Pity the rich man

Abstract

Across the world, economically marginalized people employ inventive strategies to encourage pedestrians to part with small sums of money by offering goods or services rather than directly requesting cash. People who use drugs wander urban streets selling magazines that some will buy but few will read. The homeless clean car windows that need no cleaning or provide token items instead of requesting donations because asking for money is contentious to the extent that selling stuff is not. Surveying existing ethnographic research, this article explores why. I analyse how informal income-generating practices adapt to the cultural assumptions of majority populations, including the notion that adults should become valuable through gainful employment and the idea that the unreturned gift humiliates givers and receivers.