Pushcarts and Fountains: Masculinity, Agency and Labour Culture among Water Workers of N'Djamena, Chad

Abstract

Waters fountain managers and private porters are essential workers operating in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Striving to supply water to areas and households that do not have connections to Chad's official provider, the Société Tchadienne des Eaux, water workers are subjected to a regulatory framework which complicates already precarious situations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork around water spots in peripheral and working-class neighbourhoods of N'Djamena, this article argues that precariousness and constraints associated with water labour produce a specific form of masculine working culture. This culture combines manifestations of solidarity with a flexible set of unspoken rules and norms. Designed as a response to precarity, harsh constraints and uncertainties, this culture has managed to prevail despite high turnover among workers. It identifies water workers as a distinct socio-economic group. By turning the spotlight on this original, gendered infrastructure of water labour as shaped by workers’ solidarity, interaction with customers and struggles against authorities, this article contributes to ongoing academic debates on agency, labour and natural resource management in urban settings.