Kristina’s thesis explores the impact of economic informalisation in urban Zimbabwe on informal sector actors’ ideas and practices of citizenship.

The thesis argues that economic informalisation in Zimbabwe has led to a divide between the modernist thinking that was shared by individuals and perpetuated by institutions at all levels and the survivalist reality which many people faced as a result of the economic and financial crises.

This disconnect has significantly affected the political terrain of the country. On the individual level, this disconnect has led to changes in political behaviours of informal sector actors. Individuals started disengaging from the state and the city and entering new debates about the nature of citizenship. They started engaging in associational life in the informal sector and shaping notions and practices of lived citizenship relevant to their economic reality.