Migration, Informal Labour and (Trans) Local Productions of Urban Space – The Case of Dhaka's Street Food Vendors

Abstract

In Bangladesh, Dhaka is migrants' most important destination and has itself been fundamentally transformed through migration. But there is 'no place' for many migrants in Dhaka. Poorer migrants live in slums and many encroach on public space to sustain their livesthe new urbanites are taking their 'right to the city'. In doing so, they not only draw on local resources. Their production of the urban space often relates directly to their migration trajectory, their translocal networks, and their simultaneous situatedness at multiple places. Migrants connect 'the rural' and 'the urban' and constitute translocal spaces, which contribute to re-making Dhaka from below. This paper integrates current debates on translocality, informal labour, and subaltern urbanism to address two key questions on transient urban spaces: How do migration trajectories and translocality structure the urban poor's lives? How do migrants make use of local networks and translocal social relations to find work and appropriate 'their place' in the city? Empirical research on street food vendors in Dhaka, almost all of whom are internal migrants, builds the basis for my argument. I show that 'translocal social capital' and homebound identities can be important resources to gain access to urban labour markets and to appropriate one's place in the city. The paper argues that the poor use translocality for their livelihoods and thereby continuously re-shape the face of the megacity of Dhaka.

The potential for Assemblage thinking in population geography: Assembling population, space, and place

“…As suggested by Bailey (), we would argue a (re)theorised population geography needs to be open to new conceptualisations of scale such as translocal (McFarlane, ). It is worthy of note that conceptualisations of the translocal and trans‐scalar thinking has become prominent within recent issues of Population , Space , and Place (Bork‐Hüffer, Rafflenbeul, Li, Kraas, & Xue, ; Etzold, ; Faist, ; Fauser & Nijenhuis, ). By opening up analysis to multiple scales through mixed‐methods understandings, we may place a population space within other Assemblages and uncover the mechanisms and power relations that shape the possibilities.…”

The migration–urbanisation nexus in Nepal's exceptional urban transformation

“…However, the attraction can also be understood in less instrumental ways as inspired by expectations for modern lifestyles and/or a life less dependent on family and kinship structures (Denis, Zérah, & Mukhopadhyay, 2017;Liechty, 2003;Watson, 2009), and it can also be part of family reunification strategies. Importantly, it takes resources, not least economic, to find a foothold in the city; social networks and "connections" similarly constitute important resources (Anh, Rigg, Huong, & Dieu, 2012;Etzold, 2016;Lyons & Snoxell, 2005). Thus, potential rural-urban migrants must weigh their resources, for example, social networks, income opportunities, and funds for travel, housing, food, and education as small towns are often more accessible than cities (Tacoli & Agergaard, 2017) Accordingly, rural-urban migration is far from a linear move from "deep rural" to metropolitan cities but rather a stepwise process that includes various rural and urban destinations-and, of central importance for this paper, such migration includes different types of urban locations.…”

Sokak Yemekleri: Farklı Disiplinlerin Yaklaşımı ve Gastronomi Turizmi Alanında Sokak Yemeklerinin Değerlendirilmesi1 (Street Food: A Multidisciplinary Approach and Discussion of Street Foods as Gastronomic Products)

“…Her ne kadar gelişmekte olan ülkelerde başarılı girişimlerden söz edilse de sokak yemekleri yabancı düşmanlığı, etnik gruplara yöneltilen ayrımcılık, toplumsal eşitsizlikler gibi konuların da yansımalarını içermektedir. Aynı ülkenin farklı kentlerinden (Etzold, 2016) ya da başka ülkelerden (Bhimji, 2010) (Tinker ve Cohen, 1985). Kadının evi dışarıda aktif olması ve ticarete katılması, toplumda kadına karşı tutumla yakından ilişkili olarak değişkenlik göstermektedir.…”

“…Aluko vd., 2014;Choudhury vd., 2011) Ancak daha önce de bahsedildiği gibi yasal düzenleme ve satıcılar arasında bir orta yol bulunarak uzlaşı sağlanması mümkün görünmektedir (Bakic-Hayden, 2014). Sokak yemeği işini kolaylaştırıcı bir yaklaşım geliştirilmesi (Janssens, 2014), aynı zamanda toplum sağlığı kaygılarına da cevap verecek eğitimlerin ve ruhsatlama sistemlerinin sağlanması (Etzold, 2016) (Rheinlander vd., 2008), bunun yanında tüketicilerin aldığı riskin farkında olduğu halde sokak yemeklerinin hedonik tüketimine devam ettiği (Isaacs, 2014;…”