The article states that most of the policy recommendations made by international agencies adopt a sometimes naïve perspective about the nature of informality. It proposes an innovative approach that defines informality as a social form of work that is shaped when workers get on the move to obtain means of existence in environments where almost everything is informal (housing, urban infrastructure services, personal relationships etc.). After reviewing the main policies to combat informality adopted by Brazil in recent years, it argues that a significant portion of the "informal" will never formalize because it is rooted in the very urban experience of a significant proportion of the population, of which informality is a structuring element.
Keywords
Informality; Social form of work; Brazil; Public policies; Labor market