| This research is taken from the perspectives of women who were internal migrants, displaced mainly by the war in Darfur as well as drought. Their divorce and taking up street vending for survival can be traced to global economic restructuring measures taken in Sudan. The analysis was based on open-ended, semi-structured in-depth interviews with fifteen divorced Sudanese women street vendors. Their perceptions of the divorce process and their experience of entrepreneurship were central to revealing the mediated social relations that shaped their street vending work and their mothering. In particular, patriarchal and capitalist relations were found to be responsible for maintaining women at a survivalist level of entrepreneurship despite their use of business practices. Their use of a traditional funding source consisting of money pooled by neighbourhood women for discretionary spending could be seen as a basis for a micro-credit scheme for their business.;The divorced women street vendors indicated their willingness to consider economic and social supports for their street vending businesses but these supports would need to address the intense competition with each other to which street vending exposes them. Under the circumstances in which they worked, their mere survival was an accomplishment. Seen in this light, the possible intervention of NGOs was evaluated through a critical review of the literature. |
