Basok rejects the theoretical models traditionally used in development studies for analysing the non-capitalist forms of production in the capitalist economy, arguing that these theoretical models place too much emphasis on external aspects of production. Instead, she proposes that internal aspects such as technology, labour relations, and organization of production need to be examined to allow an understanding of how informal petty commodity producers survive competition with capitalist enterprises.

In her research with members of small urban enterprises -- including shoemakers, bakeries, carpentry shops, street vendors, seamstresses and tailors, and market and handicraft shops -- she demonstrates that these enterprises can be viable when their production is organized in such a way that they become resistant to competition with the capitalist sector.

Soc/Anth, Windsor University

Tanya Basok's profile page

"Keeping Heads Above Water promises to serve as a useful guide to others charged with evaluating assistance programs for refugees, internally displaced, and other marginal populations ... I am impressed with Basok's honest, 'on the ground' attempts to come up with realistic indicators and measures of the economic viability of small, urban enterprises." Patricia Pessar, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"Basok's observations on the situation of Salvadorean refugees in Costa Rica are pertinent and accurate ... She has done an excellent job." Josephine Smart, Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary.