The Articulated Peasant Household Economies In The Andes

Based on Enrique Mayer?s 30 years of research in Peru, this collection of new and revised essays presents in one accessible volume Mayer?s most significant statements on Andean peasant economies from pre-colonial times to the present. The Articulated Peasant is therefore noteworthy as a sustained examination of household economies through changing historical circumstances, while considering also the relationship of the environment to systems of land use, agricultural production, and economic exchange among ecological zones. Though the volume stresses the Andean context, its relevancy is wider. It will resonate with those who are struggling with issues of survival and development in Latin America or elsewhere where units of production and consumption are largely household based. This book is well suited for courses in Andean studies, economic anthropology, human ecology, peasants, and development.

Preface -- The Household in Perspective -- Redistribution and Trade in Inca Society -- A Tribute to the Household: Domestic Economy and the Encomienda in Colonial Peru -- The Rules of the Game in Andean Reciprocity -- Aspects of Barter -- Coca as Commodity: Local Use and Global Abuse -- Alguito Para Ganar (“A Little Something to Earn”): Profits and Losses in Peasant Economies -- Production Zones -- Land Tenure and Communal Control in Laraos -- Household Economies Under Neo-Liberalism

Enrique Mayer is professor of anthropology at Yale University.