Car guarding and the appropriation of space in Maputo City, Mozambique

Abstract

The production of urban space in Maputo city is result of two combined circuits of the urban economy. Families precariously integrated in the capitalist system are (re)produced through the lower circuit. This article explores how the development of certain activities, such as car guarding, become an important part of the social (re)production of segments of the population that are weakly included in urban dynamics. Yet, through these activities workers appropriate spaces to outline new forms of (re)existence. I examine these dynamics based on the theoretical and methodological approach to the production of “territories of the territory” associated with two circuits of the urban economy. The data shows that, as livelihood strategy, the car guarding produce their own micro-territories within the territory of the Maputo city. This is possible through the appropriation of fractions of street and avenues, in which the car guarding produce lower circuit activities, highlighting its relevance on the production of the city in developing countries such as Mozambique.

Keywords:
Urban economy; Territoriality; Car guarding; Maputo city