Article

E-Informality in Venezuela: The ‘Other Path’ of Technology

Details

Citation

Lugo J & Sampson T (2008) E-Informality in Venezuela: The ‘Other Path’ of Technology. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 27 (1), pp. 102-118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-9856.2007.00259.x

Abstract
The study explores arguments concerning the concept of the informal economy and makes the case that new media technologies, or more broadly, information and communication technologies (ICTs), as a socio-economic phenomenon, tend to be exploited in the same way as other economic activities by those actors that operate in the informal economy. Moreover, this exploitation tends to show similar patterns in terms of growth and ownership concentration. In this context, the study analyses the patterns and tendencies that transpire when informal actors exploit ICTs. It aims to question the validity of the neoliberal paradigm that portrays informality and new media technology as a creative process that requires deregulation. The article is based on a field study carried out in Venezuela between 2003 and 2004.

Keywords
Informal; Economy; ICTs; Venezuela; ethnography; Digital divide Developing countries.; Information technology --Government policy Developing countries.; Information technology Venezuela

Journal
Bulletin of Latin American Research: Volume 27, Issue 1

StatusPublished
Publication date31/01/2008
Publication date online19/12/2007
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/1952
PublisherWiley-Blackwell / Society for Latin American Studies
ISSN0261-3050
eISSN1470-9856

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