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8 “Earning Money as the Wheels Turn Around”: Cycle-rickshaw Drivers and Wageless Work in Dhaka

Abstract

Jamal1 had just arrived in Dhaka when I met him at a rickshaw garage on the outskirts of the city. It was the summer of 2017 and the ongoing monsoon rains were causing excessive flooding all over Bangladesh. Jamal told me that the floods had compelled him to leave behind his home village in the coastal area of Satkhira. As our conversation unfolded, it became clear that such rural–urban journeys had been common throughout his working life. Jamal first came to Dhaka in 2004 to sell fish at one of the city’s wholesale markets. After four years he fell into trouble as the growing number of hartals (political strikes),2 exploding petrol bombs and street fires that heralded Bangladesh’s national election made it impossible to operate a business in Dhaka city. The political mayhem resulted in deliveries being held up and fresh fish going bad. Jamal decided to change strategies and started working as a vendor, selling cheap jewellery and cosmetics on the streets of Dhaka for over a year. However, the political turmoil persisted and after a while Jamal was forced to move back to the countryside. For some time, he could not bring himself to work at all. His lost investments and failed entrepreneurial endeavours had left him depressed and broke. With time, Jamal managed to pull himself back together and established a fish farm in his home village. However, the heavy monsoon rains and ensuing floods dealt him another blow by damaging part of his fish stock. To make up for his losses, he decided to spend four months in Dhaka to earn some extra cash as a cycle-rickshaw driver. His brother, a former rickshaw puller himself, introduced Jamal to the garage from where he rented his rickshaw.

Abstract

Jamal1 had just arrived in Dhaka when I met him at a rickshaw garage on the outskirts of the city. It was the summer of 2017 and the ongoing monsoon rains were causing excessive flooding all over Bangladesh. Jamal told me that the floods had compelled him to leave behind his home village in the coastal area of Satkhira. As our conversation unfolded, it became clear that such rural–urban journeys had been common throughout his working life. Jamal first came to Dhaka in 2004 to sell fish at one of the city’s wholesale markets. After four years he fell into trouble as the growing number of hartals (political strikes),2 exploding petrol bombs and street fires that heralded Bangladesh’s national election made it impossible to operate a business in Dhaka city. The political mayhem resulted in deliveries being held up and fresh fish going bad. Jamal decided to change strategies and started working as a vendor, selling cheap jewellery and cosmetics on the streets of Dhaka for over a year. However, the political turmoil persisted and after a while Jamal was forced to move back to the countryside. For some time, he could not bring himself to work at all. His lost investments and failed entrepreneurial endeavours had left him depressed and broke. With time, Jamal managed to pull himself back together and established a fish farm in his home village. However, the heavy monsoon rains and ensuing floods dealt him another blow by damaging part of his fish stock. To make up for his losses, he decided to spend four months in Dhaka to earn some extra cash as a cycle-rickshaw driver. His brother, a former rickshaw puller himself, introduced Jamal to the garage from where he rented his rickshaw.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Notes on Contributors viii
  5. Introduction: Work Beyond the Wage 1
  6. Ruptures
  7. “Shit Wages” and Side Hustles: Ordinary Working Lives in Nairobi, London and Berlin 23
  8. The Work of Looking for Work: Surviving Without a Wage in Austerity Britain 45
  9. Seeking Attachment in the Fissured Workplace: External Workers in the United States 71
  10. Resignations
  11. Wilful Resignations: Women, Labour and Life in Urban India 95
  12. “Be Your Own Boss”: Entrepreneurial Dreams on the Urban Margins of South Africa 115
  13. Work Outside the Hamster’s Cage: Precarity and the Pursuit of a Life Worth Living in Catalonia 139
  14. Choosing to Be Unfree? The Aspirations and Constraints of Debt-bonded Brick Workers in Cambodia 163
  15. Struggles
  16. “Earning Money as the Wheels Turn Around”: Cycle-rickshaw Drivers and Wageless Work in Dhaka 187
  17. Going Gojek, or Staying Ojek? Competing Visions of Work and Economy in Jakarta’s Motorbike Taxi Industry 211
  18. “I Voted Bolsonaro for President”: Street Vending and the Crisis of Labour Representation in Belo Horizonte, Brazil 233
  19. Possibilities
  20. Extra-ordinary: Crisis, Charity and Care in London’s World without Work 257
  21. Defending the Wage: Visions of Work and Distribution in Namibia 277
  22. Index 295
Beyond the Wage
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Beyond the Wage
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529208948-011

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Notes on Contributors viii
  5. Introduction: Work Beyond the Wage 1
  6. Ruptures
  7. “Shit Wages” and Side Hustles: Ordinary Working Lives in Nairobi, London and Berlin 23
  8. The Work of Looking for Work: Surviving Without a Wage in Austerity Britain 45
  9. Seeking Attachment in the Fissured Workplace: External Workers in the United States 71
  10. Resignations
  11. Wilful Resignations: Women, Labour and Life in Urban India 95
  12. “Be Your Own Boss”: Entrepreneurial Dreams on the Urban Margins of South Africa 115
  13. Work Outside the Hamster’s Cage: Precarity and the Pursuit of a Life Worth Living in Catalonia 139
  14. Choosing to Be Unfree? The Aspirations and Constraints of Debt-bonded Brick Workers in Cambodia 163
  15. Struggles
  16. “Earning Money as the Wheels Turn Around”: Cycle-rickshaw Drivers and Wageless Work in Dhaka 187
  17. Going Gojek, or Staying Ojek? Competing Visions of Work and Economy in Jakarta’s Motorbike Taxi Industry 211
  18. “I Voted Bolsonaro for President”: Street Vending and the Crisis of Labour Representation in Belo Horizonte, Brazil 233
  19. Possibilities
  20. Extra-ordinary: Crisis, Charity and Care in London’s World without Work 257
  21. Defending the Wage: Visions of Work and Distribution in Namibia 277
  22. Index 295
Heruntergeladen am 21.5.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.56687/9781529208948-011/html?lang=de
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