Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya)
This article shows how street vendors negotiate their place in the city by appropriating streets in a precarious and conflictual environment. The streets are the object of power struggles between the local authorities and the street vendors, who legitimize their presence by relying on laws and other...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
| Published: |
Pôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information Géographique
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | EchoGéo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/27148 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832578985895133184 |
|---|---|
| author | Nathan Mwangi Kariuki Sylvain Racaud |
| author_facet | Nathan Mwangi Kariuki Sylvain Racaud |
| author_sort | Nathan Mwangi Kariuki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article shows how street vendors negotiate their place in the city by appropriating streets in a precarious and conflictual environment. The streets are the object of power struggles between the local authorities and the street vendors, who legitimize their presence by relying on laws and other framework texts from the central government. Two essential characteristics of public regulation are revealed: normative stacking and discordance, which produce an ambiguous institutional environment, with contradictions between acts - at the national level - and by-laws - at the local level. It is precisely these ambiguities that open up areas of conflict. There is also a gap between local or national texts and everyday practices, as illustrated by petty corruption. These « informal” trading streets showcase the confrontation between two legitimacies: that of people with low incomes rooted in the local context and that of project promoters of a globalized urban modernity. Street vending, a vulnerable activity, is a means of building identities, a social life, and a sense of belonging in the precarious environment of African cities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2ee8469b03894d81a6abd9a7ae799e3d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1963-1197 |
| language | fra |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Pôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information Géographique |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EchoGéo |
| spelling | doaj-art-2ee8469b03894d81a6abd9a7ae799e3d2025-01-30T12:45:54ZfraPôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information GéographiqueEchoGéo1963-11972024-03-016710.4000/11y04Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya)Nathan Mwangi KariukiSylvain RacaudThis article shows how street vendors negotiate their place in the city by appropriating streets in a precarious and conflictual environment. The streets are the object of power struggles between the local authorities and the street vendors, who legitimize their presence by relying on laws and other framework texts from the central government. Two essential characteristics of public regulation are revealed: normative stacking and discordance, which produce an ambiguous institutional environment, with contradictions between acts - at the national level - and by-laws - at the local level. It is precisely these ambiguities that open up areas of conflict. There is also a gap between local or national texts and everyday practices, as illustrated by petty corruption. These « informal” trading streets showcase the confrontation between two legitimacies: that of people with low incomes rooted in the local context and that of project promoters of a globalized urban modernity. Street vending, a vulnerable activity, is a means of building identities, a social life, and a sense of belonging in the precarious environment of African cities.https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/27148conflictKenyastreet vendingdaily regulationThika |
| spellingShingle | Nathan Mwangi Kariuki Sylvain Racaud Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) EchoGéo conflict Kenya street vending daily regulation Thika |
| title | Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) |
| title_full | Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) |
| title_fullStr | Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) |
| title_short | Negotiating a place in town. Street vending in Thika (Kenya) |
| title_sort | negotiating a place in town street vending in thika kenya |
| topic | conflict Kenya street vending daily regulation Thika |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/27148 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathanmwangikariuki negotiatingaplaceintownstreetvendinginthikakenya AT sylvainracaud negotiatingaplaceintownstreetvendinginthikakenya |