Austerity, luxury and uncertainty in the Indian emerald trade
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2391115 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brian Brazeal (California State University, Chico, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 437-452 |
| Publication date | 2017-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Material Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1359183517715809 |
| OpenAlex | W2663070657 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 9 |
This article examines the bodily practices of austerity in a Jain community that dominates a large portion of the international emerald trade. The material characteristics of emeralds make them refractory towards formal markets. These gemstones are impossible to value with consistency. Prices fluctuate wildly as the stones move from hand to hand and from continent to continent. Among the Jains, bonds forged by kinship and religious observance guarantee international, multi-million dollar contracts in the absence of any legal enforcement mechanism. Religious ethics ensure that people deal with each other in good faith and make good on their debts. These ethics are inculcated in part through bodily practices. The bodily practices of Jain traders also include jewelers' sensual relationships with the stones themselves. The pursuit of salvation through austerity and the pursuit of profit through luxury are conjoined in a community dedicated to making sense of the inscrutable mineral characteristics of emeralds
Austerity · Debt · Economics · Economy · Emerald · Enforcement · Kinship · Law and economics · Liberian dollar · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Speculation · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Finance
Mining
Gemstones and sustainable development
Central Asian crypto-Jews in the global emerald economy
Artisanal opal mining and associated environmental and socio-economic issues in opal mine sites of Wollo province, Ethiopia
Rock climbing as lithic ethnography
After Exploratory Geology
Tracing indium production to the mines of the Cerro Rico de Potosí
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |