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This paper presents research based on a popular economy perspective, carried out at the Center for Development Studies of the Université catholique de Louvain. The first part defines how the conceptualization of “popular economy” differs on an epistemological level from the more traditional informal sector concept. The next section presents how the concept was operationalized in research on the solidarity economy movement in Brazil. The paper further highlights the importance of a gender perspective when studying popular economy practices. And it illustrates the usefulness of the popular economy concept in research on Rwanda and on Arabic countries. The different cases illustrate the heterogeneity of popular economy practices, which makes the processes of their formalization and institutionalization very complex. JEL classification: A12, P13, O17, Z13