Social Exclusion of Street Vendors and their Problems in the Context of Globalisation

AbstractThis study explores globalisation’s impact on India’s street vendors, a vulnerable informal workforce 10 million, amid economic liberalisation since the 1990s. Drawing on Kurth (1999) & Chomsky (2000), it examines how U.S.-driven institutions (IMF, WTO) disrupt traditional livelihoods, intensifying exclusion through displacement by modern retail, legal barriers, and economic marginalisation. Street vendors face systemic harassment, bribery (e.g. Rs 400 crore annually in Mumbai), and caste-based vulnerabilities, worsened by globalisation’s knowledge-technology bias. Despite the Street Vendors Act 2014, patchy implementation fails to mitigate these pressures. The research emphasises the need for inclusive policies-legal recognition, credit access, and education- to counter globalisation’s inequities, aligning with Sen’s (1999) ‘development as freedom’ framework. Secondary sources, including Bhowmik (2008) & Radhakrishnan (2006), inform this analysis of a marginalised yet vital urban population.