... to my knowledge, there is no social scientist alive who is more adroit than Professor King at painting a vivid, detailed picture of what actually goes on. -
- Walter Elkan, DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW
... could profitably be read by those concerned with the current problems of African industry, and the development of appropriate policies in the small or larger-scale sectors. -
- Ian Livingstone, JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES
... This is a formidable book, essential reading for anyone seeking to get beyond the policy- and project-centred literature.
INTERNATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS JOURNAL
The great merit of Jua Kali Kenya is that it gives these invisible people a voice. The bulk of the book is devoted to brief case studies of individuals who tell their stories in their own words. Reading them, one learns more about the informal sector than could be learned from a stack of experts' reports. -
- John Markakis, DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE
This book clearly demonstrates that the informal sector is alive and kicking in Africa but its fate and progress cannot and should not be separated from the fate of the modern sector and the global economy. -
- Mahmood Messkoub, LUCAS BULLETIN
In this remarkable book Kenneth King brings the subject alive through the photographs and life histories of the jua kali people.
DSA NEWSLETTER
The case studies are the heart of this book providing rich diachronic material on the lived experience of actors in the jua kali sector revealing them as innovative, hard working and flexibly adaptive. -
- Nici Nelson, JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES