Making businesses in the open: coping with economic and institutional risk and insecurity in the Kafue Flats, Zambia

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Periodical article

Title:	Making businesses in the open: coping with economic and institutional risk and insecurity in the Kafue Flats, Zambia
Author:	Haller, Tobias
Year:	2014
Periodical:	Journal des africanistes (ISSN 1957-7850)
Volume:	84
Pages:	60-79
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zambia
Subjects:	risk livelihoods enterprises market economy
Abstract:	This paper deals with the difference between risk and insecurity from an anthropological perspective using a critical New Institutionalist approach. Risk refers to the ability to reduce undesirable outcomes, based on a range of information actors have on possible outcomes; insecurity refers to the lack of this information. With regard to the neo-liberal setting of a resource rich area in Zambia, Central Africa, local actors, men and women, face risk and insecurity in market constellations between rural and urban areas. They attempt to cope with risk using technical means and diversification of livelihood strategies. But as common-pool resources have been transformed from common property institutions to open access, also leading to unpredictability of competitors and partners in 'free' markets, actors rely on magic options to reduce insecurity and transform it into risk-assessing strategies as an adaptation to modem times. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]