Street Democracy: Vendors, Violence, and Public Space in Late Twentieth-Century Mexico

No visitor to Mexico can fail to recognize the omnipresence of street vendors, selling products ranging from fruits and vegetables to prepared food and clothes. The vendors compose a large part of the informal economy, which altogether represents at least 30 percent of Mexico’s economically active population. Neither taxed nor monitored by the government, the informal sector is the fastest growing economic sector in the world.

In Street Democracy Sandra C. Mendiola García explores the poli...