Globalisation from below: livelihoods, trade and transnationalism in Brazil’s informal economy

With a focus on the informal economy in Belo Horizonte, this project will delineate the everyday cross-cultural and economic practices that produce globalisation from below. Through three key strands, the research will explore economic interactions and conflicts between migrants and local street vendors; investigate emerging social relations and forms of belonging; and analyse socio-cultural and economic transformations in urban spaces. A collaborative methodology will engage participants in an artistic-cultural process creating spaces for dialogue and cooperation. The project will produce an exhibition and a Transnational Informal Economy Atlas that reveal the complex ways in which globalisation from below connects and transforms urban livelihoods, spaces and societies.

Principal Investigator: Dr Mara Cristina Nogueira Teixeira, Birkbeck, University of London