Les vélos de Kaolack

Bibliographic Data

ID3620545
AuthorsAlain Morice (corresponding author)
Year1981
Volume21
Issue81
Pages197-210
Publication date1981-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCahiers d études africaines (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-0055 • E-ISSN: 1777-5353
PublisherPERSEE Program (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3406/cea.1981.2309
OpenAlexW2029168222
LanguageFR
Citations received9

A. Morice-Kaolack's Bikes. In Kaolack mopeds are used as cabs. This peculiar trade is more organized than it looks at first sight. Its history, since the time when hawkers began to repair and rent old bicycles, has been characterized by tense relations with the local author-ities, together with never-ending internai conflicts: hence the self-imposition of a compelling hierarchy. The drivers pay a daily fee to the owners in exchange for the right of using the vehicles for money-earning purposes. They, in turn, fre-quently employ 'apprentices' to ensure a maximal use of the bikes. Young 'taxi-men' station themselves around various strategie locations in the city 'garages' where they corne under the authority of elders who are tacitly recognized as spokesmen by the ofncialdom. Enquiries among these tradesmen have evidenced several traits common to a number of so-called 'informai' activities: exploitation of apprentices, functional turnover of juvenile labour force, persisting paternalistic social relationships, structuration effect of the dubious legal status of the trade. Following repeated requests from the motor-cabs, moped taxis have been prohib-ited. One may well wonder whether this prohibition is not more or less con-sciously aiming at reinforcing the precariousness of the apprentices' status as well as the power of elders

Apprenticeship · Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Hierarchy · Labour economics · Paternalism · Political science · Sight · Sociology · Taxis · Transport engineering · Wonder · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Engineering · French Urban and Social Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology