Financialisation and the Calon-Gypsies in Bahia

The Bankers of the Backlands: Financialisation and the Calon-Gypsies in Bahia Martin Fotta Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a PhD in Social Anthropology Goldsmiths College, University of London I hereby certify that the work presented in this thesis is my own. 2 ABSTRACT In recent decades, a population of Gypsies, Ciganos , living in Bahia, who call themselves Calon, have been specializing in lending money on interest. The thesis argues that the development of Cigano money-lending niche is a Calon assimilation of recent changes brought about by monetization of daily life transforming the Bahian tradition of seeing them as trickster-figures. Several recent developments have increased demand for cash in the Bahian interior and small-town life is now characterized by a dense financial net of various credit/debt forms – formal and informal, novel and traditional. In this context Ciganos-as-moneylenders are one of many existing credit institutions. Going beyond the “demand side”, the thesis explores Calon concepts and social organization of credit. It argues that money in money-lending serves both as a medium of exchange, and as a way to create an environment for Calon social reproduction. Through manipulating pragmatics of credit/debt Calon forge themselves as moral persons and create proper sociality. 3 CONTENTS LIST OF MAPS, TABLES, FIGURES AND PICTURES ............................................ 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 11 NOTES ON TEXT .......................................................................................................... 15 PROTAGONISTS OF THE THESIS ........................................................................... 16 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 19 “T HE BANKERS OF THE SERTÃO ”................................................................................... 19 FINANCIALISATION AND CREDIT /D EBT .......................................................................... 22 CIGANO MONEY -LENDING NICHE .................................................................................. 28 CIGANOS AND CALON , BRASILEIROS AND JURÓNS ........................................................ 33 FIELDWORK SETTING ..................................................................................................... 37 ON METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 42 THESIS OUTLINE ............................................................................................................. 49 I. GYPSIES IN BRAZIL, THE BRAZILIAN GYPSIES: CIGANOS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, HISTORICAL SOURCES AND POPULAR REPRESENTATIONS... 55 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 55 1.1 CIGANOLOGIA BRASILEIRA ...................................................................................... 58 1.2 HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 62 Blasphemers.............................................................................................................. 62 Exiles......................................................................................................................... 64 Highwaymen ............................................................................................................. 67 Itinerant Traders....................................................................................................... 69 Vagabonds................................................................................................................. 74 Degenerates .............................................................................................................. 77 1.3 POPULAR IMAGE ...................................................................................................... 81 4 Cunning Traders ....................................................................................................... 82 Child Thieves ............................................................................................................ 84 Fortune-tellers .......................................................................................................... 87 Tricksters................................................................................................................... 89 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 92 II. FINANCIALISATION AND THE PROLIFERATION OF LOCAL FORMS OF CREDIT........................................................................................................................... 94 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 94 2.1 ANTHROPOLOGY OF MONEY AND DEBT IN BRAZIL ................................................ 100 Personalism vs. Impersonal Money ........................................................................ 100 Beyond Personalism................................................................................................ 102 2.2 THE FINANCIALISATION OF LIFE IN BAHIA ............................................................. 104 Credit Money in the Past ........................................................................................ 104 Democratisation and Neoliberalism....................................................................... 107 2.3 CREDIT INSTITUTIONS ............................................................................................ 109 Proliferation of Local Financial Institutions.......................................................... 109 A Taxonomy of Credit Institutions .......................................................................... 112 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 114 III. “DENSE FINANCIAL LIVES”: MANOEUVRING THE MONEYLENDERS AND OTHER CREDIT INSTITUTIONS.................................................................. 116 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 116 3.1 “D ENSE FINANCIAL LIVES ”, AUTUMN 2009........................................................... 117 Afonso and Malu..................................................................................................... 118 Joana....................................................................................................................... 120 Gilson...................................................................................................................... 123 3.2 AGIOTAS ................................................................................................................ 127 3.3 CIGANOS ................................................................................................................ 132 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 137 5 IV. CALON SPACES: THE EMERGENCE OF SETTLEMENTS THROUGH MOBILITY AND VIOLENCE.................................................................................... 139 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 139 4.1 ORGANISATION OF SETTLEMENTS .......................................................................... 142 The Settlement in Santaluz...................................................................................... 142 Kinship and Settlement Organisation ..................................................................... 145 4.2 SETTLING DOWN AND MOVING ELSEWHERE ......................................................... 151 One Family During Twenty Years .......................................................................... 151 One Settlement in Five Months............................................................................... 157 One Family in One Year ......................................................................................... 162 4. 3 SPACE AND VIOLENCE ........................................................................................... 169 Revenge and Segmentarity...................................................................................... 169 Violent Relations..................................................................................................... 172 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 176 V. “TAKING CARE OF ONE’S LIFE”: HOUSEHOLDS, EMOTIONS AND MONEY ......................................................................................................................... 178 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 178 5.1 STABILISING THE UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENT ........................................................ 184 August 2008: The Richest Calon............................................................................. 184 Negotiating Romero’s Marriage............................................................................. 185 Kiko In Prison........................................................................................................

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