ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes forms of women’s work in Baguio City, Philippines in order to problematize the dichotomies of informal/formal economy and legal/illegal practice. The chapter suggests that these market players use “advocacy” and “everyday” politics (Kerkvliet 2009) to integrate their viable, but marginalized and often prohibited trades – importing secondhand clothing and street vending – into the urban economy. That the Baguio City government tolerates both the aforementioned livelihoods demonstrates that authorities are complicit in constructing legal/illegal practices and formal/informal economies. Given that such initiatives ensure household survival makes nuanced analyses of self-made but disenfranchized livelihoods important for policy makers and defending workers’ rights.
