well as its spontaneous and creative sides, which like the “return of the repressed,” act as disturbance and potential threat to these markets. Conceptualizing informality in this (psychoanalytic) way helps foreground the antagonisms upon which capitalism is founded, forebodingly betraying themselves despite attempts to suppress and gentrify them.