Street Hawkers and Public Space in Mumbai
Street Hawkers and Public Space in Mumbai
Author(s): Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 21 (May 27 - Jun. 2, 2006), pp. 2140-2146
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418270 .
Accessed: 27/03/2013 05:14
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Street
Hawkers and in Mumbai
Public
Space
Street hawking is generally considered as a "menace" or an "eyesore" that prevents the development of Mumbai as a world-class city. But this article explores the essential presence of hawkers in a city, which requires a critical understanding of the functioning of public space. The experiences of hawkers in Mumbai, as elsewhere in India, have taught them not to fear a regulatory state, but a predatory one, a state that constantly demands bribes and threatens demolition, against which a licence provides security.
JONATHANSHAPIROANJARIA
he hawker question is central to the debates over public space in Mumbai. Since the late 1990s, elite NGOs and residents ' associations have been actively promoting, with some success, the idea that hawkers are to be blamed for many of the city 's problems. To them, hawkers are "a symbol of a
Author(s): Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 21 (May 27 - Jun. 2, 2006), pp. 2140-2146
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418270 .
Accessed: 27/03/2013 05:14
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Economic and Political Weekly.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 14.139.125.179 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 05:14:12 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Street
Hawkers and in Mumbai
Public
Space
Street hawking is generally considered as a "menace" or an "eyesore" that prevents the development of Mumbai as a world-class city. But this article explores the essential presence of hawkers in a city, which requires a critical understanding of the functioning of public space. The experiences of hawkers in Mumbai, as elsewhere in India, have taught them not to fear a regulatory state, but a predatory one, a state that constantly demands bribes and threatens demolition, against which a licence provides security.
JONATHANSHAPIROANJARIA
he hawker question is central to the debates over public space in Mumbai. Since the late 1990s, elite NGOs and residents ' associations have been actively promoting, with some success, the idea that hawkers are to be blamed for many of the city 's problems. To them, hawkers are "a symbol of a
References: constables, who. like most other low income city residents, Bhowmik, SharitK (2003): 'NationalPolicy for Street Vendors ',Economic and Political Weekly, 19, 1543-46. dependon the cheap andconvenient productsandservices provided Bhowmik, Sharit K and NApril ore (2001): itin M If anything, the NGOs and residents ' associations derive their Weekly,December 29, 4822-27. power from deploying the internationally circulating language Chakrabarty.Dipesh (2002): 'Of Garbage, Modernity, and the Citizen 's Gaze ', HabitationsofModernity: ssaysin the Wake f Subaltern tudies, best demonstrated in the widely discredited, although still discussed, "Vision Mumbai" (2003) document, produced by the Chatterjee, Partha (2004): The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World, Permanent Black, consultancy firm. Groups such as Bombay First have used the CitiSpace (2004): Hawking and Non-HawkingZones in Greater Mumbai: language of the global, or world-class, city to overcome whatever technical or political objections there may be to their ambitions. Davis, Mike (2000): Magical Urbanisml: atillos Reinventthe US Big City, L The hawkers ' unions and other advocates of the hawker cause, on the other hand, have not yet capturedthis rhetoricof the world- Duneier, Mitchell (1999): Sidewalk, Farrar,Strausand Giroux, New York. Books, New York, 1992. Rajagopal, rvind(2001): 'TheViolenceof CommodityAesthetics:Hawkers those deemed "global" and central America, because of their vigorous and multifarious Shekhar,Vaishnavi(2005): 'Shareof Migrantsin MumbaiHalves over 100 Years ', Times of India, September29. use of public space for commerce and sociality, "form one of the most important constituencies for the preservation of our Stoller, Paul (2002): Money Has No Smell: TheAfricanisationof New York urban commons" (2000: 55). Why not, amidst the international Vision MUniversity Chicago Press,Mhicagointo a World-Class umbai(2003): 'Transforming umbai such as Davis ' as well? Public sociality and multifarious uses YUVA/TISS (1998): 'Census Survey of Hawkerson BMC Lands ', survey of public spaces are things Mumbai, like other Indian cities, has May 27, 2006