Claiming the Right to the City

This chapter explores the relationship that street vendors have to the city, arguing that they know the city better than most residents, given their intimate knowledge of its coercive and disciplining aspects. However, in knowing the city, street vendors see its gaps, fissures, and contradictions, allowing them to capitalize on them to contest the boundaries of their industry, gain concessions, and, ultimately, claim their right to belong. Street vendors in Chicago, even undocumented ones, deftly navigate the complexities of city government, while some vendors in Mumbai claim a radical notion of the right to vend in public space, or simply the right to sit.