Markets of Trust: Moral Economy and Social Control in the Urban Informal Economy

Informal economic practices are often portrayed as opportunistic or normless, especially in contexts of urban poverty. This article challenges such views by showing that informal economies are structured by dense moral logics and informal systems of trust, control, and symbolic capital. Based on 216 in-depth interviews with low-income residents in disadvantaged Dutch neighbourhoods, the analysis reveals how informal exchanges are morally regulated through norms of honour, respectability, and reputation. These dynamics create boundaries between acceptable help, fair trade, and illegitimate hustling. While trust and informal surveillance foster accountability and solidarity, they also produce exclusionary hierarchies, gendered obligations, and moral tension. Rather than a retreat from norms, informal economies represent a contested moral field where individuals navigate the pressures of scarcity, dignity, and community judgement. The article contributes to theoretical debates on moral economy, social capital, and informal regulation, and cautions against simplistic policy models of self-reliant citizenship. Informality under constraint is not the absence of order—but the presence of a different, often invisible one.