ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2, it was highlighted that akin to the social sciences in general, the study of informal work is undergoing its own “cultural turn.” There is a shift away from reading this type of exchange as being always and everywhere market-like profit-motivated monetary exchange, and in its place is emerging more embedded accounts of this endeavor that unpack the heterogeneous work relations and motives involved in these monetary transactions, reflecting the broader re-reading of exchange by cultural theorists (e.g., Crang, 1996; Crewe, 2000; Crewe and Gregson, 1998; Gibson-Graham, 1996; Lee, 1996, 2000; Leyshon, Lee, and Williams, 2003).
