On Formalization

The first quarter of the 21st century has seen dramatic shifts in street vending policy with governments around the world attempting to formalize the industry. This chapter analyzes what happened once new legislation was passed in Chicago and India. While the success of policy change in itself is an important step forward, the policies have largely failed to license new vendors. This chapter argues that formalization efforts have been hindered in Chicago and Mumbai due to policies that do not meet the needs of vendors, and bureaucratic rules and tools that are meant to exclude rather than include. This chapter then grapples with why bureaucracy is used to restrict vendors. In exploring the rhetoric and tools of exclusion, it becomes clear that identity politics and vending politics are deeply entwined in both cities. In Chicago, peddlers (and now vendors) have long been castigated on grounds of race, class, ethnicity, and immigration. In Mumbai, the growing influence of ethnonationalism by the Shiv Sena means that vendors are sometimes needed as a base (and therefore included selectively), but also excluded and characterized as outsiders, migrants, and criminals in line with political talking points. As long as identity and street vending politics overlap, acceptance of vendors both culturally and in official policy, will likely remain partial and incomplete.