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Internet Journal of Criminology © 2014
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Getting By or Getting Rich?
The formal, informal and criminal economy in a globalised world.
By Saitta, P., Shapland, J. and Verhage, A.
Eleven International Publishing, 2013
Reviewed by Kevin Albertson1
In this collection of essays, Saitta et al. present evidence from both sides of the
formal/informal divide on motivation and desperation; on justification and necessity; and on
the impact of choices and absences of choice on the lifestyles adopted by those who would
‘get by or get rich’. Depending on the level of economic vulnerability of the decision maker,
involvement in the informal economy arises from the interplay and agency of the economic
actor and political actor and can result from one or more of ‘deliberate choice, a necessity, an
extreme form of particularism, or a habitus’ (p.2). This study of formality, informality and the
nexus between them is comprised of 18 chapters and an introduction. In this latter Saitta sets
the scene arguing (p.3) a ‘serious analysis of informality, then, must shed light on the
connections and links that connect institutions and tiny business cliques.’
In chapter 1 Pacolet and De Wispelaere argue that participation in the informal sector is a
means by which a proportion of the population will attempt to respond to lack of
opportunities in the formal sector. Morality, particularly tax morality, is suggested as part of
the answer. Palidda, in chapter 2, argues neo-liberalism has fostered an increase in the
‘hybridisation’ between legal and criminal activities. The discussion of the scope of
organised crime is a call to arms, however, the readers’ knowledge of neo-liberalism is
assumed, which leaves Palidda, to my mind, unable effectively to show how such
hybridisation has resulted from, or contributed to, the ‘21 st century neo-liberal frame’.
In chapter 3, Marino contributes the only theoretical development of the volume in a model
of the informal economy. He suggests fostering social disapproval of informal business and
reductions in the social indulgence of the underground economy might be efficient
approaches to informality.
The capacity of the state to respond adequately to increasing informality is the theme of
Lambropoulou’s consideration of the Athen’s economy in chapter 4. Lambropoulou argues
the market for illegal immigration is a ‘parasite’ which may ultimately destroy the ‘host’
society off which it feeds. In chapter 13, Bellinvia considers the similar problem of street
vending of counterfeit goods in Pisa. In contrast to the study of Athens’, Bellinvia considers
1
Reader in economics, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Internet Journal of Criminology © 2014
ISSN 2045 6743 (Online)
migrants are exploited by, rather than exploit, the local economy. Street vending, this time in
Brazil, is also the topic of Coletto’s study in chapter 16. Because profits from such vending
are not enough to sustain economic well-being, vendors seek to build a sociality to protect
themselves from the vicissitudes of the free-market.
To Farinella, the post-Fordist, neo-liberal agenda which Western nations have pursued since
the 1970s has the effect, it is argued in chapter 5, of making it impossible to separate informal
‘flexible’ work from supposedly legitimate economic exploitation. In response, petty fraud is
legitimatised by the economically vulnerable simply to survive. The exploitation of the
economically vulnerable through criminal usury in Messina is the topic of Signorino in
chapter 6. A very informative discussion of the history and potential for elimination of usury
leads to the conclusion that usury, like the poor, will always be with us. We stay in Messina
for the study of Mazzeo in chapter 7, as we consider the construction of a controversial
bridge over the Strait of Messina. Mazzeo argues state corruption has provided the
‘entrepreneurial’ and ‘financial mafia’ with the means, effectively, to ‘contaminate …
economic development’.
A more global perspective is taken by van Asch in chapter 8, in considering illegal wildlife
trade. According to van Asch, only coordinated international action can provide the means to
reduce the size of this market. Similar conclusions are reached by Bisschop in the chapter 9
consideration of the international illegal timber trade. Bisschop asserts that while there is a
need for an economic paradigm which will ‘take into account the value of forests apart from
their use for timber’, it is unclear how this may be realised.
In chapter 10, Boels presents us with some evidence that, in fruit-growing in Belgium at any
rate, the informal sector is in decline, partly as a result of government policy. Conversely,
Klima, in chapter 11, argues that the size of the informal sector in Belgium’s hotel and
catering sector is such that 50% of the sector is informal. For small businesses, such is the
cutthroat nature of the sector, involvement with organised crime may be the only way to
survive financially.
We take a short trip across the North Sea in chapter 12 where, guided by Bacon, we enjoy an
excursion into the policing of drugs markets in the English and Welsh night-time economies.
The night-time economy of consumer capitalism also provides the setting for Persak’s
analysis of prostitution in chapter 14. In times of austerity, she argues, prostitution may well
provide workers more agency and security than formal employment. In chapter 15 Sanders
considers the related area of striptease amongst migrants and students in the UK. Sanders
argues the decision to become involved in such work may be taken rationally, but the nature
of the industry is such that workers can be exploited economically.
Hendriks et al. in the penultimate chapter consider the lives of street children in Kinshasa.
Inexorable market and social forces are such that a life on the streets is often preferable to
engagement with what there is of formal social and family life.
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ISSN 2045 6743 (Online)
The ultimate chapter serves as a summary rather than a conclusion. As Verhage and Shapland
point out, the world is changing and (p.389), ‘we cannot assume that the choices participants
were wont to make in a Fordist era, or stable social and economic circumstances, still apply
in a post-Fordist era’.
As a whole, this volume paints a picture of the on-going Financial Crisis and individual
responses to it framed in a free-market, post-Fordist world. In such a world, the individual
worker operates as an entrepreneur of the self and the certainty of employment (be it ever so
humble) is increasingly undermined. Complementing post-Fordist pressure on the individual
is the effect of the so-called neo-liberal political paradigm on the state. Suggesting, as it does,
a reduced role for the state, neo-liberalism undermines a societal responses to post-Fordist deindustrialisation.
This volume makes a valuable and interesting, but uncomfortable, read in many ways. The
focus is on the many who are ‘Getting By’; there is less to be said about the few who are
‘Getting Rich’. In its consideration of the many, this collection comes at an opportune time as
the world economy is seemingly mired in interminable recession. The informal economy, like
the formal economy reserves its rewards for the few, not the many, it would seem.
Where this volume highlights that the old certainties are gone, we are left with little help in
discerning from where new certainties, or possibilities, might arise. For this reviewer, there is
little here to inform and guide those who hope to address and redress these challenges.
Ultimately, this volume is a valuable read for those who want examples of economic
vulnerability and the associated lure of the informal sector. The consideration of the impact
of such social change on the individual in all its complexity is achieved very well. We are left
with a serious study of the impact and a survey of the lure of informality in the modern
world. Whether national governments can rise to this challenge is a matter for future analysis.
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