Owners of the Sidewalk: Security and Survival in the Informal City(Global Insecurities)

About the Book

Many of Bolivia's poorest and most vulnerable citizens work as vendors in the Cancha mega-market in the city of Cochabamba, where they must navigate systems of informality and illegality in order to survive. In Owners of the Sidewalk Daniel M. Goldstein examines the ways these systems correlate in the marginal spaces of the Latin American city. Collaborating with the Cancha's legal and permanent stall vendors (fijos) and its illegal and itinerant street and sidewalk vendors (ambulantes), Goldstein shows how the state's deliberate neglect and criminalization of the Cancha's poor-a practice common to neoliberal modern cities-makes the poor exploitable, governable, and consigns them to an insecure existence. Goldstein's collaborative and engaged approach to ethnographic field research also opens up critical questions about what ethical scholarship entails.

Table of Contents:
Prologue  ix

Acknowledgements  xiii

1. The Fire  1

2. Writing, Reality, Truth  10

3. Don Rafo  15

4. The Informal Economy  18

5. Nacho  25

6. The Bolivian Experiment  33

7. Meet the Press 42

8. The Colonial City: Cochabamba, 1574–1900  46

9. Conflicts of Interest  54

10. Decolonizing Ethnographic Research  58

11. A Visit to the Cancha  64

12. The Informal State  74

13. The Modern City: Cochabamba, 1900–1953  80

14. Market Space, Market Time  87

15. Carnaval in the Cancha  95

16. Security and Chaos  102

17. The Informal City: Cochabamba, 1953–2014  108

18. Convenios  117

19. Political Geography  122

20. Fieldwork in a Flash  131

21. Women's Work  139

22. Sovereignty and Security  148

23. Resisting Privatization  154

24. Don Silvio  161

25. Character  167

26. Exploitability  175

27. Market Men  182

28. Webs of Illegality  190

29. Men in Black  194

30. At Home in the Market  200

31. Owners of the Sidewalk  207

32. The Seminar  214

33. March of the Ambulantes  222

34. Complications  230

35. The Archive and the System  235

36. Goodbyes  240

37. Insecurity and Informality  246

Epilogue  252

Notes  257

References  293

Index  313

About the Author :
Daniel M. Goldstein is Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University, the author of Outlawed: Between Security and Rights in a Bolivian City and The Spectacular City: Violence and Performance in Urban Bolivia, and the coeditor of Violent Democracies in Latin America, all also published by Duke University Press.  

Review :
"... a cogent and compelling critique of how the move toward neoliberal economic policies has affected the lives of formal (those with fixed stalls) and informal (street) vendors." - Arthur D. Murphy (American Ethnologist) "Weaving the background histories and theoretical discussions throughout the more narrative storytelling presentation, results in a thoughtful ethnography that contributes much to the field of anthropology as well as to the body of literature focused on markets in Latin America."
  - Alana Nicole DeLoge (Bolivian Studies Journal) "By being transparent about his methodology and research experiences, he successfully breaks down conventions associated with academic writing. The result is a highly readable and engaging ethnography that showcases the daily struggles of men and women in the Cancha. . . . This book will be of value to Latin American specialists from multiple disciplines, including history, anthropology, and political science, as well as students seeking an inside look at the promises and pitfalls of ethnographic research in informal spaces." - Nicole L. Pacino (Canadian Journal of History) "Goldstein’s narrative writing style, joined with short chapters and excellent accompanying photographs, make this book accessible to students at all levels. - Kathleen Schroeder (Journal of Latin American Geography) "The book is a great read for scholars interested in Latin American cities, in issues of the street, in the informal economy, but also for scholars conducting original ethnographic work in diverse urban settings." - Veronica Crossa (Journal of Latin American Studies) "Goldstein’s book is a must read for all students of informality and politics in cities of the South."
  - Claire Benit-Gbaffou (International Journal of Urban and Regional Research) "A strong example of engaged anthropology. . . . This is a lovely ethnography that illuminates important elements of 'informality,' markets, and neoliberalism."
  - Miriam Shakow (Journal of Anthropological Research) “An excellent study and a wonderful read. . . . Goldstein not only covers most of the important detail of a Latin American informal-sector market but does so in a way that allows one to feel the essence of its dynamism, creativity, and truth.” - Peter M. Ward (Latin American Research Review)