Women from the South Combining Formal and Informal Activities in the North Thinking about the Continuum Between Formality and Informality through the Case of Comorian Suitcase Traders in Marseille

Based on a field survey conducted with women from the Comoros engaged in a double professional activity (formal employees and informal traders), this article intends to analyze the continuum between formality and informality in a Northern country. We show that this continuum can be observed in the articulation between formal employment and informal trade, in the commercial system as well as in the transnational and digital commodification of products.The imbrication of these three aspects can be observed in different ways depending on the profile of the trader. The older, professional and adventurous female traders have a hybrid commercial practice that takes place in both countries of origin and host country. The commercial practice of the younger insiders is essentially oriented towards the host country.