Riches from rags or persistent poverty? A critical discussion of the Urban livelihoods of used-clothing traders in Mozambique

Abstract

This paper examines the international trade in used clothes to Africa through a Global Production Network approach. The trade depends on used-clothing commodities being (re)produced from unwanted clothing in high-income countries and being exported and re-valued in Africa. A network of charitable and capitalist exchange links the richest and poorest peoples in accidental intimacy as garments are re-worn. Used-clothing traders’ livelihoods in Maputo, Mozambique are inherently linked to globalization processes. The economic geography of the production of used-clothing commodities in the United Kingdom is investigated and the import and retail of used-clothing in Maputo is mapped. The livelihoods of used clothing traders and their business strategies are explored. Within global used-clothing networks there are differential capitalisation, positionalities and power relations of market participants. Informal traders’ businesses are risky and they have low levels of influence and agency, inhibiting their ability to organise and their opportunities for representation.