Urban livelihoods beyond industrial ruins : the birth of an informal night-time economy in Norton, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper focuses on Norton town, Zimbabwe, which was left in ruins after its industry succumbed to deindustrialisation as key industries closed. With rising unemployment and urban poverty, residents innovated and devised alternative livelihood strategies. This study explores several informal and innovative night-time economic activities : night vending, home-based industries, informal fishing, sand and quarry mining, transport, and the night-time leisure economy, among others that residents in Norton adopted. It unpacks the organisation of these activities and the logics behind going nocturnal. For their courage and ability to re-invent their livelihoods, we present the residents using the lens of Long’s Actor-oriented theory by framing them as social actors and agents of change working hard to find solutions to their challenges. Data was collected using ethnographic methods of interviews, night-time observations, and informal conversations. Our results show that Norton became a nocturnal hub of informal entrepreneurial innovation and creativity. This was a result of governance factors, due to daytime load-shedding (energy cuts), night-time leisure activities and as a way of working hard to survive in a difficult economic environment.