Pushcarts and Fountains

Masculinity, Agency and Labour Culture among Water Workers of N'Djamena, Chad

Bibliographic Data

ID3884584
AuthorsIsmaël Maazaz (0009-0006-4397-4309, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume55
Issue5
Pages1051-1077
Publication date2024-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopment and Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/dech.12801
OpenAlexW4389136942
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited55

Waters fountain managers and private porters are essential workers operating in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Striving to supply water to areas and households that do not have connections to Chad's official provider, the Société Tchadienne des Eaux, water workers are subjected to a regulatory framework which complicates already precarious situations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork around water spots in peripheral and working-class neighbourhoods of N'Djamena, this article argues that precariousness and constraints associated with water labour produce a specific form of masculine working culture. This culture combines manifestations of solidarity with a flexible set of unspoken rules and norms. Designed as a response to precarity, harsh constraints and uncertainties, this culture has managed to prevail despite high turnover among workers. It identifies water workers as a distinct socio-economic group. By turning the spotlight on this original, gendered infrastructure of water labour as shaped by workers' solidarity, interaction with customers and struggles against authorities, this article contributes to ongoing academic debates on agency, labour and natural resource management in urban settings

Agency (philosophy) · Economic growth · Economics · Masculinity · Political science · Precarious work · Precarity · Social science · Sociology · Solidarity · Work (physics) · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Engineering · Gender Studies · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Law · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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