Gold Sellers in the Streets of Bachdjerrah: El Houma: Community Identity and Globalised Economic Territory

Abstract

In Algeria, the informal dynamic experienced by the gold sector since the 1980s was accompanied by the creation of informal trading spaces, the most important of which are in Algiers and Oran. These markets play the role of intermediary between the various actors in the informal gold sector, in particular transnational networks for the supply and marketing of the precious metal. The latter is part of this non-hegemonic economic globalization which relies on adventurers of the new market capitalism. Its network spans from Italy, Dubai to Turkey, in particular the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. These transnational networks do not only concern the import of jewelry for consumption, but also the smuggling of gold from Algeria and this is also the case for used gold. In the paper we try to come back to the experiences of informal gold sellers in these transnational precious metal networks.

Youth street groups and mediation in Northern Africa: ethnographic findings

“…Bachdjerrah was one of the communes to have suffered violent events, which caused growth to slow down. However, the informal market of this municipality was a means of resistance for the population and an outlet for their socio-economic and spatial marginalization (Boucherf & Medjoub, 2022). The Dlala de l'or, which is located inside this informal market and between the districts of Bachdjerrah, in the middle of the houses, has become an important informal space for gold in the city.…”

“…The price of gold, which was affordable during the late 1990s, and the difficulty of entering the formal labor market, even for the most educated, had motivated the young people of the working-class neighborhoods of Bachdjerrah such as Les Palmiers and La Glacièr to get into the precious metal trade. They have since found in the profitability of this sector a solution to improve their economic and social situation (Boucherf & Medjoub, 2022).…”

“…These young people, affected mainly by the vulnerability of their economic conditions, have succeeded in transforming their border area into an economic territory through the mobilization of their autochthonous capital which is linked to belonging to al Houma (Réitière, 2003;Renahy, 2011). The informal gold trade is considered by most of them to be a support for social demarginalization in order to cope with poverty and the shrinking labor market (Boucherf & Medjoub, 2022).…”

“…Resistance and positioning in the market are linked to the group to which they belong, whether among family members, children close to the neighborhood or by the use of physical force to defend themselves. Given that the construction of masculinity in working-class neighborhoods, under the influence of the majority model of Oulid El Houma, the symbol of masculinity, is based on the exaltation of physical strength and the practice of violence (Boucherf & Medjoub, 2022;Sanchez-García, 2010). This reflects, among other things, social deregulation, because being is linked to deficiencies in the function of social and cultural supervision of institutions.…”

“…Given that the majority of merchants became involved in the informal market of Bachdjerrah at a young age, by engaging in various commercial activities (selling vegetables, fish, clothing, or dishes) most of them therefore had some financial capital to invest later in the precious metal trade, which represents the pinnacle of professional promotion in the informal market, especially for merchants with stalls (Boucherf & Medjoub, 2022). The value of the latter varies from 5000 up to 50000 Euros.…”