Street vending and the informal economy in general are a common source of income for the unemployed. In rich countries, where legal residence depends on whether or not one has a formal employment contract, this form of economic activity is particularly prevalent among immigrants. Yet despite its intrinsic relationship with the economic development of world cities, public discourse surrounding street vending is rife with racial and class stigmas. As a result, even in ostensibly progressive discourses, street vending is often represented as a social pathology that must be eradicated.Drawing on structured interviews with focus groups and key informants in Barcelona, this study suggests that street vending and economic informality are part of a broader political antagonism structured by notions of citizenship and civic virtue, legality, integration and proximity and disputed in the field of public space. As a result of this antagonism, in addition to the material support it provides for impoverished people, it serves as both a lever for conservative governments to erode the image of progressive governments and an opportunity for the empowerment and self-organization of the excluded as a political subject.

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