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.

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