Learning for Livelihoods in the Global South
Theoretical and Methodological Lenses on Skills and the Informal Sector
1st Edition
Published on 22. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-1-032-65093-7 (ISBN)
Description
This edited volume explores how youth and informal sector workers in the Global South are pioneering learning and livelihoods that exist at the intersections of, and beyond, the boundaries of the state, market, and other formal institutions.
Underpinned by research undertaken in the Global South, this book discusses how we might better theorise, conceptualise, and critique what skills and vocational education and training mean for young people with diverse livelihoods - people who rely substantially on the informal and social economy. Rather than envisioning education and skills as oriented towards profit-making or increased productivity, chapters offer fresh perspectives that move beyond the dominant neoliberal and human capital orthodoxies. This book features chapters that are global in approach, uses case studies from contexts as diverse as India, South Africa, West Africa, and Colombia, and focuses on how education can be used to empower people, strengthen livelihoods, and expand human agency, skills, personal growth, and the capability for voice.
Issuing a clarion call, it appeals for recognition of the ways in which learning, working, and living take place in the informal sector in the Global South, arguing that this matters for the vast majority of the world's population. This book will be of relevance to scholars, academics, and postgraduate students in vocational education and training, skills development, the informal sector, international and comparative education, international development, and adult education.
Underpinned by research undertaken in the Global South, this book discusses how we might better theorise, conceptualise, and critique what skills and vocational education and training mean for young people with diverse livelihoods - people who rely substantially on the informal and social economy. Rather than envisioning education and skills as oriented towards profit-making or increased productivity, chapters offer fresh perspectives that move beyond the dominant neoliberal and human capital orthodoxies. This book features chapters that are global in approach, uses case studies from contexts as diverse as India, South Africa, West Africa, and Colombia, and focuses on how education can be used to empower people, strengthen livelihoods, and expand human agency, skills, personal growth, and the capability for voice.
Issuing a clarion call, it appeals for recognition of the ways in which learning, working, and living take place in the informal sector in the Global South, arguing that this matters for the vast majority of the world's population. This book will be of relevance to scholars, academics, and postgraduate students in vocational education and training, skills development, the informal sector, international and comparative education, international development, and adult education.
Reviews / Votes
'Learning for informal sector livelihoods is highly relevant worldwide; yet, we know little about the topic from a scientific perspective. This book makes major contributions to closing this research gap. It is a "must read" for scholars and practitioners focused on skill acquisition in the Global South.'Matthias Pilz, Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Cologne, Germany
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Postgraduate
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
5 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 1 s/w Zeichnung, 3 s/w Tabellen, 6 s/w Abbildungen
3 Tables, black and white; 1 Line drawings, black and white; 5 Halftones, black and white; 6 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
427 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-65093-7 (9781032650937)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lesley Powell | Adam Cooper | Trent Brown
Learning for Livelihoods in the Global South
Theoretical and Methodological Lenses on Skills and the Informal Sector
E-Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Lesley Powell | Adam Cooper | Trent Brown
Learning for Livelihoods in the Global South
Theoretical and Methodological Lenses on Skills and the Informal Sector
E-Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Lesley Powell | Adam Cooper | Trent Brown
Learning for Livelihoods in the Global South
Theoretical and Methodological Lenses on Skills and the Informal Sector
Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€196.70
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Lesley Powell is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Adam Cooper is chief research specialist in the Equitable Education and Economies Research Division, Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa.
Trent Brown is Associate Professor at Tokyo College at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Simon McGrath holds the established chair in Education at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Adam Cooper is chief research specialist in the Equitable Education and Economies Research Division, Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa.
Trent Brown is Associate Professor at Tokyo College at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Simon McGrath holds the established chair in Education at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Content
Foreword
1. Skills, the informal sector and global south youth: theory and methods to break the silence
PART 1. THEORISING: RETHINKING THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2. A relational capabilitarian approach for wellbeing livelihoods: Reframing and making alternative education, skills and work for young people
3. Subsumption, Alienation, and Questions of Meaning in Informal Sector Skills Training
4. Supporting youth livelihoods in an informal "sub-field" in the global south
PART 2. CONCEPTUALISING: CONCEPTUAL TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING INFORMAL SECTOR SKILL ACQUISITION IN PRACTICE
5. Shifting informal geographies and the hustle for a better future
6. A typology of informal sector workers - heterogeneity and the complexity of skills development responses
7. The potential role of ICT in facilitating learning for livelihoods among informal apprentices in the automotive trade in Ghana
8. Highly educated migrants in platform-mediated food delivery work in the Netherlands: The absent presence of skills and its social effects
PART 3. CRITIQUING: UNDERSTANDING CONSTRAINTS AND WEAKNESSES IN DOMINANT APPROACHES
9. Exploring 'valuable' knowledge, skills and attitudes: Perceptions of young people in an informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg
10. Critiquing the concept of 'self-reliance' in informal sector training: A case study of Afghan refugee women in India
11. Gendering decent work: Rethinking the connections between informality, TVET and gender through the 'Decent Work' agenda in Sierra Leone and Cameroon
PART 4. ADVOCATING: TOWARDS REFORM OF POLICY AND PRACTICE
12. Financing Skills and Lifelong Learning in the Informal Sector
13. Exploring the intersectionality of green skills, innovation and livelihoods in the informal economy in Harare, Zimbabwe
14. Recognising Colombian waste pickers as public service providers and producers of knowledge
PART 5. CONCLUDING: MOVING FORWARD
15. Skill and livelihoods: some concluding ideas
1. Skills, the informal sector and global south youth: theory and methods to break the silence
PART 1. THEORISING: RETHINKING THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2. A relational capabilitarian approach for wellbeing livelihoods: Reframing and making alternative education, skills and work for young people
3. Subsumption, Alienation, and Questions of Meaning in Informal Sector Skills Training
4. Supporting youth livelihoods in an informal "sub-field" in the global south
PART 2. CONCEPTUALISING: CONCEPTUAL TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING INFORMAL SECTOR SKILL ACQUISITION IN PRACTICE
5. Shifting informal geographies and the hustle for a better future
6. A typology of informal sector workers - heterogeneity and the complexity of skills development responses
7. The potential role of ICT in facilitating learning for livelihoods among informal apprentices in the automotive trade in Ghana
8. Highly educated migrants in platform-mediated food delivery work in the Netherlands: The absent presence of skills and its social effects
PART 3. CRITIQUING: UNDERSTANDING CONSTRAINTS AND WEAKNESSES IN DOMINANT APPROACHES
9. Exploring 'valuable' knowledge, skills and attitudes: Perceptions of young people in an informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg
10. Critiquing the concept of 'self-reliance' in informal sector training: A case study of Afghan refugee women in India
11. Gendering decent work: Rethinking the connections between informality, TVET and gender through the 'Decent Work' agenda in Sierra Leone and Cameroon
PART 4. ADVOCATING: TOWARDS REFORM OF POLICY AND PRACTICE
12. Financing Skills and Lifelong Learning in the Informal Sector
13. Exploring the intersectionality of green skills, innovation and livelihoods in the informal economy in Harare, Zimbabwe
14. Recognising Colombian waste pickers as public service providers and producers of knowledge
PART 5. CONCLUDING: MOVING FORWARD
15. Skill and livelihoods: some concluding ideas