What are "informal" currencies? How do people transact using both formal and informal currencies? What economic and social calculations do these financial practices entail, for women in particular? For more, read Magdalena Villarreal and Lya Niño new article in Human Organization, "Financial Practices on the Borderlands (la línea) in times of Crisis" based on their IMTFI-funded research on women who frequently travel back and forth between two border cities in Mexico and the United States!
Article Abstract:
Financial practices are not only about money. This paper discusses how people living and working in the Mexico/United States borderlands weave their economic lives by combining, associating, and disassociating formal and “informal” currencies. We base our analysis on transactions carried out by women who commute regularly between the twin cities of Mexicali and Calexico, detailing their financial practices; the frameworks of calculation they employ; and the social, cultural, and financial mechanisms they and their families use to cope with their daily lives. These include the use of monetary and non-monetary calculations and resources, different types of indebtedness and forms of reciprocity. Such findings reveal mistakes in the tenets upon which much anti-poverty and financial aid programs are based. A focus on people's use of particular calculations, resources, and social relations will help substantiate better alternatives that can be implemented in supporting their economies.
Read more on Magdalena Villarreal's research with IMTFI:
Related blogpost for this research "Juggling Currencies in Trans-Border Contexts (Intro)"
Not to be missed--their rich and insightful video:
"Juggling Currencies Across Borders (Mexico/US): An Ethnographic Film"
Not to be missed--their rich and insightful video:
"Juggling Currencies Across Borders (Mexico/US): An Ethnographic Film"
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