It is hard to track statistics for a part of the economy so informal and atomised.

ECONOMIST: South Africa

As a result, a generally atomised, sometimes fractious place seemed to cohere.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot: Glory and hope | The

The meltdown of the financial system during 2007-08 was a classic example of the dangers of putting atomised thinking ahead of systems thinking.

ECONOMIST: In praise of the ideas of Russ Ackoff

Though the proportion of city-dwellers has soared, they are different from the atomised individualists of Europe or North America: the extended family and traditional social networks have survived even in teeming Tehran.

ECONOMIST: Khomeini's children

Herding became more atomised.

ECONOMIST: Nomadism in Mongolia