Discretionary Power and the Political Acceptability of Informality in Mobilities
Résumé
This paper explores the role and implications of discretionary power across two fields of mobilities where informality is both pervasive and frequently overlooked. Despite extensive policing measures, in the urban experience of tourism, on-site and in transit between tourist spots, informal economies can play a key role, including street vending and transport services such as rickshaws, involving many undocumented migrants. In the field of ecological transition policies targeting mobilities, rule enforcement is also challenged in everyday mobile practices in public spaces and regarding the various plans and instruments that these policies entail. By probing the discretionary powers involved in governing these informal practices, this paper shows their complex entanglements with the political acceptability of these activities. It draws on a research project carried out in Paris, focusing on tourist sites, and on another research project on French national and local climate policies regarding mobilities. Data sources include interviews, ethnographic observation, analyses of legal and policy documents, and (social) media content. The paper investigates the varying spatial and temporal arrangements through which discretionary power is exercised by diverse stakeholders, and questions the negotiations, strategies, and contested rationales employed to justify or resist it. The study underscores the underlying (urban) governance dynamics and advocates for more critical discourse on these discretionary practices within both academic and political spheres.