ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the foundations of the relatively scientific debate arguing that there is a need of spatializing not only the study of legal norms in society, but also of social norms, in order to account for the interrelations of norms of different types with legal practice and social practice. Starting with the empirical evidence concerning street vending in the city of Acapulco, Mexico, the chapter illustrates the extent to which this social practice is regulated through a dialectics among legal norms, legal practice and social norms and jurisdictional spaces, spatial zoning and territorial spaces. Street vending is considered a highly controversial social practice, particularly in Latin America. Street vendors, to put it simply, are informal traders of goods and services who make use of public spaces to work. They associate street vending with public health risks, tax evasion, unfair competition, pirated products, tourist harassment, traffic congestion, contamination, disorders of all kind, and even organized crime.
