No description available.

Empresas startup simbolizam o epicentro de narrativas sobre o capitalismo contemporâneo. Essas organizações enxutas, aceleradas através de capital de risco e articuladas por meio de uma lógica de eficácia especulativa passaram a representar o que existe de mais novo na paisagem empresarial. Iniciativas como essas emergem a partir de um pano de fundo de profunda reestruturação de dinâmicas produtivas relacionadas a regimes de acumulação flexível. O que significa ser um empreendedor na paisagem de negócios formada por empresas startup no Brasil? Essa é a pergunta que norteou o trabalho de pesquisa etnográfica que serve como base para essa tese, fruto de um trabalho de campo entre os anos de 2014 e 2017, no Brasil e no Reino Unido com jovens empreendedores e suas redes de investidores, consultores e experts ao longo do processo de concepção, estruturação e operação de suas empresas. Meu interesse é compreender o processo concreto através do qual alguém se torna um empreendedor dentro dessa paisagem específica de ação econômica, especialmente como a lógica startup se torna uma forma de ser e estar no mundo. / Start-up companies symbolize the epicenter of narratives about contemporary capitalism. These lean organizations, accelerated by venture capital and articulated through a logic of speculative effectiveness have come to represent the edge of business. Initiatives such as these take shape amidst profound changes related to the restructuring of productive forces under flexible accumulation regimes. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur in Brazil’s contemporary start-up ecossystem? This question guided the ethnographic research that serves as the basis for this thesis, conducted between Brazil and the United Kingdom during the years of 2014 and 2017 among young entrepreneurs and networks of investors, consultants and experts in the making of their own start-up companies. My interest is to understand the concrete process through which one becomes an entrepreneur within this particular landscape of economic action, especially how the startup mindset becomes embeded in their ways of being in the world.

Cette recherche verse sur les tongs Havaianas qui sont faites au Brésil et commercializes internationalement, comme une chose vivante et qui detient une biographie culturelle. La dissertation augmente cette notion de vie des Havaianas pour sommer les processus d’agencement et les qualifications qui les construisent comme un produit et lui confère d’identité. L’objet de l’investigation a été la reconstitution certains de ces processus dont les tongs ont été soumis à transformer en Havaianas. L’argument du travail est sur un referencial théorique qui discute les agencements marchands, en considérant la multidimensionalité des aspect qui singularisent les tongs et ont été décisifs dans la transformation de cette commodity dans un bien de luxe. Sa trajectoire, dés la création en 1962, est analysée par quatre agencies: la publicité, le design, la compétition e les utilisateurs. Le étude sur le terrain n’est pas centre dans une seule region géographique à cause de l’amplitude du thème, mais Il est surtout donné dans lês points de vente des Havaianas qui agissent dans la consommation populaire et dans la consommation de luxe, dans les villes de São Paulo et Porto Alegre. / Esta pesquisa aborda os chinelos Havaianas, fabricados no Brasil e comercializados internacionalmente, como coisa que possui vida e detém uma biografia cultural. A dissertação amplia essa noção da vida da Havaianas para incluir os processos de agenciamento e as qualificações que a constroem enquanto produto e conferem identidade. O objeto da investigação foi a reconstituição de alguns desses processos a que os chinelos de tiras foram sujeitos até se transformarem em Havaianas. O argumento do trabalho está assentado em um referencial teórico que discute os agenciamentos mercadológicos, considerando a multidimensionalidade dos aspectos que singularizam os chinelos e foram decisivos na transformação dessa commodity em um bem de luxo. Sua trajetória, desde a criação em 1962, é analisada por meio de quatro agências: a publicidade, o design , a concorrência e os usuários. O trabalho de campo não está centrado em uma única região geográfica, devido à amplitude do tema, mas deu-se principalmente em pontos de venda da Havaianas que operam tanto no consumo popular como no de luxo, nas cidades de Porto Alegre e São Paulo. / This research discusses the Havaianas flip flops, manufactured in Brazil and internationally marketed as something that has a life and a cultural biography. The dissertation extends the idea of an Havaianas' life to include the agency processes and qualifications that build it as a product and give them identity. The investigation object was the reconstitution of some of these processes to which flip flops were subjected until turn into Havaianas. The argument is based in a theoretical framework that discusses the market agencements considering the multidimensionality aspects that singularizes the slippers and were decisive in the transformation of this commodity into a luxury good. Its trajetory, since launched in 1962 is analyzed through four agencies: advertising, design, competition and users. Field work is not centered on a single geographic place, due to the extent of the subject, but mostly took place in Havaianas sales points that operates both in popular consumption as in luxury, in the cities of Porto Alegre and São Paulo.

Cette recherche verse sur les tongs Havaianas qui sont faites au Brésil et commercializes internationalement, comme une chose vivante et qui detient une biographie culturelle. La dissertation augmente cette notion de vie des Havaianas pour sommer les processus d’agencement et les qualifications qui les construisent comme un produit et lui confère d’identité. L’objet de l’investigation a été la reconstitution certains de ces processus dont les tongs ont été soumis à transformer en Havaianas. L’argument du travail est sur un referencial théorique qui discute les agencements marchands, en considérant la multidimensionalité des aspect qui singularisent les tongs et ont été décisifs dans la transformation de cette commodity dans un bien de luxe. Sa trajectoire, dés la création en 1962, est analysée par quatre agencies: la publicité, le design, la compétition e les utilisateurs. Le étude sur le terrain n’est pas centre dans une seule region géographique à cause de l’amplitude du thème, mais Il est surtout donné dans lês points de vente des Havaianas qui agissent dans la consommation populaire et dans la consommation de luxe, dans les villes de São Paulo et Porto Alegre. / Esta pesquisa aborda os chinelos Havaianas, fabricados no Brasil e comercializados internacionalmente, como coisa que possui vida e detém uma biografia cultural. A dissertação amplia essa noção da vida da Havaianas para incluir os processos de agenciamento e as qualificações que a constroem enquanto produto e conferem identidade. O objeto da investigação foi a reconstituição de alguns desses processos a que os chinelos de tiras foram sujeitos até se transformarem em Havaianas. O argumento do trabalho está assentado em um referencial teórico que discute os agenciamentos mercadológicos, considerando a multidimensionalidade dos aspectos que singularizam os chinelos e foram decisivos na transformação dessa commodity em um bem de luxo. Sua trajetória, desde a criação em 1962, é analisada por meio de quatro agências: a publicidade, o design , a concorrência e os usuários. O trabalho de campo não está centrado em uma única região geográfica, devido à amplitude do tema, mas deu-se principalmente em pontos de venda da Havaianas que operam tanto no consumo popular como no de luxo, nas cidades de Porto Alegre e São Paulo. / This research discusses the Havaianas flip flops, manufactured in Brazil and internationally marketed as something that has a life and a cultural biography. The dissertation extends the idea of an Havaianas' life to include the agency processes and qualifications that build it as a product and give them identity. The investigation object was the reconstitution of some of these processes to which flip flops were subjected until turn into Havaianas. The argument is based in a theoretical framework that discusses the market agencements considering the multidimensionality aspects that singularizes the slippers and were decisive in the transformation of this commodity into a luxury good. Its trajetory, since launched in 1962 is analyzed through four agencies: advertising, design, competition and users. Field work is not centered on a single geographic place, due to the extent of the subject, but mostly took place in Havaianas sales points that operates both in popular consumption as in luxury, in the cities of Porto Alegre and São Paulo.

The Andean Late Horizon (ca. AD 1438–1532) was a period of exceptionally rapid and far-reaching cultural change. Over this short span of only a few generations, the Inka ethnic group established an empire that was greater in size than any other pre-colonial American polity. The Inka accomplished their expansion without the use of certain institutions (i.e., a standing army, formal writing system, monetary system, or price-setting markets) that the received anthropological wisdom has long held as being necessary preconditions to imperial expansion. Standard explanations of Late Horizon culture change tend to overemphasize the roles of environmental constraints, social evolution, and economistic motives. In this thesis, I analyze Inka expansion beginning with the assumption that “value” was an assessment of socially-integrating creative action, rather than of objects to be exchanged and accumulated (cf. Graeber 2001). I determine that the Inkaic Late Horizon was motivated by pursuits of “vitality,” or the capacity to effect change in pacha—an Andean concept of the world as a mutable coalescence of time, space, and matter. Vitality was not captured through the production or accumulation of goods, but through intensifying their production and circulation. I conclude that Late Horizon political economy in the Xauxa-Pachacamac axis can best be understood as a socially-stratified “gift economy” in which what was ultimately transferred were not objects, but vitality.

No description available.

Text in English with abstracts in English, isiZulu, Northern Sotho and Tshivenda / This study explores the phenomenon of stokvels − membership-based savings schemes providing for the social and financial wellbeing of their members as well as entertainment (Lukhele, 1990). The purpose of the study is to identify the existence of a different kind of economy that is not informed by the capitalist logic. The study aims to examine the values that underpin stokvels and to locate them within a particular socio-cultural and historical context. This is a qualitative research study and my research approach included fieldwork, participant observation, in-depth interviews and the procedure of genealogy. The study, employing these methods, has enabled me to draw a connection between the Khumalo clan - the generation of Mzilikazi Khumalo who was a friend to King Shaka and is argued to have played a pivotal role in building what is known as the Zulu nation today – and my uncles. In the six months I spent at Esihlengeni, a small village in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, I interviewed 27 people, attended two funerals, one family ritual and conducted two focus group discussions with stokvel women. I found that stokvels are not centred on an African epistemic framework as anticipated in the problem statement but are still within the capitalist logic of profit and thus do not draw from the community’s traditional values. While stokvels are informed by the dominant capitalist logic, the community of Esihlengeni still draws from their cosmological worldview that provides them with a different understanding of the economy that is centred on cattle – the means that allow them to perform rituals that guarantee protection and continuity of life - to make sense of their world. Their insistence on the importance of cattle in this community is their cry to be allowed to exist and be recognised as humans that can think for themselves. I conclude by arguing that to understand this community correctly, we need to take the ontological difference seriously that we cannot possibly have only one way of existing. The community of Esihlengeni thus provides us with the economic theory that is centred on life in its totality – that takes both the physical and metaphysical into consideration to ensure the continuity of life. As such, the community of Esihlengeni should be regarded as a gift to be appreciated. / Lolucwaningo luhlaziya isimo sezitokofela – uhlelo lokonga olunika abayingxenye yalo ukweseka kwezomphakathi, ezomnotho nezokuzijabulisa (Lukhele 1990). Ingqikimba yokwenza lolucwaningo ukubonisa ubukhona bomnnotho ohlukile, ongatshelwa wumnotho ogxile kwinzuzo, phecelezi ikhephithalizimu. Injongo yalolucwaningo ukuhlolisisa izimiso ezisekela amastokofela nokuwabeka endaweni ethize yezinhlalo zomphakathi-namasiko kanye nomlando. Lolucwaningo lugxile kwizizathu zokuba yingxenye kuloluhlelo, indlela yokuthola imininingwane ixhumanisa ukuchitha isikhathi nabantu, ukubamba ingxenye kwizinto abazenzayo, ukubabuza imibuzo ejulile, nokudweba imvelaphi yabo. Kulolucwaningo, ngokusebenzisa lezizindlela zokucwaninga, ngakwazi ukuxhumanisa isizwe sakwaKhumalo – inzalo yenkosi uMzilikazi Khumalo owaye umngani wenkosi uShaka futhi kuthiwa wabamba iqhaza eliqavile ekwakheni isizwe esaziwa njengamaZulu namhlanje – nomalume bami. Ezinyangeni eziyisithupha engazicitha eSihlengeni - isigodi esiseFilidili KwaZulu-Natali, ngaba nendabangxoxiswano nabantu amangamashumi amabili nesikhombisa, ngaya emingcwabeni emibili nasembenzini owodwa womndeni, ngase ngikhulumisana namaqoqo amabili omama besitokofela. Ngathola ukuthi izitokofela azizinzile kwinqubomigomo yesintu njengoba ngangisola esitatimendeni socwaningo, kodwa angaphakathi komnotho ogxile kwinzuzo, ikhephithalizimi, ngakhoke awasebenzisi imikhuba yesintu yalomphakathi. Noma amastokofela egxile kumnotho oqgamile ogxile kwinzuzo, lomphakathi waseSihlengeni usasebenzisa indlela yawo yokuphila eveza inqubomgomo ehlukile yomnotho ogxile ezinkomeni - eziyisisekelo sokwenza amasiko aqinekisa ukuvikeleka nenqubekela phambili yempilo – ukuqondisisa imvelo. Ukuphikelela kokubaluleka kwezinkomo kulomphakathi isikhalo sokuthi uvumeleke ukuba aphile futhi ubonwe njengabantu abakwaziyo ukuzicabangela. Ngiphetha ngokuthi ukuqondisisa lomphakathi kahle, kumele sithathe ukuhlukana kwezizwe okuyimvelo yempilo ngokuzimisela, ukuthi kungenzeke kube nendlela eyodwa yokuphila. Umphakathi waseSihlengeni ngakhoke usinika inqubomugomo yomnotho egxile empilweni ngokuphelela kwayo – uthatha okubonakalayo nokungabonakali ukuqiniseka kokuqhubekela phambili kwempilo. Kanjaloke, umphakathi waseSihlengeni kumele ubonakale njengesipho okumelwe sibungazwe. / Nyakišišo ye e bolela ka ditokofele – dikema tša polokelo tša go thewa godimo ga boleloko go dira gore maloko a tšona a be le boiketlo go tša leago, matlotlo le boithabišo (Lukhele, 1990). Morero wa nyakišišo ye ke go hlaola go ba gona ga mehuta ya go fapana ya ekonomi yeo e sa huetšwego ke lotšiki ya bokepitale. Maikemišetšo a nyakišišo ke go lekola melawana yeo e thekgago ditokofele le go di bea ka gare ga maemo a itšeng a histori, a leago le a setšo. Ye ke nyakišišo ya khwalithethifi gomme sebopego sa nyakišišo ya ka se akaretša tlhohlomišo, temošo ya bakgathatema, dipoledišano tša go tsenelela le tshepedišo ya tšinealotši. Nyakišišo, ya go šomiša mekgwa ye, e nkgontšhitše go laetša kamano gare ga lešika la ga Khumalo ‒ moloko wa Mzilikazi Khumalo yoo a bego e le mogwera wa Kgošikgolo Shaka gape o dumelwa go ba a bapetše karolo ye bohlokwa kagong ya seo lehono se tsebjago bjalo ka setšhaba sa Mazulu ‒ le bomalome ba ka. Mo dikgweding tše tshela tše ke di feditšego Esihlengeni, motse wo monyane go la Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, ke boledišane le batho ba 27, ke tsenetše ditirelo tše pedi tša poloko, moetlo o tee wa lapa le go swara dipoledišano tše pedi tša go lebantšha sehlopha gotee le basadi ba setokofele. Ke hweditše gore ditokofele ga di latele foreimiweke ya epistemiki ya Afrika bjalo ka ge go letetšwe ka gare ga tlhalošo ya taba eupša di sa le ka gare ga lotšiki ya bokepitale ya poelo gomme ka go realo ga di latele ditumelo tša setšo tša setšhaba. Mola ditokofele di latela lotšiki ya bokepitale ye e bušago, setšhaba sa Esihlengeni se sa ntše se latela pono ya sona ya kosmolotši ya lefase yeo e ba fago kwešišo ye e fapanego ya ekonomi ya go thewa godimo ga dikgomo – mokgwa wo o ba dumelelago go phetha moetlo wa go tiišetša tšhireletšo le tšwelopele ya bophelo – go kwešiša lefase la bona. Phegelelo ya bona go bohlokwa bja dikgomo ka setšhabeng se ke sello sa bona sa gore ba dumelelwe go ba gona le go amogelwa bjalo ka batho bao ba kago inaganela. Ke fetša ka gore go kwešiša setšhaba se e le ka nnete, re nyaka go tšea kgopolo ya ontolotši bjalo ka ye bohlokwa ya gore re ka se kgonego ba fela le tsela e tee ya go phela. Setšhaba sa Esihlengeni ka go realo se re fa teori ya ekonomi yeo e theilwego godimo ga bophelo ka moka ga bjona – seo se akaretša bobedi fisikale le metafisikale go kgonthišiša tšwelopele ya bophelo. Bjalo, setšhaba sa Esihlengeni se swanela go tšewa bjalo ka mpho ye e amogelwago. / Ngudo iyi i tandula tshibveleli tsha zwiṱokofela − vhuraḓo ho ḓisendekaho nga zwikimu zwa u vhulunga u itela u dzudzanyea nga tshitshavha na lwa masheleni kha miraḓo khathihi na vhuḓimvumvusi (Lukhele, 1990). Ndivho ya ngudo ndi u topola u vha hone ha tshaka dzo fhambanaho dza ikonomi dzine dza sa ḓivhadzwe nga thevhekano ya pfuma. Ngudo yo pika u ṱola zwithu zwa ndeme zwo tikaho zwiṱokofela na u u wana vhukati hazwo nyimele ya matshilisano na mvelelo kathihi na ḓivhazwakale. Hei ndi ngudo ya ṱhoḓisiso ya ndeme na nyolo ya ṱhoḓisiso yanga yo katela mushumo wa nnḓa, u sedza vhadzheneli, inthaviwu dzo dzhenelelaho na kuitele kwa vhutumbukwa. Ngudo dzi shumisaho ngona idzi, dzo nkonisa u vhona vhuṱumani vhukati ha lushaka lwa ha Khumalo ‒ murafho wa ha Mzilikazi Khumalo we wa vha u khonani dza Khosi Shaka nahone hu pfi wo shela mulenzhe zwihulwane kha u fhaṱa zwi vhidzwaho uri lushaka lwa ha Zulu ṋamusi ‒ na vhomalume anga. Kha miṅwedzi ya rathi ye nda I fhedza ngei Esihlengeni, kuḓana ku re kha ḽa Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, ndo inthaviwa vhathu vha 27, nda dzhenela mbulungo mbili, nyitelatherelo nthihi ya muṱa na tshimbidza nyambedzano dza zwigwada zwo sedzaho mbili na vhafumakadzi vha zwiṱokofela. Ndo wana uri zwiṱokofela a zwo ngo ḓisendeka nga muhanga wa nḓivho ya Afrika sa zwe zwa lavhelelwa kha tshitatamende tsha thaidzo fhedzi hu kha ḓi vha nga ngomu ha thevhekano ya pfuma ya u bindula zwenezwo a zwo bvi kha zwithu zwa ndeme zwa sialala zwa tshitshavha. Musi zwiṱokofela zwi tshi ḓivhadzwa nga thevhekano thakhulwa ya pfuma, tshitshavha tsha Esihlengeni tshi kha ḓi dzhia u bva kha kuvhonele kwa mvelo kwa ḽifhasi ku vha ṋekedzaho kupfesesele kwo fhambanaho lwa ikonomi yo ḓisendekaho nga kholomo – nḓila ine ya vha tendela u shuma nyitelatherelo dzavho zwi themendelaho tsireledzo na u bvelaphanḓa ha vhutshilo – u itela u pfesesa ḽifhasi ḽavho. U omelela kha ndeme ya kholomo kha tshitshavha itshi sa tshililo tshavho tsha u tendelwa u vha hone na u dzhielwa nṱha sa vhathu vhane vha kona u ḓihumbulela. Ndi pendela nga u amba uri u itela u pfesesa tshoṱhe tshitshavha itshi ri tea u dzhia kuvhonele kwa zwa mvumbo ro khwaṱhisa uri ri sa tou vha na nḓila nthihi fhedzi ya u vha hone. Tshitshavha tsha Esihlengeni zwenezwo tshi ri fha thyori ya ikonomi yo ḓisendekaho nga vhutshilo ho fhelelaho – hezwo zwi dzhiela nṱha zwa muvhili na zwa khumbulelwa u khwaṱhisedza u bvelaphanḓa ha vhutshilo. Zwenezwo, tshitshavha tsha Esihlengeni tshi tea u dzhiiwa sa tshifhiwa tsho tewaho nga dzindivhuwo. / Anthropology and Archaeology / D. Phil. (Anthropology)

This dissertation is an exploratory study of the ideas put forward by theorists of post-Development. This current of thought emerged as a radical critique of the Development discourse, proclaiming that no reformulation could change the essential character of it, that being the "Westernisation" of the world. As post-Development's definitions rely on their opposition to what Development represents, from a theoretical point of view as well as in the myriad of behaviours resulting from it, the starting point of the thesis is an analytical account of Development discourse through the various theories that have shaped it during the second half of the 20th century. Other theories that can be considered outside mainstream Development are also analysed as well as those conventionally classified as alternative Development. A whole chapter is then dedicated to thoroughly review the historical unfolding of the Development discourse. The following chapter deals with the ideas put forward by post-Development. It relies on a series of publications identified with this current of thought as well as with information provided by one of its most prominent authors, Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, in an interview conducted by the author of this thesis. It also uses an unpublished manuscript given to the author by Gustavo Esteva, also prominent in the constitution and dissemination of the ideas of post-Development. In an effort to identify whether post-Development has remained at the level of theoretical formulation or if it has informed practices on the ground, research about the activities and underlying beliefs of the Global Barter Network (in Uruguay and in Argentina) and the World Social Forum was undertaken. The field-study, which is presented in the 4th chapter of the thesis, aimed at researching these particular initiatives and draw conclusions with respect to the existence of coincidences with the ideas of post-Development. The dissertation concludes then with an analysis of post-Development's major contributions to the Development debate, of its relationship with already existing practices, of its distinctiveness from alternative Development. It analyses the originality of the post-Development discourse and makes proposals for further research. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil.

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est l’analyse des configurations du lien social naissant au sein de systèmes alternatifs d’échange local, afin d’y retrouver la trace du « don maussien ». L’enquête porte sur un échange de biens, parallèle à l’échange marchand et localement accompli dans le contexte d’un monde globalisé, perspective qui inscrit la recherche dans le champ de l’anthropologie économique des mondes contemporains. Le phénomène de la mondialisation, associé au progrès des techniques de communication, permettant d’observer des procédés analogues, engendrés par des causes communes dans différentes parties du monde, le terrain, tel que défini ci-dessus, fut réalisé sur deux sites socio-culturellement différents puisque implantés en Colombie pour l’un, et en France, pour l’autre. Ces deux sites furent traités comme un seul terrain multi-local dont le croisement des données recueillies a enrichi l’analyse. Avant de passer à la partie descriptive des ethnographies réalisées, le travail évoque des théories et des expériences antérieures qui ont permis de reconnaître la différence entre les expérimentations monétaires et les systèmes d’échange multilatéral ou dispositifs comptables centralisés employant une unité de compte pour faciliter les échanges. La production et la consommation sont stimulées par un type de monnaie qui joue un rôle complémentaire à la devise officielle et permet des transactions multilatérales. Devant la diversité des systèmes alternatifs à l’échange marchand, un choix s’imposait pour déterminer ceux qui seraient l’objet de l’enquête de terrain. Les initiatives sélectionnées pour une observation directe furent les foires de multi-troc colombiennes et les systèmes d’échange local (SEL) français. Les deux monographies décrivent le déroulement des investigations en Colombie et en France, ainsi que les constats qui s’imposèrent à leur issue. Il apparaît qu’au-delà de la raison économique d’échanger biens et services sans se soumettre à l’usage de l’argent comme fin en soi, les adhérents à ces expériences de micro-économie y trouvent un milieu propice à cultiver de nouvelles relations sociales. Les raisons de participer sont multiples mais s’alignent souvent sur des valeurs communes telles que la confiance, l’entraide, le respect de l’autre, la tolérance ou la solidarité, autant de logiques qui font de ces groupements, des espaces de création de liens sociaux favorables à l’émergence du don moderne. Tel qu’il a été développé et actualisé par Jacques T. Godbout, Alain Caillé et les exposants du Mouvement Anti-Utilitariste dans les Sciences Sociales –M.A.U.S.S.- . /ABSTRACT The main objective of this thesis is the analysis of configurations of the social link emerging within alternate systems of local exchange, in order to find traces of the “maussian gift”. The investigation covers the exchange of property which is parallel to trade exchange and is locally accomplished in the context of a global world, a perspective which integrates our research within the field of economic anthropology of contemporary worlds. The phenomenon of the globalization, coupled with advances in communication technology, allows us to observe similar processes around the world, engendered by common causes. The fieldwork, as mentioned above, was realized on two socio - culturally different sites, one in Colombia, the other one in France. These two sites were treated as a single multi-local fieldwork, and their combined information enriched our analysis. Before proceeding to the descriptive part of the conducted ethnographic research, the document evokes theories and previous experiences which allowed us to recognize the difference between monetary experiments and multilateral trading systems or devices using a centralized accounting unit to facilitate the exchanges. The production and the consumption are stimulated by a type of exchange that is complementary to the official currency and allows multilateral transactions. Considering the variety of alternative systems in the exchange market, a choice was necessary to determine, who would be the object of the fieldwork. The initiatives selected for direct observation were the Colombian multi-barter fairs and the French systems of local exchange (SEL). Both monographs describe the progress of investigations in Colombia and in France, as well as the resulting reports. It seems that, apart from the economic reason for exchanging goods and services without being subject to the use of money, which is an end in itself, those who take part in such experiences of microeconomics find a convenient environment to cultivate new social relationships. The reasons for participating are numerous, but often aligned on common values such as trust, mutual aid, respect for the others, tolerance or solidarity, which all contribute to transform these gatherings into spaces mean to create social links favourable to the emergence of the modern gift. This theory was developed and updated by Jacques T. Godbout, Alain Caillé and the members of the Anti-Utilitarian Movement in Social Science -M.A.U.S.S.-.

Through the broader contextualization of ethnographic fieldwork in Havana’s newly reformed housing market, this study theorizes the Cuban late socialist condition through a lens of utopian ideological conflict. A popular narrative of free market utopia has emerged in the face of the state’s recalcitrant ideology of state socialism. The popular narrative is reproduced through growth in the informal economy, while the socialist utopian narrative is maintained by the ubiquity of its bureaucratic apparatus. Inspired by postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation (1994), this thesis theorizes the Cuban state narrative as an ideological simulation, supported only through its strongest simulacrum – the government bureaucracy. Previous work on Cuba has cited the importance of access to government-purchased goods to fuel the informal economy and individual wealth accumulation. This study highlights the reproduction of a narrative of free market utopia in the desire for access to transactions as intermediaries, particularly as the deals increase in hard currency value. The passage of Decreto-Ley Number 288, which authorized the buying and selling of homes has served to rapidly capitalize the market and encourage further development of an informal network of brokers. Greater economic hybridization in the housing sector, among others, is gradually eroding the totalizing nature of the state’s socialist utopia. / text