Séminaire d'économies informelle, populaire et solidaire

Teacher(s)

Lemaître Andreia; Ruiz Rivera Maria José (compensates Lemaître Andreia);

Language

French

Main themes

Informal economic activities are a persistent reality in today's world and constitute a key component of Southern societies. More than 50% of the workforce and almost 90% of SMEs worldwide operate in the informal economy (ILO, 2018). If agricultural employment was included in these statistics, the share of informal employment in total world employment would reach 61%, with even higher percentages in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (ILO, 2018).
The scientific literature apprehends these economic activities through the concepts of "informal sector", "popular economy" or "solidarity economy". The seminar aims to study, through these different conceptual grids, the socio-economic logics that are pursued by the actors operating in the informal economy. Anchored in this heterogeneous empirical reality, the seminar also puts in perspective mainstream development theories, like the theories of modernization.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of the seminar, the student must have developed an in depth understanding of the different analytical grids developed by the scientific literature on informal socio-economic practices. He/she must be able to discuss these grids, compare them and mobilize them in order to critically assess various case studies and decode complex socio-economic realities. He/she must finally be able to situate these scientific concepts within broader development theories and contemporary debates on social protection and development.

Teaching methods

Lectures introduce the theoretical foundations required to engage with the material on the informal economy, the popular economy and the solidarity economy. After these foundational sessions, which set out the analytical frameworks, the seminar adopts a single format that is repeated in each of the following sessions. The active pedagogy used in these sessions is as follows: each session is built around three scientific articles, drawn from a corpus of articles in the field of development studies, which speak to one another on a common theme. Three pairs of students take part: each presents its article in twelve to fifteen minutes, and then acts as discussant for the article of another pair in the same session, on the basis of two debate questions prepared in advance.
The presentation consists of a critical analysis of the article rather than a summary: students are expected to set out its central argument, its methodological approach and its main findings, to assess its contributions and limitations in the light of the analytical frameworks covered in the course, and to relate it to at least one of the other two articles of the session.
The remaining students read all three articles and come to the session with a debate question on one of them. Each session opens with a short multiple-choice quiz covering the three articles. After each presentation, one question from the floor is drawn at random and defended orally. The session closes with a discussion placing the three texts in perspective.

Evaluation methods

Assessment is continuous and takes place entirely during the semester. It comprises three components:

• Start-of-session quizzes (25%): multiple-choice questions, prepared by the lecturer and covering the three articles of the session. Ten minutes at the start of the class, closed-book.
• Presentation of an article in pairs (50%, of which 30% for the presentation and 20% for the answers given to questions, marked individually). Twelve to fifteen minutes, followed by the discussion and by questions from the floor and from the lecturer. Each member of the pair answers at least one question. The slides are uploaded to Moodle after the session.
• Discussant role (25%): each pair acts as discussant for the article of another pair in its session, with two debate questions prepared in advance and eight to ten minutes of discussion. It is the conduct of the debate that is assessed, not the questions themselves.

Regular attendance at the sessions is a condition for passing the seminar.
Second examination period. As continuous assessment cannot be reproduced, the lecturer will determine an appropriate examination procedure.
The use of generative AI is permitted only in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Note on the responsible use of AI, approved by the Faculty Board (July 2024) and available on the Faculty intranet.
In this seminar:

• Preparation of the presentation and of the debate questions: AI may be used for structuring, rephrasing and searching for sources, provided that this is declared in one line on the final slide (tool and use). Every source cited must have been read.
• Quizzes and in-class discussions: without AI.

Other information

Prerequisite: LSPED1212 Development Analysis

Online resources

See the MoodleUCLouvain site of the course

Faculty or entity

> PSAD