An Anthropological Economy of Debt

223 Pages·2015·0.89 MB·English

by  Bernard Hours

An Anthropological
Economy of Debt
Debt is often thought of as a mere economic variable governed by a simplis-
tic mechanical logic, ignoring its other facets. Whose debt, and debt of what
exactly? This volume analyzes debt as a political and social construct, with
a multiplicity of purposes and agents. All of these are vectors of meanings
that are highly diverse and of subtle distinctions; they show that debt is a
transverse phenomenon, cutting across spaces that are not merely economic
but also domestic, social, and political. Each contributor takes a fresh view
of the subject, dealing with debt at a different time, in a different society, on
a different scale of observation. By adopting a determinedly interdisciplin-
ary approach, the authors reveal in the phenomenon of debt a diversity of
social and gendered determinants that amount in some cases to domination,
allegiance, or slavery and in others to solidarity and emancipation. Debt is
at one and the same time shared, imposed, political, and gendered.
Bernard Hours, anthropologist. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Insti-
tute of Research for Development (IRD) and member of CESSMA (Center
for Research in social sciences in African, Asian and American Worlds) at
Paris Diderot University.
Pepita Ould Ahmed, socio-economist. She is Research Fellow at the Institute
of Research for Development and member of CESSMA at Paris Diderot
University.
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Cortney Hughes Rinker
3 Decolonising Indigenous Rights
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Anthropological Complicities Edited by Bernard Hours
Graham Fordham and Pepita Ould Ahmed
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An Anthropological
Economy of Debt
Edited by Bernard Hours and
Pepita Ould Ahmed
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
Originally published in France under the title
Dette de qui, dette de quoi?
Copyright © L’Harmattan, 2013
The right of the editors to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material,
and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dette de qui, dette de quoi? English
An anthropological economy of debt / edited by Bernard Hours and Pepita
Ould Ahmed.
pages cm. — (Routledge studies in anthropology ; 21)
“Originally published in France under the title Dette de qui, dette de quoi?
[in 2013].”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Debt. 2. Debt—Social aspects. 3. Economic anthropology.
4. Debt. I. Hours, Bernard. II. Ahmed, Pepita Ould. III. Title.
HG3701.D39513 2015
306.3—dc23
2014045745
ISBN: 978-1-138-88883-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71313-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: Debts Shared and Imposed, Political and Gendered 1
BERNARD HOURS AND PEPITA OULD AHMED
2 Paying What One Owes . . . or Carrying Out One’s Obligations 5
PEPITA OULD AHMED
3 Debt: The Price of What, Exactly? 19
BERNARD HOURS
4 Incompatibility and Complementarity of the Chicago
Plan and Alternative Monetary and Financial Mechanisms 33
JEAN-MICHEL SERVET AND TOM MOERENHOUT
5 Why Are Poor People Reluctant to Borrow?
Microcredit in Rural Morocco 57
JEAN-YVES MOISSERON AND PEPITA OULD AHMED
6 Debtors and Creditors: Constructions and
Delegitimization of Powers in Mali 79
F RANÇOISE BOURDARIAS
7 The Indebted State in Algeria: State Demand,
Social Confl ict, and Imaginary Sources of Power 104
LAURENT BAZIN
8 The Imaginary Debt of Communism: Political Confl icts
and Historical Legitimization in Romania 127
A NTOINE HEEMERYCK
viii Contents
9 Indebtedness and Women’s Material, Monetary,
and Imaginary Debts in the Era of Globalized Gender 149
ISABELLE GUÉRIN, MAGALIE SAUSSEY, AND MONIQUE SELIM
10 Debt, or How to Get One’s Neck Out of the Noose 169
TASSADIT YACINE
11 Perceptions of Debt and Microcredit in Senegal 181
E VELINE BAUMANN AND MOUHAMEDOUNE ABDOULAYE FALL
12 Conclusion: Debt Without End 200
B ERNARD HOURS AND PEPITA OULD AHMED
Contributors 203
Index 209
Tables
5.1 Main characteristics of rural areas studied 59
5.2 Two hierarchical orders of social value, two
forms of economic debt 73