Resilience and Resistance in Informal Worker Discourses

The study examined the resilience practices of street hawkers in Accra, Ghana, using the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR) and liquid organizing framework. We utilized a critical ethnographic approach, which included field observation and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 31 participants. We found that street hawkers construct resilience processes to neutralize the constant, multiple, and simultaneous economic crises with which they are faced. We also found that street hawkers navigated economic uncertainty by transgressing local bylaws and defying city law enforcement using liquid organizing techniques. We conclude that examining individuals’ micro-level resilience strategies, achieved through liquid organizing techniques, allows us to theorize about macro-level issues like neoliberal economics.