Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa
The article explores regulation practices governing access to the central market of Kinshasa. It argues that, contrary to conventional ideas, urban trading places do not escape state regulation, nor are they outside the realm of legitimacy. These places and the economic activities that take place in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Africa Spectrum |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397241288617 |
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| _version_ | 1850159009230749696 |
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| author | Héritier Mesa |
| author_facet | Héritier Mesa |
| author_sort | Héritier Mesa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article explores regulation practices governing access to the central market of Kinshasa. It argues that, contrary to conventional ideas, urban trading places do not escape state regulation, nor are they outside the realm of legitimacy. These places and the economic activities that take place in them are highly regulated. Yet, their regulations do not always conform to official standards. The dominant binary divide of formal/informal obscures different processes and scales of effective regulation. Hence, to better understand how these places and activities are regulated, it is necessary to go beyond the binary divide. Drawing on practical norms’ literature, the article shows the multiplicity of overlapping norms, their corresponding logics, and how different actors navigate regulation. Regulations can have diverse effects on people. Some deviations from official laws have reassuring effects, leading to forms of organisation that serve traders’ needs or provide them with space for resistance against exclusion. However, certain other deviations serve to extract more resources from vendors and can lead to the (re)production of social inequalities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6aa11e7bb9ef4dcca78504df587b0786 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0002-0397 1868-6869 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Africa Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj-art-6aa11e7bb9ef4dcca78504df587b07862025-08-20T02:23:43ZengSAGE PublishingAfrica Spectrum0002-03971868-68692024-12-015910.1177/00020397241288617Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of KinshasaHéritier MesaThe article explores regulation practices governing access to the central market of Kinshasa. It argues that, contrary to conventional ideas, urban trading places do not escape state regulation, nor are they outside the realm of legitimacy. These places and the economic activities that take place in them are highly regulated. Yet, their regulations do not always conform to official standards. The dominant binary divide of formal/informal obscures different processes and scales of effective regulation. Hence, to better understand how these places and activities are regulated, it is necessary to go beyond the binary divide. Drawing on practical norms’ literature, the article shows the multiplicity of overlapping norms, their corresponding logics, and how different actors navigate regulation. Regulations can have diverse effects on people. Some deviations from official laws have reassuring effects, leading to forms of organisation that serve traders’ needs or provide them with space for resistance against exclusion. However, certain other deviations serve to extract more resources from vendors and can lead to the (re)production of social inequalities.https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397241288617 |
| spellingShingle | Héritier Mesa Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa Africa Spectrum |
| title | Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa |
| title_full | Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa |
| title_short | Rethinking Regulation beyond the Normative Threshold: Mechanisms of Control and Access to the Central Market of Kinshasa |
| title_sort | rethinking regulation beyond the normative threshold mechanisms of control and access to the central market of kinshasa |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397241288617 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT heritiermesa rethinkingregulationbeyondthenormativethresholdmechanismsofcontrolandaccesstothecentralmarketofkinshasa |