Networks of informal economy: Work and community among Santiago's urban poor

This thesis addresses the topic of the impact of large structural changes on the integration of urban communities. Having as a background the deep transformation of the Chilean model of development, it examines the present-day life of the population in two low-income neighbourhoods in Santiago, the capital city. Data for the study was collected by using a personal network survey that considered 300 personal networks of women and men, from a sample of 207 households.;Workers' households exhibit strong kinship ties; they organize as a family to raise their offspring. Economic stress, as indicated by low income or unemployment, does not bring about family disorganization. However, high levels of participation in paid employment are a direct consequence of the low income of the household head. Households do not distribute occupational opportunities, for their members participate in whatever occupation they may find to overcome their misery.;Household management is a women's task; it involves combining different and unstable resources provided by household members. In addition, women organize a stable social network of kin and social contacts, that operates as a system of economic support. Social networks are vital for job-searching and monetary exchanges, but they also mobilize resources for child-care, homemaking, building, housing accommodation, and sustenance to the family.;Network members usually live in the neighbourhood, and the alley is their natural territorial base. Networks of economic support comprise about eight members who usually have strong ties among them. Accordingly, most of the exchanges of survival resources follow the principle of "generalized reciprocity." Unreciprocated exchanges occur between partners with strong ties, while immediate reciprocation involves partners with weak ties. Nonetheless, immediate reciprocation in the context of strong ties appears in a significant number of exchanges; these exchanges are the basis of a spontaneous mutual-aid system.;Most of the individuals in these neighbourhoods are informal workers. They were classified into three different systems of labour relations: as petty producers, as deregulated workers, and as casual workers. Deregulated workers were found to be the largest number of informal workers.;In terms of social integration, the research found communities organized in small circles of strong ties, sometimes on a kinship basis, whose base is in the alley. Resources for survival circulate among kin, neighbours, friends and acquaintances in neighbouring areas, and reinforce horizontal communication between independent households. Formal organizations are systematically associated with exchanges in a mutual-aid system, but are not a strong factor of social integration.