The market places and street corners of Dar es Salaam are home to a thriving informal economy of street vendors selling secondhand clothing and other goods. These street vendors often live a precarious existence, under pressure from state authorities and international markets. In addition to these external pressures, the experiences of such vendors are also shaped by a complex interplay of internal tensions, rivalries and conflicting communal ties. Such internal dynamics are a common part of informal economies around the world, but have largely gone unrecognised and unexamined by academic scholarship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and extensive interviews with vendors living and working in Dar es Salaam, Malefakis's book offers a nuanced portrait of those trying to carve out a livelihood in a major African city, one in which ties of kinship and ethnicity are often viewed as a barrier, rather than an aid, to success. In the process, Malefakis provides an invaluable new perspective on the way in which co-operation, or lack thereof, functions in an informal economy, as well as insight into the lived experiences of those who depend on such economies.
In the 1970s and 1980s young model makers in Burundi created original miniature replicas of racing cars, motorcycles, planes and helicopters from wire, tin and plastic. As autodidacts they learnt to translate the design idiom of vehicles and brands into their own medium, finding innovative solutions to the technical challenges of model making. Above and beyond the ethnographic observations and a summary of Burundi's history, the book focuses on the models from an industrial design perspective. With the aid of reverse engineering the authors digitally recreate the models, dissect them and are thus able to decipher the unique skills of their constructors.
The book provides ethnographic insights into the life of a group of street dealers of the Tanzanian multi-million metropolis Dar es Salaam.Our old shoes embark on a new life in Africa. While many people believe that their used clothes donations are distributed free of charge to the needs in the Third World, the trade in second-hand clothes is actually an international business. In addition to commercial clothes collectors, sorters, and interim dealers, thousands of street dealers in Africa live off the sale of second-hand clothes and shoes. They have to know which shoes are in fashion on the streets at the time, the various types of customers and the styles that are in demand, when and where these customers are most likely to be found, how to best approach them, and what they are willing to pay. This specialized expert knowledge is the basis of a successful livelihood. The book provides ethnographic insights into the life of a group of street dealers of the Tanzanian multi-million metropolis Dar es Salaam.
The market places and street corners of Dar es Salaam are home to a thriving informal economy of street vendors selling secondhand clothing and other goods. These street vendors often live a precarious existence, under pressure from state authorities and international markets. In addition to these external pressures, the experiences of such vendors are also shaped by a complex interplay of internal tensions, rivalries and conflicting communal ties. Such internal dynamics are a common part of informal economies around the world, but have largely gone unrecognised and unexamined by academic scholarship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and extensive interviews with vendors living and working in Dar es Salaam, Malefakis's book offers a nuanced portrait of those trying to carve out a livelihood in a major African city, one in which ties of kinship and ethnicity are often viewed as a barrier, rather than an aid, to success. In the process, Malefakis provides an invaluable new perspective on the way in which co-operation, or lack thereof, functions in an informal economy, as well as insight into the lived experiences of those who depend on such economies.
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