Paper short abstract:

The article examines various moments in the operation of an illegal support network formed by business people in one of the Kibera slum's streets. It indicates that the existence of this network creates a sense of ontological security for its members and their sense of stability toward the future.

Paper long abstract:

More than 60% of the urban population in Africa lives in slums. In these places, conditions originally conceptualized as temporary, i.e., a state of peculiar uncertainty, are part of daily life. Functioning there is made possible by a variety of informal support networks that ultimately keep these places stable for decades. The purpose of this article is to explore the moments of imagining, constructing, negotiating and contesting such complex networks.

The support network created by Kibera residents running their businesses on one of the streets of the slum was used as an example. In addition to official business, some of them also run illegal ones, which forces them to establish relationships with government officials beyond the slum's borders. Together, they create a circulation of goods (steal and sell the same resource over and over again) that allows them to exist in the reality of the "here and now," while maintaining the status quo of the slum. Support, however, goes beyond the business sphere and is reflected in the system of mutual private care.

The findings are based on more than two years of participatory observation. They indicate that the different moments of existence of the network studied, create for its members a relative sense of ontological security in their sense of stability towards an imagined future. The article contributes to the broader discussion of social networks in insecure areas of Africa and other parts of the Global South by deconstructing the network and highlighting the role of time perception.