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Motorcycle Taxis, Extended Lockdown and Inequality at Work in Kampala, Uganda

Bibliographic Data

ID20405024
AuthorsRich Mallett (0000-0003-3620-6417, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author), Lillian Asingura (Makerere University), Geofrey Ndhogezi, Disan Byarugaba (Makerere University), Hakimu Sseviiri (0000-0001-6896-7056, Makerere University)
Year2023
Volume34
Issue4
Pages501-520
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Forum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1015-3802 • E-ISSN: 1874-6330
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12132-022-09468-6
PMID40479385
OpenAlexW4286447865
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited24

After two years of extended lockdown, Kampala’s vast workforce of motorcycle taxi riders today looks a little different. Though the sector has long constituted a vital source of labour and income for many thousands of urban residents cut off from more decent opportunities elsewhere in the economy, a recent combination of lockdown pressures and digital transitions has created new forms of dependency upon the sector whilst simultaneously stripping some old ones away. In this article, we draw on in-depth qualitative data from interviews with riders, carried out at different stages of the pandemic, to show how the composition of labour within the sector has been reworked by a series of ‘selective exits’ and ‘substitution effects’ over the past two years. In exploring the nature and nuances of these parallel movements, our analysis not only reveals considerable socio-economic unevenness within the city’s motorcycle taxi sector itself but also sheds light on a new, broader configuration of urban inequality in the making

Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Human geography · Inequality · Political science · Sociology · Taxis · Transport engineering · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Taxation and Compliance Studies · Transportation and Mobility Innovations

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Unique citing works7
Citations per year2,33
Citation span2023 - 2026 (4)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 6
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