ABSTRACT

Conventional literature on urban studies have often framed informality within the concept of ‘hustle’ at multiple sites in the city. Such studies usually examine the uncertainties and struggles of informal traders in the realms of city management. This article moves away from the over flocked issues of abuse and suppression to explore the practices of informal traders that produce hope to reflect and recast the uncertainties associated with urban informality. In doing so, we discuss the typologies of the activity and account for knowledge and practices in theorizing urban informality as a space of hope. Drawing from qualitative research conducted with informal traders in urban Ghana, we highlight the everyday practices that shape traders’ hopes and engagements which lie behind their hustles. Evidence of a better ‘tomorrow’, re-organize their life and protect family legacy are shaped by many examples of their colleagues who once walloped in that livelihood activity but who are now ‘counting the money’ and controlling the urban business activities in the malls and markets. We argue that urban informal traders cannot be pigeonholed as mainly hustlers subsisting on the fragile urban economy but rather the notion of hope complements and extends the ‘hustling’ in the city.

摘要

有关城市研究的传统文献经常将城市多个地点的非正式性界定为“喧嚣”的概念。此类研究通常考察非正规商人在城市管理领域的不确定性和挣扎。本文从过度集中的滥用和压制问题出发，探讨非正规贸易商的做法，这些做法为反映和重塑与城市非正规性相关的不确定性带来了希望。在此过程中，我们讨论了活动的类型，并解释了将城市非正规性理论化为希望空间的知识和实践。根据对加纳城市非正式贸易商进行的定性研究，我们重点介绍了塑造贸易商的希望和其忙碌背后的参与度的日常实践。更好的“明天”的证据，重新组织生活和保护家族遗产的想法是由许多同事的例子所塑造的，他们曾经在谋生活动中陷入困境，但现在却在“数钱”并控制着购物中心和市场的城市商业活动。我们认为，城市非正规商人不能被归类为主要靠脆弱的城市经济生存的骗子，而是希望的概念补充和扩展了城市的“骗局”。