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The (Im)Moralities of Informality: States, Their Citizens and Conflicting Moral Orders Read chapter Read first chapter

2022 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

(Im)Mobilities and Informality as Livelihood Strategies in Transnational Social Fields

Authors : Ignacio Fradejas-García, José Luis Molina, Miranda Jessica Lubbers

Published in: Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between (im)mobility and informality by analyzing how informal practices evolve when people migrate and move within transnational social fields. The livelihood perspective allows us to analyze informality and (im)mobility as strategies that individuals and households perform to make a living, including the role played by institutions. The chapter shows that transnational migrants learn how to navigate and exploit formal rules to get things done by adapting their informal practices to the new context following two parallel processes: informalization and formalization. On the one hand, adapting informality entails learning the unwritten rules and selecting, preserving, and adjusting some informal practices while abandoning others, primarily illegal, illicit, and harmful. On the other hand, the formalization process involves adopting the formal rules of the new context, especially those about the residence and work permits. Thus, transnational networks and geographical mobilities allow migrants to exploit the grey areas of various formal systems that come to contact in making a living.

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Footnotes
1
In this chapter we present data from the first phase of the ORBITS project, “The Role of Social Transnational Fields in the Emergence, Maintenance and Decay of Ethnic and Demographic Enclaves”, funded by the Spanish government (MINECO-FEDER-CSO2015-68,687-P). In the second phase of the project, we are studying a second TSF field between Roquetas de Mar (Spain) and Bistrița-Năsăud (Romania). Quantitative data from this second phase it is not included in this chapter. More information: https://​pagines.​uab.​cat/​orbits/​en.
 
2
The sample includes three types of respondent: Romanian citizens currently residing in Spain (N = 147), Romanian return migrants living in Romania (N = 19), and non-migrants living in Romania (N = 138). In Castelló, 73% of the respondents were female, while gender was more equally distributed in Dâmbovița (with 47% females). Respondents’ ages varied from 19 to 72 in Castelló, with an average of 43 years, and between 18 and 75 years in Dâmbovița, with an average of 36 years. In both places, about a quarter of the respondents had post-high school and higher education.
 
3
For a description of the formation of the transnational social spaces of Romanians in Italy, see Remus (2008).
 
4
“Romanians joked that the acronym for the Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Român, PCR) stood for ‘Props [or Files], Acquaintances, and Relations’ (or ‘Pile, Cunostinte si Relatii’ in Romanian)” (Stoica 2012: 172).
 
5
Also, amiguismo, which “indicate(s) a specifically instrumental use of friendship ties” (Giordano, 2018: 102).
 
6
A middle-aged man who has lived for more than twenty years in Spain. Unrecorded informal interview, 19.08.2017.
 
8
In the sixteenth century, so-called picaresque novels depicted a rogue and or anti-hero overcoming the daily life struggles of poor people, wheeling and dealing by creative tricks. Nowadays, this old literature genre coexists in Spain with the Spanish picaresque as a cultural set of deceiving practices.
 
9
In 2018, a case of political corruption forced a change of government in Spain after a motion of censure (País 2018).
 
10
In Spanish, “buscarse la vida” means to do whatever is necessary to survive in a limited situation.
 
11
A 24-year-old man who migrated to Spain with his family when he was seven. Recorded focus group, 19.06.2019.
 
12
A middle-aged woman who has lived in Spain for more than twenty years and is very well-connected transnationally. Recorded interview, 03.03.2020.
 
13
This comparison entails ambiguity, since informal practices are more primitive in post-socialism (I pay to get access to a service) and more subtle in neoliberalism (I buy private insurance to get access to a service). We thank Abel Polese for suggesting this insightful distinction.
 
14
Poenaru argues that mass mobilizations against corruption in Romania at the beginning of 2017 (e.g., https://​www.​theguardian.​com/​world/​2017/​feb/​01/​romanians-protests-emergency-law-prisoner-pardons-corruption) have made politicians synonymous with corruption while business practices have been exonerated (2017).
 
15
A 24-year-old man who migrated to Spain with his family when he was seven. Recorded focus group, 19.06.2019.
 
16
As some of our research participants stated, the informal economic practices of using the permits and working papers of another person, lent to a friend or family member, or rented for approximately €150 per month, were common at that time.
 
17
Middle-aged female who has lived in Spain for more than twenty years and is very well-connected transnationally. Recorded interview, 03.03.2020.
 
18
Within the TSFs, we have analyzed various types of international migration mobility: permanent (A → B); circular (A ↔ B); returnees (A → B → A); re-emigration (A → B → C); returnees to the previous enclave (A → B → C → B); and immobile (A ↮ B).
 
19
As some research participants stressed, bars and restaurants in Spain played an important role as informal social spaces where Romanians could develop their (local) personal networks. This relational work has been instrumentalized to access jobs, accommodation, and other basic needs by word of mouth. Also, in comparison with Spaniards, Romanians tip better tips (baksheesh in Romanian, propina in Spanish), an informal practice which has been proudly maintained in Spain by Romanian migrants.
 
20
A male participant from Romania. Brief fieldnotes, CAS032, February 2018.
 
21
A middle-age female living in Spain for more than 20 years and very connected transnationally. Recorded interview, 03.03.2020.
 
22
Strategia Națională pentru Românii de Pretut indeni pentru perioada 2017–2020 http://​www.​mprp.​gov.​ro/​web/​strategia-privind-relatia-cu-romanii-de-pretutindeni-2/​.
 
23
In the same vein, a twinning agreement between Almería (the capital of Almería province, in which Roquetas de Mar is located), and Bistrița (the capital of Bistrița-Năsăud) was suggested by politicians from both cities during the commemoration of the Great Union Day of Romania in Spain.
 
24
Man of 39 years old living more than 20 years in Spain. Recorded interview, 18.01.2019.
 
25
As example, in 2019, many Romanian citizens in Spain were left without depositing their ballot in a referendum to reform the judicial system due to the lack of facilities https://​www.​lasprovincias.​es/​politica/​ocho-horas-votar-20190531003845-ntvo.​html.
 
27
Spanish legislation does not facilitate returning a property to the bank as compensation for the mortgage. However, some Romanians have negotiated with the banks, giving back their properties in payment.
 
28
A middle-aged female living in Romania. Brief fieldnote, February 2018.
 
29
Although the economic crisis had a deep negative impact, workers’ remittances from Spain to Romania remain one of the major financial corridors in the EU, amounting to €430 million in 2019 according to Eurostat: https://​ec.​europa.​eu/​eurostat/​statistics-explained/​pdfscache/​39326.​pdf.
 
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Metadata
Title
(Im)Mobilities and Informality as Livelihood Strategies in Transnational Social Fields
Authors
Ignacio Fradejas-García
José Luis Molina
Miranda Jessica Lubbers
Copyright Year
2022
Book
Informality, Labour Mobility and Precariousness

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-82498-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-82499-0

Copyright Year: 2022

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82499-0_2