Paper long abstract:

This paper explores connections that have emerged between vendors who participated in the activities of a vendors association in Zambia. These semi-autonomous functioning networks have been created through initiatives of individual vendors, who used the association's activities to connect with vendors from other parts in Zambia and beyond, and they use these contacts in their everyday lives. Data has been collected through conducting interviews with vendors who are affiliated to this association. The paper theorizes these connections between vendors through the concept of assemblage. Besides the activities of this association, which facilitated the creation of these connections, a central role is fulfilled by modern communication technologies, which primarily enabled flows of information between vendors, thereby allowing vendors to shape new spaces for self-organization. Results also show the ephemerality of these networks and how they relate to the businesses of vendors.