In two previous posts I have reported on my evolving study of the idea of an informal economy. This third post ruminates about the extension of the idea to rural life. Keith Hart's original work in Ghana (in the years up to 1973) had an almost exclusively urban focus, though he did not explicitly exclude the possibility of informality in the rural 'sector'. Indeed a UNDP Mission to Papua New Guinea in 1972-73 (of which Keith was a member) produced a report (the 'Faber Report') which appeared…

More on the idea of the informal economy: My earlier post (14 April) was a work-in-progress report on a study of 'the idea of the informal economy', with particular reference to Melanesia (and specifically to pre-modern Papua New Guinea). In time it will be extended to the modern (colonial and post-colonial) period.

That earlier post provided links to three papers which had appeared to that point. A fourth paper, titled "Preconditions for an informal economy: ‘trucking and bartering’…

I'm working on a series of studies concerned with the intellectual history of the 'informal economy', and its relevance to current concerns in Papua New Guinea (PNG; the eastern half of the island of New Guinea). I hope, eventually, to 'join up' these studies in an extended monograph.…