Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

Final Report/Synopsis of Research Results:

Uncertainty sets the tempo within which many people manage their economy in the highlands of Chiapas. Unpredictable climate, unreliable government policies and uncertain markets make planning ahead difficult. Their day to day calculations take into account the consideration that they might not have access to critical resources in the immediate future. In studying indigenous families' chiapasfinancial practices in two towns –Amatenango and Zinacantán— in the Chiapas highlands, we encountered a complex intertwining of economies, some drawing heavily on tradition, others aiming at “development”, but most, pursuing mixed strategies in their struggle to get by. The region is classified, according to official statistics, as one of the poorest of the state, which in turn is one of the poorest of the country. During our fieldwork, we made an extra effort to tease out monetary and non-monetary calculations from conversations and the observation of everyday life transactions. People were quite open in providing us numbers concerning costs and prices, but these did not always add up in a way that made sense to us. Frequently it was the time dimension of their calculations that we had to understand, but most often we had to come to grips with the social and cultural framework within which these were construed. Here, like in many other settings all over the world, arithmetic is signified in the light of beliefs, fears and hopes.