ABSTRACT

Taxation represents a claim to statehood and plays a vital role in processes of mutual recognition between subjects and the state. Debates on the benefits of taxing the informal economy have stressed the mutual benefits of entering into such formalized contracts of recognition. However, based on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in Eastleigh, Nairobi, I will show how fixed categories of formality and legitimacy are inadequate for capturing the empirical realities of trade and taxation in Eastleigh and beyond. Rather we need to recognize how practices of trade, taxation and governance are continuously contested and move along continuums of (in)formalization and (il)legitimization. I argue that insights into these processes lead to a broader perspective on contracts of recognition, allowing us to (a) recognize practical contracts constituted within state institutions without adhering to formalized laws and regulations and (b) question the perception of fixed links between formality and legitimacy that implicitly underlie much of the dominant development discourse on taxing the informal economy.

摘要

税收是对国家地位的要求，在主体与国家之间的相互承认过程中起着至关重要的作用。关于对非正规经济征税的好处的辩论强调了订立这种正式承认合同的共同利益。但是，基于在内罗毕伊斯特利的八个月的民族志田野调查，我将展示形式和合法性的固定类别如何不足以捕捉伊斯特利及其周边地区贸易和税收的经验现实。相反，我们需要认识到贸易，税收和治理的实践是如何不断受到争议的，并沿着（非正式）正规化和（合法）合法化的连续性发展。我认为，对这些过程的洞察力导致了对认可合同的更广阔视野，