The “muambeiras” of the underground global commodity chains: the case of African sacoleiras (bag carriers) in the commerce chain between São Paulo (Brás) and Angola

Abstract

This study aims to look at the main sociological and anthropological generation of new expressions of work positioned in contrast to formal employment. It takes as an object the case of "Sacoleiras" of Angola and Guinea Bissau who come to São Paulo to buy consumer goods to be resold in their countries. Located here is process of the feminization of work within the context of spatial mobility of Africans transiting between the internal and external (ie. national and global) urban spaces.