Performing In/formality beyond the Dichotomy: An Introduction

Martijn Koster; Alan Smart

doi:10.3138/anth.2018-0013

Authors

Martijn Koster nthropology and Development Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Alan Smart Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3138/anth.2018-0013

Keywords:

informality, governance, performance, civility, anthropology of the state

Abstract

This introduction to the special issue “Moving Beyond the Formal/Informal Dichotomy: Implications for Governance” provides an overview of recent debates on informality and argues in favour of understanding in/formality as a performance. Although informality and formality are often presented as opposing or even mutually excluding domains of social practice, ethnographic studies show how they coexist and are intertwined. Our special issue, with studies from the Philippines, Spain, Brazil and Mexico, concentrates on this intertwining of formality and informality, especially in the field of governance. Building upon these contributions to this issue, and the existing literature, this introduction approaches in/formality as a performance and examines the implications of such a view for our understanding of governance.

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