10/07/18 The market between disorder and informal organization

Before I go to bed after a long Xela day, I eat a banana which I bought at the Mercado Minerva this afternoon. Xela has two big city markets. Minerva is the biggest. Its name comes from a structure that looks like a Greek temple towering over the entrance. It is also called El Terminal because of a noisy and bustling bus station at the other end. In between you find a labyrinth of alleys, small buildings and stalls, that make up the market. It is in many ways a typical Latin American market but its chaotic make-up and variety of activities gives it a unique character: Something between a North African zouk and a Brazilian favela!

Indigenous women sell all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Some of the fruits come from farther away, but most of the vegetables are produced at the outskirts of the city. The enormous radish and broccoli testify to the region’s fame of harbouring some of the most fertile agricultural land in the world. The small alleys are filled with customers and boys with wheel barrows who bring and take products. The inside part of the market is solidly covered. Outside vendors protect themselves against the rain and the sun by makeshift plastic covers that blow in the wind.

Despite the chaotic and unregulated appearance it is easy to see an ‘order’. Some stalls are almost like little shops or are located on the best spots. Towards the periphery, poor women sit on the cement to sell small quantities of tomatoes or lychee. In between, young people walk around selling odd products like ice cream or computer cables.

There is no doubt about the economic importance of the market, both for the city, the consumers and the vendedores. The absence of any form of visible regulation is therefore remarkable. The office that regulates the market has four paid officials. The order is mostly ‘informal’ - some people say ‘illegal’ - based on informal agreements between sindicatos of market vendors and officials.

The local press, shop owners, residents and local entrepreneurs regularly complain about the informality of the markets. Some of their complaints are real. A deadly fire inside the Minerva market last year testifies to that, just as the dangerous traffic situations everyone can see. But they ignore the informal organization within the markets, the varied ways in which it allows the market to keep functioning every day. Can we understand these processes through the concept of the commons? That is the question we try to answer!

Michiel Baud