Reconfiguring Space, Mobilizing Livelihood: Street Vending, Legality, and Work in the Philippines

In the Philippines, the liberalization of the country’s economy has meant increasing rural to urban migration and dramatic growth in informal sector trade. Women, in particular, building on their historical roles as the country’s primary public and regional market traders, have made Philippine city streets their new business venue for itinerant, but viable work selling different goods: fresh produce, manufactured goods, cooked food – gendered occupations common throughout Southeast Asia. That their livelihood enterprises occur within public spaces not customarily used for commercial activities, means that such trades raise questions about who has access to and rights over such street spaces.