A Performative Approach to Urban Informality Learning from Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro

In light of perpetuated exclusions in and through urban development, governance and planning along the dichotomy of formality and informality, I argue that informality should be conceived of as a socially embedded and embodied signifier. Building upon recent approaches to overcome the dichotomy, I hence develop a performative approach toward urban informality. I discuss informality as a methodological orientation to rethink power relations inherent to dwelling and confined housing. Engaging in a transnational and mutual learning process, the paper conducts a “disjunctive comparison” (Lazar 2012) between suburban areas of Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. Building on ethnographic data, I highlight the active integration of wealthier populations in performing informality and demonstrate that, as a socially embedded role and at times strategically appropriated signifier, informality partakes in a deepening precariousness, and in a normalisation of uncertainty as a form of governing in urban Latin America.