ABSTRACT
This chapter draws upon the class analysis and overdeterminist Marxist framework developed by Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff, to probe more deeply into the production and labor processes of informal enterprises. It discusses the theoretical conundrum posed by the stubborn existence of the informal economy amid sustained economic growth in the capitalist sector and the problems associated with the received dualism between formal and informal economies. The chapter analyzes the case of India and explores the various class processes in the Indian informal economy. It also explores the differential abilities of capitalist and noncapitalist informal enterprises to produce and distribute surplus and to achieve expanded reproduction. The chapter investigates the different possibilities of reproduction for the capitalist and noncapitalist enterprises within the informal economy. It concludes by considering the implications of this analysis for understanding the nature of postcolonial capitalist development.
