Components of a Moral Economy

Interest, Credit, and Debt in Haiti's Transnational Health Care System

Bibliographic Data

ID2258722
AuthorsPierre Minn (Department of Anthropology Université de Montréal Montreal QC H3T 1N8 Canada, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume118
Issue1
Pages78-90
Publication date2016-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Anthropologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7294 • E-ISSN: 1548-1433
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aman.12500
OpenAlexW2318435294
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited26

The concept of "moral economy" has garnered the attention of anthropologists for its juxtaposition of two central dimensions of human experience that are often treated as distinct realms. However, the concept's analytic potential remains limited, in part because of the challenges in identifying what specifically a moral economy might comprise or entail. I suggest that articulating components of moral economies-in this case interest, credit, and debt-brings into relief some of the more subtle features of social processes that involve diverse resources, transfers, and calculations. Specifically, I use this approach to examine the provision of health services in Haiti by foreign clinicians and the emigration of Haitian health professionals, drawing on ethnographic research conducted in and around the city of Cap-Haïtien. I illustrate how moral economies exist through actions, experiences, and representations, and I shed light on less conspicuous dimensions of international medical interventions, humanitarianism, and "brain drain

Debt · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Emigration · Ethnography · Health care · Moral economy · Political economy · Political science · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Finance · Law · Migration, Identity, and Health · Psychology · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies