ABSTRACT

Informal entrepreneurship is increasingly presented as the solution to youth unemployment in South Africa. This reflects a new development paradigm that views the informal economy as a space of entrepreneurship and economic inclusion. Despite the growing recognition of the informal economy to youth’s livelihoods in South Africa, little attention has been paid to the everyday actions, practices and motivations of informal entrepreneurs. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in an informal settlement in Johannesburg, this article focuses on an informal car wash venture to show the diversity and multiplicity of young people’s livelihood practices and the social relations that structure them and give them meaning. It highlights the double-edged nature of the social embeddedness of informal livelihoods, showing how these social relationships involve both support and reciprocity and inequality and intimidation. Ultimately, the article challenges the optimism that surrounds informal entrepreneurship as a pathway to social inclusion while also illuminating the social and economic rationalities that make self-employment preferable to low-end jobs.

摘要

非正式创业越来越多地被视为南非青年失业的解决方案。这反映了一种新的发展范式，将非正规经济视为创业和经济包容的空间。尽管南非青年人的生计越来越认识到非正规经济，但对非正规企业家的日常行为、做法和动机却很少关注。本文利用在约翰内斯堡的一个非正式定居点进行的人种学实地调查，重点关注一个非正式的洗车企业，以展示年轻人生计实践的多样性和多样性，以及构建他们并赋予他们意义的社会关系。它强调了非正规生计的社会嵌入性的双刃性，展示了这些社会关系如何同时涉及支持和互惠以及不平等和恐吓。最终，本文挑战了围绕非正式创业作为实现社会包容的途径的乐观态度，同时也阐明了使自营职业优于低端工作的社会和经济合理性。