Les acteurs de l’économie informelle dans l’arène politique: l’utilisation stratégique de l’espace politique par les taxis-motos au Bénin

Assouma, K. (2022)

Doctoral Thesis

This is an empirical contribution to the study of the implications of political engagement for the social and political lives of informal workers in the Global South, by exploring the world of the taxi-moto drivers (zemidjan) in Benin. The ethnographic research methodology mobilized a variety of sources for comparing the associational and political dynamics of the zemidjan in several towns (Cotonou, Parakou, Natitingou, and Kandi).
The central preoccupation of this research has been to explain the perception among the zemidjan that their working and living conditions have not improved, despite their strategic use of the political sphere by way of the leaders of their diverse organisations. The main results show that despite their efforts to access certain platforms, the influencing capacity of the leaders in public decision making bodies is limited. This does not preclude that collective initiatives of the zemidjan have brought significant improvements to the corporation over time.
It was highlighted that beyond those convincing gains facilitated by zemidjan engagement in the political arena, their insatisfaction is rather linked to the non-realisation of profound aspirations for a professional reconversion in order to improve their social status due to the negative connotation which makes zemidjan a "profession by default".

• Informal economy
• Moto taxi ‘zemidjan’
• Elite
• Clientelism
• Political leverage
• Benin

• All authors: Assouma, K.
• Supervisor: Dietz, A.J.; Kaag, M.M.A.; Bako Arifari, N.
• Committee: Dekker, M.; Spierenburg, M.J.; Rubbers, B.; Imorou, A.B.; Pezzano, A.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2022-09-13
• ISBN (print): 9789464218503