| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 225 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Introduction: Assessing the "whole of informality" -- Intersectionality and the politics of embodiment -- Higglering : a woman's domain? -- "Baits of Satan?" : representations of Sunday/Negro markets and higgerling in the Jamaican economy from slavery to independence -- "Natural rebels" or just plain nuisances? : representations of higglers in the Jamaican economy from slavery to independence -- Higgler/ICI/business woman : what's in a name? -- Dirty and dis/eased : bodies, public space and Afro-Jamaican higglers -- Conclusion: Understanding the nuances of informality |
| Summary |
Making a living in the Caribbean requires resourcefulness and even a willingness to circumvent the law. Women of color in Jamaica encounter bureaucratic mazes, neighborhood territoriality, and ingrained racial and cultural prejudices. For them, it requires nothing less than a herculean effort to realize their entrepreneurial dreams. The author explores the lives of informal market laborers, called "higglers," across the city in frenetic urban Kingston, the capital and largest city in Jamaica, as they navigate a corrupt and inaccessible "official" Jamaican economy. But rather than focus merely on the present-day situation, she contextualizes how Jamaica arrived at this point, delving deep into the island's history as a former colony, a home to slaves and masters alike, and an eventual nation of competing and conflicted racial sectors. This book weaves together contemporary ethnography, economic history, and sociology of race to address a broad audience of readers on a crucial economic and cultural center. -- From Book Jacket |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-209) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Street vendors -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
Women merchants -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
Social status -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
Small business -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
Informal sector (Economics) -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
Women's studies -- Jamaica -- Kingston
|
|
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Labor.
|
|
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Labor & Industrial Relations.
|
|
HISTORY -- Caribbean & West Indies -- General.
|
|
Informal sector (Economics)
|
|
Small business.
|
|
Social status.
|
|
Street vendors.
|
|
Women merchants.
|
|
Women's studies.
|
|
Jamaica -- Kingston.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9780826517678 |
|
0826517676 |
|
