Work, Hope and Desperation in African Economies
Panel 02 / Quinto Convegno Nazionale SIAC “SPERARE / DISPERARE / DESIDERARE”
Matera, 25-27 settembre 2025
Proponenti: Alice Bellagamba (Università di Milano – Bicocca), Luca Rimoldi (Università di Milano – Bicocca)
Abstract
The panel explores the multiple forms of work and entrepreneurship in rural and urban contexts in Africa, analysing the ways in which the desire for a better future, the hope for success and/or the despair associated with precarious economic and political conditions are intertwined in daily life. Through ethnographic and historical contributions, we aim to explore how workers, from street vendors to digital entrepreneurs, from farmers to traders, navigate an ever-changing social and economic landscape, often characterised by insecurity, marginality and recurrent crises. The panel aims to explore the role of work as a space for the production and distribution of hope in contexts characterised by structural inequalities and precariousness; to analyse the strategies by which individuals and social groups respond to the dialectic between desire and despair in their actions; to reflect on urban and rural transformations and the renegotiation of social space generated by different forms of entrepreneurship and informal work, taking into account the relationship between expectation, uncertainty and imagination. The panel welcomes papers based on ethnographic research, archival studies and comparative analyses that highlight the complexity of urban and rural economies and the role of work in the construction of imaginative horizons. Participants are invited to reflect on how desire and the risk of failure intersect with global power structures and local economies.
Keywords: Anthropology, Africa, Work, Cities, Rural Areas, Crisis
Lingue accettate: Italiano / English / Français
Per sottomettere un paper scaricare il seguente format e inviarlo a: alice.bellagamba@unimib.it; luca.rimoldi@unimib.it
