Work Is Freedom: The Entrepreneurial Self Among Street Vendors

ABSTRACT

Precarious work has risen worldwide in recent decades, affecting workers’ narratives about their economic activities. A key aspect of precarious work involves the combination of bad working conditions with increased autonomy and flexibility. This article examines how informal street vendors develop narratives that justify staying in their entrepreneurial pursuit despite precarious working conditions. Based on 35 ethnographic interviews and participant observation conducted with vendors in New York City, I show that vendors develop counter-narratives to standard employment based on prior working experiences and everyday experiences of autonomy in the streets. I argue that this combination leads them to reproduce narratives about the importance of autonomy and self-reliance, which strengthen an “entrepreneurial self.” I find that gender and age, and daily interactions, shape the narratives they employ. While women emphasize how autonomy enables them to take care of their families, men enjoy the benefits of being their own boss. These findings contribute to our understanding of the ideological framework of informal entrepreneurs in relation to more advantaged entrepreneurs and platform workers. I show how precarious entrepreneurs develop cultural understandings of their work through daily interactions and based on their structural position in the labor market. These narratives unintendedly reproduce neoliberal ideologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Autonomy
• entrepreneurship
• narratives
• precarious work
• street vendors

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges helpful comments and suggestions from Nitsan Chorev, Patrick Heller, Jose Itzigsohn, Dan Hirschman, Mark Suchman, Denise Milstein, Tomás Gold, Nicholas Occhiuto, Laura Garbes, and the anonymous reviewers, as well as all the street vendors who participated in the project. The author acknowledges the unfortunate connection between the interview quote included in the title of the paper and the motto “Work will set you free” (Arbeit macht frei) which was located above the gate of the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The notion that “work equals freedom” serves as a reminder of the “dark side” of entrepreneurship as an economic activity that can lead to self-exploitation, as I discuss in the paper.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. As I argue below, this study focuses on workers’ narratives and not on their decisions.

2. While self-employed precarious street vendors develop an internal routines and organizational structures to manage their business, they do not experience the external organization control often present in formal companies or businesses.

3. I chose to take notes on my phone rather than recording the interviews, considering that not all street vendors were comfortable with recording our conversations. Using my phone for notetaking proved advantageous, as it is a common device and did not distract them as much as a traditional notebook might have.

4. Due to current immigration policies in the USA, the identities of all participants are concealed and any information that may be harmful to the research participants has been omitted.

5. 2800 year-round citywide permits for a two-year period, 200 full-term borough specific permits, 1000 seasonal citywide permits valid for April to October each year, and 1000 fruit and vegetable permits. What mobile food vendors should know. New York City Health Department . https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/rii/regulations-for-mobile-food-vendors.pdf

6. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). General Vendor License. https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/general-vendor-license

7. Street Vendor Project http://streetvendor.org/

8. According to a New York Times article, street vendors pay up to $20,000 for a permit, but official permits fees range from $25 to $200 per year. Gonzales, David. “Sept 28 $20,000 for a Permit? New York May Finally Offer Vendors Some Relief.” The New York Times, 29 Jan. 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/nyregion/street-vendors-permits-nyc.html

9. Almost all vendors express they earn more money in the streets than in a waged job. However, I did not corroborate the validity of this claim. While I consider the importance of earning more money, I do not try to provide a rational choice analysis of individuals’ actions; rather, I study the narratives that construct the entrepreneurial self.

10. Before transitioning to street vending, Pablo owned a bodega in Queens. Unfortunately, soaring rent prices made it impossible for him to sustain his business, leading to the closure of his bodega. Subsequently, he began selling fruit on Laurel Street.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alejandra Cueto

Alejandra Cueto is a PhD Candidate in the Sociology Department at Brown University. Her research interests bridge the sociology of the state, precarious work, culture, and social movements. Her current research centers on the interactions between social movements and organized precarious workers with state institutions, emphasizing the critical role of information production and exchange in shaping policies and transforming bureaucracies.