IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v59y2022i10p1981-1997.html

‘Timepass’ and ‘setting’: The meanings, relationships and politics of urban informal work in Delhi

Author

Listed:
  • Sanjeev Routray

Abstract

The engagement of people in extremely low-wage work in major cities of the Global South and their withdrawal from labour-organising activities arise from several factors. Among these is the hegemonic meaning construction of work as ‘timepass’ or leisure and as an opportunity for sociality and neighbourliness that is central to the social reproduction of everyday life. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Delhi, this article examines how work regimes are marked by a ‘commission economy’, whereby various stakeholders in the chain of surplus accumulation demand a commission for their services. The possibility of undertaking informal economic activities is contingent on a host of improvisations that are founded upon discipline, violence and also solidarity. In this respect, various stakeholders possess what they refer to as a ‘setting’, which alludes to an active process of economic and non-economic relationship-building with both state and non-state agencies within both formal and informal arenas. To ‘do setting’ is a dynamic spatial process that draws on negotiations with the aim of shaping favourable relationships and outcomes in particular urban spaces. It entails the use of social and cultural resources, everyday political negotiations and extra-judicial solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanjeev Routray, 2022. "‘Timepass’ and ‘setting’: The meanings, relationships and politics of urban informal work in Delhi," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(10), pages 1981-1997, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:10:p:1981-1997
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980211031721
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980211031721
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980211031721?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rai, Shirin M. & Brown, Benjamin D. & Ruwanpura, Kanchana N., 2019. "SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth – A gendered analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 368-380.
    2. Mosse, David, 2018. "Caste and development: Contemporary perspectives on a structure of discrimination and advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 422-436.
    3. Amit Basole, 2016. "Informality and Flexible Specialization: Apprenticeships and Knowledge Spillovers in an Indian Silk Weaving Cluster," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 157-187, January.
    4. Breman, Jan, 2013. "At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198090342.
    5. Sanjeev Routray, 2014. "The Postcolonial City and its Displaced Poor: Rethinking ‘Political Society’ in Delhi," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2292-2308, November.
    6. Martha Chen, 2014. "Informal Employment and Development: Patterns of Inclusion and Exclusion," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 26(4), pages 397-418, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandra Mezzadri & Kaustav Banerjee, 2022. "When the Lewisian Dream Sours: Industrial Aspirations and Reverse Labour Migration," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 17(3), pages 297-326, December.
    2. Yatish Kumar & Priya Bhakat, 2022. "Social Capital in Old-Age and the Role of the Social Marginalisation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 371-388, August.
    3. Nitesh Shukla & Arup Das & Tarak Nath Mazumder, 2025. "Complexities of urban resilience in the global south: key insights from Surat city, India," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 1-26, August.
    4. Ashmita Gupta & Neha Hui, 2025. "Does Liberalisation Reduce Labour Market Inequality? Caste and Occupational Outcomes in India," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2025-05, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. Yasser Razak Hussain & Pranab Mukhopadhyay, 2023. "How Much do Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India? A Panel Data Analysis Disaggregated by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    6. Sakib Bin Amin & Farhan Khan & Mashiyat Rafa Khan & Jaahin Azam Oyishi, 2023. "The dual economy paradox: the case of Bangladesh and India," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(9), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Terese E. Venus & Stephanie Bilgram & Johannes Sauer & Arun Khatri-Chettri, 2022. "Livelihood vulnerability and climate change: a comparative analysis of smallholders in the Indo-Gangetic plains," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1981-2009, February.
    8. Alisha Ralph & Akarsh Arora, 2024. "Mapping the literature on decent work: A bibliometric analysis of sustainable development goal 8," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3937-3952, August.
    9. Arun Kumar & Diksha Shriyan, 2024. "Caste of Marginality and Migration in Bihar," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 18(1), pages 76-89, April.
    10. Bhowmick, Kanishka & Dasgupta, Indraneel & Pal, Sarmistha, 2024. "Within-Group Inequality and Caste-Based Crimes in India," IZA Discussion Papers 17383, IZA Network @ LISER.
    11. Harpreet Singh, 2024. "Does Labour Market Discriminate Against the Scheduled Castes? Empirical Evidence from Rural Punjab, India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 15(4), pages 620-639, December.
    12. Lorena Espina-Romero & Jesús Guerrero-Alcedo & José Gregorio Noroño Sánchez & Angélica Ochoa-Díaz, 2022. "What Are the Topics That Business Ecosystems Navigate? Updating of Scientific Activity and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Aparna Sundar, 2018. "Skills for Work and the Work of Skills: Community, Labour and Technological Change in India’s Artisanal Fisheries," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 13(3), pages 272-292, December.
    14. Shrestha Saha & Vincent Chua, 2025. "Trust in Context: Caste, Gender, and Developmental Disparities in India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 315-338, August.
    15. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Pradeep S. Salve, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1227-1255, August.
    16. Melinda Schmidt & Harald Strotmann & Jürgen Volkert, 2022. "Female and Male Community-Level Empowerment: Capability Approach-Based Findings for Rural India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 754-784, April.
    17. Maria Federica Cordova & Andrea Celone, 2019. "SDGs and Innovation in the Business Context Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Paudel, Gokul P. & KC, Dilli Bahadur & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Khanal, Narayan P. & Justice, Scott E. & McDonald, Andrew J., 2019. "Smallholder farmers' willingness to pay for scale-appropriate farm mechanization: Evidence from the mid-hills of Nepal," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Maryam Yahya Fagge & Dr. Saleh Atiku Dambatta & Prof. Kabiru Isa Dandago, 2025. "Social Accounting and Sustainable Development Goals: Prospects and Implementation Challenges," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(14), pages 1072-1082, May.
    20. Weber, Heloise & Weber, Martin, 2020. "When means of implementation meet Ecological Modernization Theory: A critical frame for thinking about the Sustainable Development Goals initiative," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:10:p:1981-1997. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.