Development, division and discontent in informal markets: insights from Kampala

Graeme Young

Review of African Political Economy, 2021, vol. 48, issue 168, 196-216

Abstract: This article explores the recent history of Owino Market in Kampala, Uganda, to analyse the constraints to agency that exist in the informal economy. Detailing conflicts over market management and development in Owino, it argues that agency in the informal economy must be understood in reference to the economic divisions that exist within the informal sphere and the political divisions that characterise urban governance. The interaction of the two, as Owino illustrates, can severely circumscribe the ability of informal vendors to act in ways that allow them to participate in urban development. In this case, ongoing efforts by the ruling party and executive to monopolise power in Kampala solidified and politicised internal market hierarchies defined by vending location and ownership and employment status, leading to conflicts that threatened the majority of vendors’ livelihoods and the viability of their economic activities. For many in the informal economy, these structural constraints to agency may be impossible to overcome.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03056244.2020.1841620 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:revape:v:48:y:2021:i:168:p:196-216

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CREA20

DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2020.1841620

Access Statistics for this article

Review of African Political Economy is currently edited by Graham Harrison, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Claire Mercer, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Aurelia Segatti and Ray Bush

More articles in Review of African Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().