The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2687866
AutoresPeter Blanchard, M Taussig (0009-0000-9351-2678), Michael T Taussig
Ano1982
Volume10
Páginas284-313
Data de publicação1982-01-01
Open AccessNão
TipoBOOK
PeriódicoLabour / Le Travail (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0700-3862 • E-ISSN: 1911-4842
EditoraJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/25140174
OpenAlexW2801332239
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1.276

This article explores the complex interplay between indigenous beliefs concerning the devil and the burgeoning capitalist market economy in South America. Blanchard and Taussig analyze how indigenous populations interpret and react to the alienating forces of commodity fetishism, arguing that the devil becomes a symbolic figure representing the perceived evils and inequalities brought about by capitalist expansion. They examine ethnographic examples from various South American societies to demonstrate how the devil is incorporated into existing belief systems to explain the disruptive effects of commodification, wage labor, and market fluctuations. The authors contend that this syncretism reveals not only a resistance to capitalist penetration but also a complex process of cultural adaptation and negotiation in the face of economic transformation

Commodity · Economics · Fetishism · Market economy · Sociology · Anthropology · Borges, Kipling, and Jewish Identity · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance