{"title":"Informality at the heart of sustainable development","authors":"B. Finn","doi":"10.1177/20438206241240216","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"As a term, the ‘structure of informality’ aims to elucidate how informality is produced, and why it persists. I argue that informality is engendered through the informal/formal dialectic, which constitutes a multiscalar process that creates global inequalities across time and space. We can better understand informality by studying colonial socio-spatial inequalities created through urbanization. Taking seriously the arguments put forward by Cobbinah and Olajide, I argue that the structure of informality must also be applied to understand contemporary neocolonial practices in relation to sustainable development. These practices include the use and misuse of informality in relation to three topics: (1) as a mode of generating and sustaining socio-spatial and economic inequalities; (2) the nascent and undertheorized relationship between informality and climate change; and (3) the importance of understanding and theorizing global informality at the heart of sustainable development to influence policy and practice. These topics have grown in salience because of the global push towards decarbonization, and despite informality being a dominant mode of economic, spatial, and political life in most of the world. Informality lies at the heart of sustainable development, thus making it essential to re-energize debates on its structures, forms, and driving forces.","PeriodicalId":8,"journal":{"name":"ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering","volume":"64 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206241240216","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, BIOMATERIALS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As a term, the ‘structure of informality’ aims to elucidate how informality is produced, and why it persists. I argue that informality is engendered through the informal/formal dialectic, which constitutes a multiscalar process that creates global inequalities across time and space. We can better understand informality by studying colonial socio-spatial inequalities created through urbanization. Taking seriously the arguments put forward by Cobbinah and Olajide, I argue that the structure of informality must also be applied to understand contemporary neocolonial practices in relation to sustainable development. These practices include the use and misuse of informality in relation to three topics: (1) as a mode of generating and sustaining socio-spatial and economic inequalities; (2) the nascent and undertheorized relationship between informality and climate change; and (3) the importance of understanding and theorizing global informality at the heart of sustainable development to influence policy and practice. These topics have grown in salience because of the global push towards decarbonization, and despite informality being a dominant mode of economic, spatial, and political life in most of the world. Informality lies at the heart of sustainable development, thus making it essential to re-energize debates on its structures, forms, and driving forces.
期刊介绍:
ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering is the leading journal in the field of biomaterials, serving as an international forum for publishing cutting-edge research and innovative ideas on a broad range of topics:
Applications and Health – implantable tissues and devices, prosthesis, health risks, toxicology
Bio-interactions and Bio-compatibility – material-biology interactions, chemical/morphological/structural communication, mechanobiology, signaling and biological responses, immuno-engineering, calcification, coatings, corrosion and degradation of biomaterials and devices, biophysical regulation of cell functions
Characterization, Synthesis, and Modification – new biomaterials, bioinspired and biomimetic approaches to biomaterials, exploiting structural hierarchy and architectural control, combinatorial strategies for biomaterials discovery, genetic biomaterials design, synthetic biology, new composite systems, bionics, polymer synthesis
Controlled Release and Delivery Systems – biomaterial-based drug and gene delivery, bio-responsive delivery of regulatory molecules, pharmaceutical engineering
Healthcare Advances – clinical translation, regulatory issues, patient safety, emerging trends
Imaging and Diagnostics – imaging agents and probes, theranostics, biosensors, monitoring
Manufacturing and Technology – 3D printing, inks, organ-on-a-chip, bioreactor/perfusion systems, microdevices, BioMEMS, optics and electronics interfaces with biomaterials, systems integration
Modeling and Informatics Tools – scaling methods to guide biomaterial design, predictive algorithms for structure-function, biomechanics, integrating bioinformatics with biomaterials discovery, metabolomics in the context of biomaterials
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine – basic and applied studies, cell therapies, scaffolds, vascularization, bioartificial organs, transplantation and functionality, cellular agriculture