Just a Matter of Order? An Introduction to the Topic of Informal Economy

This short essay is an introduction to the volume "Getting By or Getting Rich. The Formal, Informal and Criminal Economy in a Globalized World". The author rejects merely institutional and legalistic definitions of this phenomenon and suggests that the study of informality should rather include the State among the actors and the elements to be put under scrutiny. Informality is seen as «space of contradictions» within which oppression, discretion, resistance, liberation, and the reproduction of social relations constantly take place. A presentation of collected essays follows.