Anthropos: Anthropos, 97.2002

Anthropos, 97.2002

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Zeitschrift

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714820

Persistenter Identifier:: BV043334262

Titel:: Anthropos

Untertitel:: internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- u. Sprachenkunde

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

Zeitschriftenband

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711749

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-711749

Persistenter Identifier:: 1510221740970

Titel:: Anthropos, 97.2002

Erscheinungsjahr:: 2002

Signatur:: LA 1118

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenheft

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 97, 2002, Heft 1

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenartikel

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: Labor Regime and Social Justice. Consequences of Economic and Social Stratification among Maya Peasants in Central Quintana Roo, Mexico

Sonstige Person:: Hostettler, Ueli

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

114 Ueli Hostettler Anthropos 97.2002 ular household’s capacity to achieve subsistence from the household’s agricultural production. This results in a vicious circle. This situation of “the more they work outside their own milpa, the less they reach subsistence” and “the less they reach subsistence, the more they have to work outside their own milpa,” places an enormous pressure on poor households. 7 On the other hand, kol bet and wage labor serves rich households in consolidating and increasing both their agricultural production and their standard of living. And, as a side effect, it frees labor resources which could be allotted to other tasks of a more diversified household economy. The present-day system of kol bet, then, serves increasingly to maintain and accelerate the stratification process between households rather than functioning as a leveling device to cushion the negative effects harvest loss and subsistence crisis. Conclusions I have emphasized the complexities of the kol bet system. It prevents, adds, and perpetuates differences. The system’s quality of resistance is characterized in the first place by fixed equiva lents between labor and payment. Even when the system increasingly moves from payment in kind to monetary recompenses, the ratio remains tied to the basic exchange of a fixed amount of labor for a fixed amount of grain. This contrasts starkly with wage labor, where rates are defined by “market forces.” Another important aspect is opportunity. Poor and rich agree on the importance of kol bet opportunities. Given the cultural importance of subsistence agriculture and especially of maize (i.e., food and “stuff of life”), kol bet is not simply an economic issue. It also regulates, in terms of need and entitlement, the availability of the basic grain. Many transactions between households in the local context follow a capitalist logic, but when it comes to maize and subsistence this log ic is, at least, partially blocked. Of course, this does not really help poor households to overcome 7 People seek wage labor mainly outside the village. In most cases, wage labor is only a temporary occupation and is adjusted to the schedule of work in the milpa. Younger people, who have not yet established independent households, commonly engage in wage labor for longer periods of time. Frequently they also pursue defined goals such as earning money to finance their marriage. While some years ago only men engaged in wage labor, nowadays also young women work outside the household. They do so mainly in the domestic service. poverty, but it helps to buffer an acute subsistence crisis. This leads to the other side of the coin. The sys tem as a leveling device is preceded by a situation of inequality. Many forms of inequality may have a temporary status. However, once existing differ ences become structurally defined by the broader economic and social system, also needs and op portunities increasingly become defined by broader systems of exploitation and injustice. While kol bet still helps to buffer inequality, at the same time it also contributes to an incipient process of local class formation. However, I have argued that the “takeoff’ of the rich in the local context is mainly the result of their ability to access new and more dynamic forms of income than it is resulting from direct exploitation of the poor. Culturally integrated institutions such as kol bet (among others) help to mediate relationships with the broader capitalist world. 8 This improves the ability of communities such as the Xcacal group to maintain their distinctiveness in the context of ongoing changes. The recent discussion of specific cultural (i.e., Mayan) rights and autonomy in the context of the state of Quintana Roo illustrates that this “distinctiveness” can contribute to a stronger position in the negotiation of a less unjust future. 9 Research for this article was made possible by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and by the institutional support I received from the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS) in Mexico. Both institutions are grate fully acknowledged. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1998 Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association (Chicago, September 24-26, 1998). I am indebted to Susanne C. lost and Paul Sullivan for helpful comments and suggestions but, of course, keep the responsibility for all errors of judgment in this article. Finally, I wish to thank the people of Yaxley for their hospitality and support. 8 One of the most important buffers in this context is “free” (i.e., wealth-independent) access to the land which is the most important resource. Although land use is regulated to day by the ejido legislation, it also reflects older indigenous concepts based on usufruct rights rather than on private property. I have discussed these issues in some details elsewhere (Hostettler 2001). 9 See Diario de Yucatán, May 20, 1998 “Jerarcas mayas piden a Villanueva Madrid [the state governor] que los indígenas tengan mayor presencia en el gobierno. Quieren respuestas por escrito, ‘no sólo de palabra’” and Reforma, May 20, 1998 “Acepta Villanueva autonomía indígena.” This pro cess ended in the “Ley de Derechos Humanos, Cultura y Organización Indígena del Estado de Quintana Roo” which was approved unanimously by the local parliament on July 30, 1998.

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