Working it out: Labour geographies of the poor in Soweto, South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1: Spatial narratives on potential links of low-income settlements to the wider space economy

Narrative	Work	Potential linkage	Geographic reach	Space
Exclusion	Workless, survivalist self-employment	Virtually non-existent, some potential homeworkers	Remote location, isolation	Constraining, non-economic
Entrepreneurship	Firms and self-employment, entrepreneurship	Informal links, subcontracting networks, backward links to formal economy	Local and wider networks	Enabling
Home-based enterprises (HBEs)	Firms and self-employment	Backward links to formal economy	Local	Enabling but constrained
Apartheid legacy	Domestic service workers	Informal networks, hidden links inside formal economy	Far from residential location	Constraining
Self-help/mutual aid community	Households/informal links, state support	Local, rural and government	Local and elsewhere	Enabling and constraining

Figure 1: Location of study areas in Soweto

Figure 2: Geographies of worlds of workers

Figure 3: Work in firm and non-firm entities

Figure 4: Place and sectoral niches for work

Webster , E . 2005 . Making a living, earning a living: Work and employment in Southern Africa. International Political Science Review . 26 ( 1 ) : 55 – 71 .

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