The moral economy of labour and resistance to commoditisation in the Matagalpa highlands of Nicaragua

ABSTRACT

Nicaraguan campesinos partially resist the commoditisation of labour through different ways of valuing, pricing and prioritising their work. Resistance is enabled by everyday practices, moral ideologies and social norms regarding labour exchange. Moral norms simultaneously enable safety nets for emergencies and the destitute, and allow people to participate in capitalist labour markets with a degree of autonomy. However, these moral economies disguise class and gender conflicts. This article breaks down the idea that market exchanges are only profit-seeking and gift-giving is solely the product of mutuality: labour exchanges are a contested battlefield, where exploiters can portray themselves as helpers.

KEYWORDS:

• Commoditisation
• fair trade
• food
• labour
• moral economy
• Nicaragua
• subsistence agriculture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A manzana of land (MZ) is equivalent to 0.7 hectares, or 1.74 acres.

2 The colonial history of the Atlantic region and its repercussions on agrarian politics is significantly different to those in the Pacific and Central Highlands of the country. This study cannot claim to represent the histories and everyday realities of campesinos and indigenous peoples in the Atlantic coast. For a good review of the history see Baracco’s latest edited book (2019), and Jamieson’s work (2010, 2003, among others) for ethnographic insights.

3 I here use daughters because most frequently three-generation households are a consequence of single mothers moving back in with their parents, and their children subsequently growing up to a working age, and thus having to help both their mother’s farming as well as their grandparents’.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council: [Grant Number 1013586].

Notes on contributors

Santiago Ripoll

Santiago Ripoll is a social anthropologist based at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. His research focuses on the intersections between ethical values, identity and moral norms and how these shape transformations in food systems. Santiago has carried out ethnographic and participatory research on moral economies and food systems in Nicaragua and the UK.