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A world of cheapness: Affordability, shoddiness, and second‐best options in Guinea and China

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  • Susanna Fioratta

Abstract

For people who trade and consume low‐priced, low‐quality goods, cheapness shapes their experiences of the world. In Guinea, West Africa, affordable Chinese‐manufactured goods expand the limits of people's everyday lives, while Guinean traders seek their fortunes by traveling to China to buy cheap merchandise. However, shoddy products that break easily often disappoint consumers, and traders find their journeys to China risky and difficult; many of them would migrate elsewhere if they could. Exploring the parallels between traders' and consumers' perspectives, this article considers how cheapness and second‐best options allow people to participate in a globalized economy of manufactured goods, thereby improving their quality of life in ways that work sometimes, but not as well as they would like.

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  • Susanna Fioratta, 2019. "A world of cheapness: Affordability, shoddiness, and second‐best options in Guinea and China," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 86-97, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecanth:v:6:y:2019:i:1:p:86-97
    DOI: 10.1002/sea2.12133
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Basile Ndjio, 2009. "‘Shanghai Beauties’ and African Desires: Migration, Trade and Chinese Prostitution in Cameroon," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 21(4), pages 606-621, September.
    2. Lee, Ching Kwan, 2018. "The Specter of Global China," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226340661, Febrero.
    3. Lee, Ching Kwan, 2018. "The Specter of Global China," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226340838, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo, 2023. "Health Challenges in Everyday Life of Nigerians in Guangzhou City, China," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1477-1497, September.
    2. Edziah, Bless Kofi & Sun, Huaping & Adom, Philip Kofi & Wang, Feng & Agyemang, Andrew Osei, 2022. "The role of exogenous technological factors and renewable energy in carbon dioxide emission reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1418-1428.

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