Surbhi Kesar, lecturer at SOAS Department of Economics, in conversation with Sara Stevano, provides a comprehensive analysis of the informal economy, challenging traditional economic development theories by demonstrating how postcolonial economies persistently reproduce informal economic structures. 
 
Her research, primarily focused on India, reveals a complex landscape of economic flux characterised by precarity, limited upward mobility, and systemic exclusion. 
 
By examining the historical and contemporary dynamics of informality, Kesar argues that current economic growth models fail to address the fundamental structural challenges faced by workers in the Global South. Her work highlights the need to understand informality not as a temporary phase, but as a critical component of contemporary capitalist reproduction.

#6. Informal Economy: New Approaches

Our first podcast features a discussion on blended online learning chaired by Head of the School of Arts, Professor Shane McCausland, in conversation with Professor Lucy Durán (Music), Dr Estrella Sendra Fernandez (Film and Screen Studies) and Dr Caspar Melville (Centre for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies).

Music credits:

Opening theme - Bamanaya (trad). performed on Bobo balafon by Wali Coulibaly (age 6) and Daniel Dembele (age 10). Recorded in Bamako in 2015 by Lucy Durán .
Excerpt from Sattelites, original composition by Garth Knox (2016 Inner Sunset Publishing)
Closing theme - excerpt from Sunjata's Time, original composition by Fodé Lassana Diabaté (2016 Inner Sunset Publishing)

Produced by Lucy Durán and Morgan Davies

The Digital Turn: Blended and Online Learning in the Arts at SOAS

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#6. Informal Economy: New Approaches

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