“Glocal” Movements: Place Struggles and Transnational Organizing by Informal Workers

By Ilda Lindell on January 01, 2009

Abstract:
This article examines the collective organising of informal women on different scales, from local to global. The empirical part of the paper uses an example of ASSOTSI, a vendors association in Maputo, Mozambique, in order to analyse the importance of international connections for the local politics of informality. While the association is one concerned with practical aspects of managing market places, politically its main task is to address the local government in order to defend its members‟ rights to urban space, and thus right to livelihood. The association has built up solidarity between vendors in different markets and has been able to mobilize its members when needed. Furthermore, it has become a member of StreetNet International, a global network of associations and unions of vendors. The effects that this global network has had on local politics in Maputo have been positive for ASSOTSI. International experience gives members of the association concrete ideas of what they are striving for. Foreign visits to Maputo have put pressure on the local government, making them aware of the international solidarity that is backing the association, and forcing them to realize that they are not dealing with an isolated group.

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