more notes on:
The Native Leisure Class: Consumption and Cultural Creativity in the Andes
by Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld

Chapters 4-5

The varied strategies of household economies
    -farming
    -weaving
    -trade
    -migratory wage labor

Reciprocity and gift-giving
    -generalized reciprocity
    -balanced reciprocity
    -negative reciprocity

The affective values of things
    -use-value (utility)
    -symbolic value

The un-boundedness of culture
    -cultures and globalization
    -the global archipelago
 

Vocabulary and key topics:

-the stories of Galo and Monica; Celestina and Pedro; Chevrolet and Bread; El Flaco

-casimir

-Cuenca, Tulcan, Cartegena, Bogota, Quito

-mindaláes

-oil boom and construction jobs

-chicha and trago etiquette

-vertical archipelagos and global archipelagos

-Kusawarmi
 

Questions to ponder:

-Is Colloredo-Mansfeld's focus on consumption and on particular objects useful? 

-What is the difference in use-value and symbolic value in material objects (e.g., the Otavalos "souvenirs" from Colombia)?

-What is the "global archipelago" economy?

-How do the ties of compadrazgo serve economic functions?

-What role do "gifts" and "loans" play in Ariasucu household economies?

-How do household employ multiple economic strategies to survive?

-How do traditional cultural traditions, such as the minga, adapt to modern circumstances (e.g., in the Mormon's factory)?

-How do modern "traditions" (such as watching MacGyver) adapt to local circumstances?

-What is the difference between perceived necessities and what people actually use the most in Ariasucu?