The Weight Women Carry: Research on the Visible and Invisible Baggage in Suitcase Trade between China and Africa

Grounded in ethnographic observations, this article offers a commentary on the visible and invisible dynamics of mobility between China West Central Africa. It follows transnational trajectories African trader women takes stock some weight that these shoulder during trips where goods money are set motion. The materiality transported consumer items shapes traders’ experiences immobility. Trader also must carry immaterial baggage relating to what their mobile, racialized female bodies represent various people they encounter. Specifically, Chinese state general public view as threats social order and, context Ebola COVID-19, health. Our analysis attends scholars metaphorically while conducting research. We devote space addressing our presence White researchers, thus attending methodological opaqueness alongside issues hidden geographies trade migration.