New insights on trust, honour and networking in informal entrepreneurship: Zimbabwean malayishas as informal remittance couriers

Abstract

The paper focuses on the utility of the concepts of trust and honour in understanding relations among Zimbabwean remittance couriers who are popularly known as “malayishas”. Trust and honour are explored in relation to how they produce and sustain a culture of networking and cooperation on the one hand and competition and conflict on the other. The paper's arguments are largely informed by Bourdieu's ideas on social action, particularly his emphasis on the dynamism of social action and how in practice it is manifested through various forms of capital. The study reveals a dynamic picture when it comes to malayisha-malayisha relations on the one hand and malayisha-remitter relations on the other. In the various spheres of interaction among actors, relations are inherently informed by social, cultural and economic capital. In this case, elements of trust and honour are evident in processes surrounding the creation and strengthening of networks and ties manifest in the remittance transportation trail.