O xitique e a construção de status - o caso do Mercado Central de Maputo

Abstract

The present work with the theme: "The xitique and the construction of status - the case of the central market Maputo", is an anthropological study that seeks to analyse the factors that lead people to It is an anthropological study that seeks to analyse the factors that lead people to adhere to the xitique in the markets. Based on data collected from the literature and through fieldwork carried out in the Maputo Central Market, where some interviews were also conducted, it was found that the mechanisms of seeking to save money for house building, to keep the business more profitable and to cover a series of The construction of social position, the status of the community, and the need to keep the business profitable are key points in joining Xitique. The construction of social position, the status, in the xitique groups, was another finding that particularly when I took statements from the owners of the stalls and huts inside the Market. inside the market. Based on the study done in the Central Market and other markets in Maputo City we found that the xitique is a bank that moves money between groups of people and they are not subject to interest or other bank charges. We also found that new elites are emerging in the xitique groups within the market, who, based on their elites who, on the basis of their financial power, symbolise a degree of superiority and demonstrate a social position that we call status. Based on direct observation, we found that in addition to economic aspects, which result in the financial solidification of many families, we found the social component, resulting from the solidarity, familiarity and mutual help among the xitique groups in the central market in Maputo.