Paper short abstract:

This paper will analyse the social mobility trajectories of construction workers in Douala. The aim is to offer a more detail picture of the dynamics and complexity of African urban economies, as well as the structure of the labour market, beyond the formal and informal divide.

Paper long abstract:

Based on a qualitative survey conducted between 2019 and 2022 in Douala, this paper aims to consider the complexity of the social mobility trajectories of Cameroonian construction workers. By focusing on sectoral logics, it will highlight the specific factors that determine these trajectories together with the actors’ social positions in the social space of the construction sector. This will allow us to better understand how different active figures are led to 'make a career' in this specific sector, by creating and mobilising different forms of resources to seize the opportunities available in the sector. In particular, we will examine the hierarchical structure of the sector, the various forms of social trajectories and the factors that affect them, as well as the dynamics of professional experiences. The later will provide an interesting avenue to question the actors’ social aspirations based on their own discourses. As we will show, these aspirations go beyond the ideal of the 'proper job' and the 'modern wage-earning citizenship', which constitute the hallmarks of the long history of development in Africa. From a theoretical point of view, this reflection offers a more detailed analysis of the dynamics and complexity of African urban economies, as well as the structure of the labour market, beyond the binary oppositions between formal and informal, standard and non-standard.