Martin Fotta
Supervisors: Roger Sansi-Roca; Frances Pine
Research Project
Gypsies in the Market: Nomadic economic strategies of the Calons in Brazil
The study explores the functioning of the nomadic economy across the interior of Bahia, Brazil, where the Gypsies – the Calons - have become important money lenders. My research investigates how the Calons earn their living, develop a social organization of subsistence and create value through this recognized niche. It shows how the indigenous form of credit functions in the interface of various local economies, while remaining at the outside of official economy and localized social relations. Such exploration from the point of view of an endogamous community of service providers offers an opportunity to examine alternative adaptation of subaltern people unequal and unstable economic conditions and the functioning of rural credit institutions.