“I am a Hustler”

In this article, I examine how young mothers navigate urban precarity and the interconnected vulnerabilities imbued in the poor urban space. I used collaborative ethnography and worked with young mothers as youth peer researchers to co-create knowledge. Data revealed that young mothers in poor urban locales experience multifaceted vulnerabilities which constrain and limit their choices. They navigate them through an agentic practice called hustling. While I have discussed hustling as a form of agency, I caution against the risk of burdened agency that might ensue and argue, rather, that agency should be understood as a process.