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作者

David Morton

来源

CITIES,Vol.131,Issue1,Article 103897

语言

英文

关键字

Lourenço Marques;Maputo;African consumerism;Middle class;Segregation;Settler-colonialism

作者单位

Department of History, University of British Columbia, 1873 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1, Canada;Department of History, University of British Columbia, 1873 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1, Canada

摘要

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the economy of Lourenço Marques (today's Maputo) was booming, and job opportunities, wages, and labor conditions were improving for many Africans in the colonial capital. And yet, despite rising living standards, the city remained deeply segregated. Most Europeans and Asians were concentrated in the so-called City of Cement, where they enjoyed the amenities of modern urban life. Most Africans were compelled to live in the flood-prone subúrbios, largely without the most basic municipal infrastructure, and they were made to feel unwelcome in the City of Cement, where nearly all the higher-end retail was located. Based on oral histories, memoirs, and newspaper advertisements, this article explores how, during the late colonial period, people in the subúrbios were able to sample the fruits of the emerging consumer culture. By focusing on furniture, the role of sales agents, and the advent of the first supermarket catering to a suburban clientele, I argue that the scholarship of African consumerism in colonial and apartheid contexts must take into account not just how growing incomes allowed greater consumer choice, but also how consumers and retailers navigated segregated space.