An Impossible Living in a Transborder World

Culture, Confianza, and Economy of Mexican-Origin Populations

Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780816526352
• eBook ISBN: 9780816501083
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Hispanic American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

They are known as cundinas or tandas in Mexico, and for many people these local savings-and-loan operations play an indispensable role in the struggle to succeed in today's transborder economy. With this extensively researched book, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez updates and expands upon his major 1983 study of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), incorporating new data that reflect the explosion of Mexican-origin populations in the United States. Much more than a study of one economic phenomenon though, the book examines the way in which these practices are part of greater transnational economies and how these populations engage in—and suffer through—the twenty-first century global economy.

Central to the ROSCA is the cultural concept of mutual trust, or confianza. This is the cultural glue that holds the reciprocal relationship together. As Vélez-Ibáñez explains, confianza "shapes the expectations for relationships within broad networks of interpersonal links, in which intimacies, favors, goods, services, emotion, power, or information are exchanged." In a border region where migration, class movement, economic changes, and institutional inaccessibility produce a great deal of uncertainty, Mexican-origin populations rely on confianza and ROSCAs to maintain a sense of security in daily life. How do transborder people adapt these common practices to meet the demands of a global economy? That is precisely what Vélez-Ibáñez investigates.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Transborder and Transnational Dimensions of Culture and Political Economy
• 2. Confianza: Building Block of Social Exchange and the Operational Cycles of ROSCAs
• 3. Social and Cultural Dimensions and Dynamics of Their Class Contexts
• 4. Living at a Slant in the Midst of Megascripts in the Transborder Southwest North American Region: Dos mujeres sin fin
• 5. Crossing Divisions and Social Borders: ROSCAs as Transborder Practices and Their Functions
• 6. Conclusions
• Appendix A: Foreword to Bonds of Mutual Trust
• Appendix B: FYGO
• Appendix C: Six-Person, Thirty-Week Tanda
• Appendix D: Contract of Agreement
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index