Studies on market trader activism in Africa routinely approach traders' claims-making practices from the perspective of the state's regime of signifying order, in relation to which opposition simply seeks to render itself “legible” (Scott 1998). In contrast, this dissertation contends that one must pay close attention to the multiple significations of order and disorder that exist in any social situation and which, through their continuous permeation, fuel transformations of normative plausibilities and, by extension, of the grounds for claims. With a grounding in the theory of the social and political quality of time, I show how the idea of coeval temporalities sensitises observers to the multiple sources of significations of order and disorder – particularly, with regard to subjects' relation to authority – and their creative adaptation in the moment of temporal convergence. The central marketplace of Accra, the capital of Ghana, provides the context for this study. My empirical analysis of this social arena that is closely connected to global flows of people, capital, consumer items and, inevitably, ideas, including those related to order and associated grounds of entitlement adds to the underappreciated theoretical strand the actor-centred process of translation that engenders creative adaptations between converging coeval temporalities.

Engaging Space focuses on arranging as means to engage with space. The adaptive arrangements and spatial negotiations of street vendors provide the stimulus for my inquiry. Noticing the various ways vendors constantly engage spatially has led me to observe the ways spatial practices are adapted to suit various requirements. What might I learn, as an interior practitioner, from the spatial practices of street vendors? How might this be applied to an interior practice, to inform an understanding of adaptive methods to engage with space? Undertaking a practice of vendoring, the projects then become engaging spaces - exploring a practice of arranging to produce interiors.

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This dissertation traces the history of Mexico City’s municipal markets from a patchwork of sites of customary trade dating from the colonial era to a network of state-controlled modernist halls in the 1950s. It shows how, as small-scale vendors of tomatoes, straw hats, charcoal and all manner of every-day necessities plied their trade and fought to protect their livelihoods, their interactions with the government and other social groups and classes transformed the city’s markets and shaped the contours of popular politics in modern Mexico. More broadly, it uncovers vendors’ role in the dual process of economic development and state formation. / History

Whether in the rich Western countries, or the Southern Hemisphere developing countries, street trading is a socio-economic phenomenon which provides employment to millions of poor and marginalised communities, allowing them to survive despite socio-economic and political constraints. Well aware that their empowerment cannot come or be initiated except by themselves, they find in organising an empowerment will-power which triggers collective action toward influencing change of institutional practices and processes which often marginalise and put them under unnecessary pressure. In this environment, street traders’ organisations’ role tends to be limited to meeting the direct causes of their current concerns as crises arise and therefore leave in the oblivion deep causes which lead to their marginalisation. Weakened by their constituencies’ economic situation, they often fall into fatalism and often become easy-targets and victims of non-inclusive municipal processes. By organising and building strong organisations they are likely to emancipate themselves from exploitative practices and processes and to claim a share in matters concerning their interests as equal stakeholders without any discrimination or exploitation but for the sake of empowering disadvantaged communities. Therefore the choice of this study was instructed by the feeling that empowered street traders’ organisations in Durban-CBD can play a major role towards the integration of street traders in the city socio-economic framework. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-142). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Proefschrift--Amsterdam. / Bibliography: p. 311-327.

Zugl.: Tübingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2005.