On the Border of Legal and Illegal

There was no place for street trade and open-air markets inthe optimistic picture of democracy and socio-economic developmentof many CIS countries. Once considered a short-lived phenomenon,open-air market trade still lingers on, placed at the border oflegal and illegal sectors, and carries a profound gender dimension.Similar factors triggered women?s high participation in theinformal sector in the CIS countries, such as shortage of jobs inthe formal sector, women?s limited access to the private sector,accompanied by cuts in social benefits in the result ofsocio-economic reforms. Combining substantive analysis with lifeinterviews of women traders at the open-air market in the Republicof Moldova, this study explores the implication of this seeminglysurvival strategy on women?s lives,social attitudes towards womentraders and their self-perception. In the context of thediscussions on gender and employment, surviving strategies andsocio-economic empowerment of women in the CIS space, the study Onthe border of legal and illegal ? women open-air market traders inthe Republic of Moldova is of particular relevance and brings abouta fresh look.