Questioning the formal and the informal through night work in the Americas and the Caribbean

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ABSTRACT
The international conference aims to explore the tensions between formal and informal night work, whether paid or unpaid, in the Americas. The social division of labor implements and reproduces plural and complex social relationships, which appear to be reconfigured in the context of night work.
Argument
The international conference aims to explore the tensions between formal and informal night work, whether paid or unpaid, in the Americas. The social division of labor implements and reproduces plural and complex social relationships, which appear to be reconfigured in the context of night work. Exploring the formal and informal aspects of night work leads us to the notion of material and immaterial accessibility and its role in structuring practices and representations of social, rural, or urban spaces.
Formal and informal work in the Americas today
According to INDEC, the term informality “refers to the group of employed persons, whether self-employed or employed by others, who carry out their activities outside the regulations that govern them.” Lorena Poblete[1] emphasizes that an informal or “unregistered” worker is also someone who is not registered with the social security system—which is in line with the definition given by Baker and Velasco Guachalla[2]. The informal sector can be observed in all economies, but in varying proportions. It should be noted that, due to the informal nature of the activity, the figures vary depending on the source.
For Latin America and the Caribbean, the 2024 Labor Panorama reveals that informality remains a dominant feature of the labor market, with a rate of 47.6%, slightly lower than in 2023 (48%)[3]. Let’s take Argentina as an example to illustrate this point. According to INDEC, from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, 42% of employed persons were in informal employment. Informal employment affects women more often than men (43.4% compared to 40.9%), young people (58.9% of those under 30, compared to 36.5% of those aged 30 to 64), and 49.5% of those aged 65 and over[4]. It is found in domestic service (77%), construction (76.6%), commerce (51.9%), and even manufacturing (36.1%). Informal workers are less educated (in the fourth quarter of 2024, 10.3% of workers in the informal sector had completed higher education and/or university studies, compared to 38.4% of workers in the formal sector), work less often on site and in a permanent position (45.2% compared to 78.5%) and more often at the employer’s or client’s home (20.5% compared to 4.2%).
In 2024, informal work in North America as a percentage of total employment was expected to be 8.7% (9.2% for men and 8.3% for women), compared to 51.7% in Latin America and the Caribbean (52.5% for men and 50.6% for women)[5]. In 2016, Carlos Siquera asked the question: “Does informal employment exist in the US and other developed countries?”[6]. Informal work is linked to the global economy: “Informal work plays a particularly important role in the household finances of minorities, the less educated, those who report financial hardship, those who work part-time involuntarily, independent contractors, and the unemployed.”[7]. We are well aware of the social differentiation in access to formal sector employment and the North/South inequalities in this area. Informal work is distinct from illegal work, as shown by Statistics Canada’s research[8]. Present, but in varying degrees, in all activities, it has close links with the formal sector[9].
Night work
Night work, including night shifts and rotating schedules, is becoming increasingly common in many economic activities. Various studies have traced this phenomenon back to urban marketing—the availability of nighttime leisure activities—as well as policies aimed at attracting new populations, such as public and cultural services that are open late at night.
This non-stop dynamic requires changes to legislation concerning work during “atypical” hours, which have become the norm. As research on work and working conditions shows, night work is linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and sleep disorders, not to mention the impact on family life, particularly in the case of frequent or long-term night work[10]. In this sense, night work schedules penalize certain population groups, such as women, migrants, and other minority groups[11]. This information can be recorded and analyzed when looking at night work in a formal or regulatory context. However, the analysis of informal night work remains largely to be done, particularly using qualitative methodologies that allow for the understanding of interactions and processes in context.
Informality at work analyzed through the prism of nighttime temporality
In the United States, 24-hour restaurants (near train stations, newspaper distribution centers, or markets) have existed since the 19th century. A very famous restaurant open 24 hours a day in San Francisco in the 1920s was Coffee Dan’s[12], which also doubled as a speakeasy. During the 20th century, continuous activities were re-evaluated in a different context. In the early 1990s, English cities experienced a sharp decline, due to an industrial economy model which had been defeated by the advent of the service economy. Against this backdrop of discussion about the future of these cities, the concept of “The 24-hour city” developed and became a fashionable slogan. The principle of continuous activity and the notion of high-density mixed land aimed to design cities that were pleasant to live in for the 21st century, in the face of a degraded environment. It was at that time that sociologist Justin O’Connor formalized the Night Time Economy (NTE), which was adopted in England and the Americas[13].
Alongside the official nighttime economy, informal activities take place, such as women working as street vendors at night in the city of Tijuana[14], or night watchmen in Lima working in cramped spaces with ten- or twelve-hour shifts and no recognition of labor rights[15]. Informal night work is often a viable option for subsistence and resilience in the face of economic conditions. However, for some individuals, it involves “double or triple working days,” as it can combine paid work, whether formal or informal, with all unpaid activities (the concept of care). Informal nighttime work is more often carried out by migrants in very precarious situations, who are often racialized, monitored, and persecuted in public discourse and policies, for example in southern Europe[16]. These working conditions echo the current realities in North American countries.
All these issues highlight the need for research that questions the formal and informal aspects of nightlife, particularly in terms of work, urban governance, and city building.
The international conference will focus mainly on the following themes:
An examination of formal and informal night work in terms of social relations
Contributions may draw on the question posed by Thibaut Menoux[17], who asks, “How can night work be made the subject of a sociology of professional groups that avoids the pitfalls of an essentialist or relativist categorization of ‘night’?” One of the challenges is to “account for class perceptions of temporality”—perceptions that vary from one society to another. Menoux thus reveals the construction of a “subordinate temporality specific to night porters.” Proposals could explore the temporalities forged by age, gender, race, disability, etc., particularly by addressing the work of women, gender minorities, and children.
Formal work performed at night, informal relationships, informal social control
In 1978, Murray Melbin hypothesized that nighttime was a new frontier[18]. He noted a decentralization of power and, as a result, a different interpretation of the law by individuals who were less controlled: “For example, in similar cases, decisions made by police officers at night are based on less professional and more personal considerations.” Almost fifty years later, Hadrien Le Mer questions the loss of formal control by prison guards at night and their relationship to the “dirty work” of rehabilitating prisoners, now that the prison has been emptied of the various workers to whom they delegate this work during the day. The papers could discuss the development of informal modes of control at night and their consequences, particularly on rights.
From the perspective of relationships, we can refer to Anne Perraut-Soliveres’ work on night nurses, which shows how working relationships are reconfigured and create stronger bonds based on solidarity and mutual support within night teams[19].
We can also think of Marion Guenot’s work, which observes formal and informal negotiations around night work in the police force, or Christine Preiser’s work, which analyzes the informal role of bouncers/security guards. We also think of the work of Marion Guenot[20], who observes formal and informal negotiations around night work in the police force, or that of Christine Preiser[21], who analyzes the informal role of nightclub bouncers/security guards in Germany in terms of social order and the production of space. Papers may question and discuss the informal recompositions at work in night work.
Informal work, between the public and private spheres
The work of Isabelle Georges on invisible relational work in Brazil, or that of Inés Pérez on “tensions in the demarcation between family and work” in domestic service, in Argentina, or Ania Tizziani’s work on the impossible regulation of what takes place within the confines of the employer’s private home, in Argentina, draw our attention to what Pérez calls the “emotional ambivalence” of a relationship that is framed within the sphere of work but developed in the private sphere.
The practices of street workers and border crossers, “born of the management of clandestinity, the informal economy, and the management of the exception,” documented through photography in public spaces by Delphine Mercier and Guillaume Roux, give rise to ideas of “moments of macroeconomic adjustment,” that is, “the way in which neoliberalism and its civilizing project have become spatialized in the world, and in the Central American context.”[22].
Presentations may shed light on these issues by examining the restructuring of activities in a political and legislative context.
A formal and informal work system at night?
Papers may examine labor market conditions and public policies that effectively promote the development of informal work or the use of informal employment in combination with formal employment to supplement formal income, a common situation in most countries in the Americas—including activity on social media.
Submission guidelines
Proposals (in English, French, or Spanish) should include the author’s first and last names, the title and an abstract of the proposal of approximately 300-500 words, and a brief biographical note.
They must be submitted by October 15, 2025.
They should be sent jointly to the conference organizers: edna.hernandez@univ-brest.fr, gilda.charrier@univ-brest.fr, and jean-marc.serme@univ-brest.fr.
Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent on October 22, 2025. Registration for the conference will be open until January 12, 2026.
Organizing Committe
- Edna Hernández González, urbaniste, coordinatrice de la chaire Noz Breizh d’études sur la nuit, Université de Brest
- gilda charrier, sociologue, membre de la chaire Noz Breizh d’études sur la nuit, Université de Brest
- Jean-Marc Serme, Études étatsuniennes et études autochtones, Université de Brest
- & Masterant·es : Master TILE (Textes, images, langues étrangères), Master IDS (Intervention et développement social), Doctorant·e de l’école doctorale ESC (Espaces Sociétés Civilisations), Karen
- Sanchez, Master Estudios Urbanos, Universidad Metropolitana de Mexico, UAM.
Scientific Committee
- Suzy Bossard, Mcf, sociologue du travail, spécialiste des métiers de service aux personnes, Université de Brest
- Yvanne Bouvet, Mcf HDR, géographe de la pêche, spécialiste de l’Argentine, Université de Brest https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/yvanne-bouvet
- gilda charrier, Mcf, sociologue, membre de la chaire Noz Breizh d’études sur la nuit, Université de Brest https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/gilda-charrier
- Romina Cutuli, Maîtresse assistante, socio-historienne du travail, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
- Christian Estrada Ugarte, Antropología Visual, Estudios de la noche, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
- Isabel Georges (sous réserve), Directrice de recherche, HDR, sociologue du travail, spécialiste du Brésil, Centre Population & Développement (Ceped) https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/isabel-georges
- Analía Hernández, Maîtresse assistante, socio-historienne de la famille et de l’enfance, études des sens, des sentiments et des émotions, Universidad Nacional de La Plata
- Edna Hernández González, Mcf, urbaniste, coordinatrice de la chaire Noz Breizh d’études sur la nuit, Université de Brest https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/edna-hernandez-gonzalez
- Yolanda Macías, Estudios de la noche, CISAN, Universidad Autónoma de México
- Alejandro Mercado Celis, Pr, Investigador Titular, Industrias Creativas y Culturales y Estudios de la Noche, UNAM CISAN
- Delphine Mercier, Directrice de Recherche CNRS, sociologue du travail, spécialiste du Mexique, CNRS, Maison Française d’Oxford https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/delphine-mercier
- Jorge Munoz, Pr, sociologue du travail, spécialiste de l’Amérique Latine, Université de Brest https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/jorge-munoz
- Inés Perez, Investigadora Adjunta del Conicet y como docente de la UNMdP, socio-historienne du travail, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
- Jean-Marc Serme, Mcf HDR, Études étatsuniennes et études autochtones, Université de Brest https://www.institutdesameriques.fr/annuaire/jean-marc-serme
- Will Straw, Pr Emérite d’histoire de l’art et des études en communication, Université Mcgill
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Notes
[1] Poblete, Lorena. « Vers la protection du travail informel. Le régime du “monotribut” en Argentine (1998-2013) ». Revue française des affaires sociales, 2014/3, 2014, p.120-136.
[2] Baker, Andy & Velasco-Guachalla, Vania Ximena. « Is the Informal Sector Politically Different? (Null) Answers from Latin America ». World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), 2018, p. 170-182.
[3] Panorama Laboral 2024 América Latina y el Caribe, Copyright © Organización Internacional del Trabajo 2025, https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/OIT-PANORAMA-LABORAL-2024.pdf.
[4] Mercado de trabajo. Indicadores de informalidad laboral (EPH), Cuarto trimestre de 2023 a cuarto trimestre de 2024, Trabajo e ingresos Vol. 9, n°5,
[5] ILO Overview of the informal economy in the Americas, International Labor Organization, 2004-2024, https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/Americas_Informality%20Regional%20statistical%20profile.pdf.
[6] Siqueira, Carlos Eduardo. « Does Informal Employment Exist in the United States and Other Developed Countries? » August 2016, New Solutions, A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy 26(2): p. 337-339.
[7] Katharine G. Abraham & Houseman Susan N. « Making Ends Meet: The Role of Informal Work in Supplementing Americans’ Income ». RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 5(5): p. 110-131, 2019. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2019.5.5.06.
[8] Deming Luo, Eric Desjardins et Marco Provenzano. « L’économie souterraine au Canada, sources et méthodes ». Statistique Canada, 12 février 2024.https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/13-604-m/13-604-m2024002-fra.htm.
[9] Manvoutouka, Tine, « ¿Hasta qué punto y cómo puede conceptualizarse el trabajo informal? ». Laboreal [Online], Vol. 9 Nº2, 2013.
[10] Su, Fuxiang & Ding Huang, Hongyu Wang, Zhiyong Yang. « Associations of shift work and night work with risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality: a meta-analysis of cohort studies ». Sleep Medicine 86, 2021.
Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska, Wioletta, & Katarzyna Czyż-Szypenbejl. « The Impact of Night Work on the Sleep and Health of Medical Staff—A Review of the Latest Scientific Reports ». Journal of Clinical Medicine 13, 2024.
[11] Brandellero, Sara, Ailbhe Kenny & Derek Pardue. « Night Stories: Urban Narratives of Migrant Lives in Europe ». Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture 13 (1): p. 3-10, 2022.
[12] Voigt, Henry. A Century of Dining Out: The American Story in Menus, 1841-1941. The Grolier Club, 2023, https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/allnight760.jpg.
[13] The lack of nighttime activity, the interruption of downtown functions, growing insecurity, the monofunctional pub culture, unwelcoming pedestrian streets, and poor nighttime public transportation services are major concerns for city managers (Roberts, Turner, Greenfield, Osborn, 2006). A study conducted by the Home Office (1992) attributes the concentration of violence in city centers to standardized closing times for pubs: 11 p.m. in London and 10:30 p.m. elsewhere.
[14] Jimenez Romo, Agnes del Rosario. Vivir y resistir la noctariedad. Experiencias de violencia y precariedad de mujeres en contextos de trabajo informal nocturno en Tijuana. Thèse de doctorat, Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), Mexico, 2022
[15] Estrada Ugarte, Christian. « Un acercamiento a la nocturnidad desde dos miradas vigilantes: etnografía y documental sobre el tiempo y la soledad en vigilantes de noche ». Revista Chilena de Antropología Visual – número 27, Julio 2016, p. 140-184.
[16] Aramayona, Begoña & Guarneros-Meza, Valéria. « The ‘In/formal Nocturnal City’: Updating a research agenda on nightlife studies from a Southern European perspective ». Urban Studies Vol. 61, Issue 3, 2024, p. 589-603.
[17] Menoux, Thibaut. « La face cachée d’un groupe professionnel : La conciergerie de nuit ou l’intérêt d’une sociologie nyctalope ». Cultures & Conflits [En ligne], 105-106 | printemps/été 2017, p.61-82.
[18] Melbin, Murray. « Night as frontier ». Cultures & Conflits [En ligne], 105-106 | printemps/été 2017, p. 29-59.
[19] Perraut-Soliveres, Anne. Infirmières, le savoir de la nuit. PUF, 2015.
[20] Guenot, Marion. « L’avis des nuiteux » Négociations formelles et informelles autour du travail de nuit dans la police», Temporalités [En ligne], 37-38 | 2023.
[21] Preiser, Christine. (2016). Conducting open participant observations of bouncers–negotiating (in) visibility in fieldwork. British journal of community justice, 14(2), 61-74.
[22] Delphine Mercier et Guillaume Roux, « Les frontières, des rues comme les autres. Travailler dans les rues, les travailleuses et travailleurs des rues et des passages de frontières. Mexique – Amérique centrale », Images du travail, travail des images [En ligne], 11 | 2021
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Manuel Garcia-Ruiz (September 21, 2025). Questioning the formal and the informal through night work in the Americas and the Caribbean. International Night Studies Network. Retrieved March 12, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14q1m
