“For the Sake of God”: Moral Brokerage, Credibility and the Contested Deservingness of Street Beggars in Freetown

Abstract

This article examines street begging in Freetown as a moral, spatial and epistemic encounter in which material need must become credible before it attracts assistance. Drawing on interviews and field notes involving beggars, traders, religious actors and institutional stakeholders, it combines constructivist grounded theory with standpoint analysis. The four core concepts—moral brokerage, credibility work, the credibility trap and asymmetrical epistemic authority—were generated inductively and subsequently interpreted through theories of social space, capital and intersectionality. The analysis disaggregates gender, age and disability, showing that recognition capital is unevenly distributed: visible impairment, elderly motherhood and the presence of young children make different claims legible while generating distinct risks. It also examines religious and seasonal rhythms, coercive circulation, tensions between begging and trading economies, and the possibility of internal hierarchy and exploitation without romanticising street-level agency. The study argues that deservingness is socially produced through unequal acts of classification and contested access to urban space. It calls for dignified, proportionate assessment, safeguarding and referral systems that connect religious generosity with social support without institutionalising stigma or humiliating claimants.