Informal Economy Archives - Clear Cut Magazine

END-OF-WASTE Beginning of Life: Resilience and Dignity in Anand’s Raviwari Bazar

Admin1 week ago1 week ago027 mins

“solid waste” means and includes solid or semi-solid domestic waste, sanitary waste, commercial waste, institutional waste, catering and market waste and other non residential wastes, street sweepings, silt removed or collected from the surface drains, horticulture waste, agriculture and dairy waste, treated bio-medical waste excluding industrial waste, bio-medical waste and e-waste, battery waste, radio-active waste…

THE WOMEN INDIA FORGOT TO COUNT

Admin2 weeks ago2 weeks ago015 mins

Neha Dixit’s The Many Lives of Syeda X is the most important Indian nonfiction debut in years. It is also the kind of book that makes you feel a little guilty for not having noticed sooner. There is a woman who shells your almonds. She trims the loose threads off your jeans, sews the panels…

The Waxed Thread and Sharp Awl: Life of a Roadside Cobbler of Anand, Gujarat

Admin4 months ago4 months ago020 mins

A footpath cobbler’s quiet skill and dignity reveal a life shaped by hardship, caste identity, and resilience, as he supports his family and prioritizes his children’s education despite earning barely enough to survive. “Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, Give it a stitch, and that will do.” The kindergarten poem lines reverberated in my mind as…

The Invisible Hands That Hold Us Up: G20’s “Care Floor” as a Beautiful Promise

Admin5 months ago5 months ago08 mins

The G20 Social Summit in Brasilia is pushing for a “Universal Care Floor” to formally recognize unpaid care work. This policy could transform millions of caregivers—especially women—by integrating them into social protection systems and redefining how societies value care. Take a moment to think, about the first person who woke up in your home today….

The End of the ‘Informal’ Era? Why Social Cohesion is Emerging as a Key Metric for Global Growth

Admin5 months ago5 months ago06 mins

For decades, the global development narrative has been anchored around a single, blunt instrument: Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, at the recently concluded 64th Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD64), there were strong calls to look beyond economic output and place greater emphasis on social cohesion as a foundation for sustainable…

Bonded but Not Free: How Unfree Labour Continues to Trap India’s Marginalised

Admin6 months ago012 mins

Fifty years after the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, bonded labour and debt bondage continue across India due to weak enforcement and delayed rehabilitation. Experts stress the need for criminal accountability, proactive inspections, and protection of marginalised communities to ensure real freedom and dignity. Fifty years after India legally abolished bonded labour, thousands of…