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MONEY-GO-ROUND: PERSONAL ECONOMIES OF WEALTH, ASPIRATION AND INDEBTEDNESS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2012

Deborah James
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Abstract

Considerable attempts to create a single economy of credit, in part through regularizing microlenders (especially the much-demonized loansharks or mashonisas), have been made by the South African government, notably through the National Credit Act. This article explores how borrowing and indebtedness are seen from the point of view of consumers and of those who aim to protect them. It suggests that we should speak of moneylending rather than moneylenders; that lending is often done by groups rather than by individuals (in a variant of the well-known stokvel); and that it may represent a response to so-called ‘formalization’ (Guyer 2004) of financial arrangements by those who have considerable experience of this, rather than being a bulwark against it. Based on research in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, the article critically explores prevalent stereotypes of the ‘overindebted consumer’ and the ‘black diamond’, seeking evidence both in support and in refutation of them. It discusses those factors which are conducive to and those which obstruct the achieving of the status of upwardly mobile – and simultaneously overindebted – person; demonstrates that aspiration and upward mobility, and the problems of credit or debt that accompany these, have much longer histories; and that these matters can give us insights into the contradictory character of the South African state. Its ‘neo-liberal’ dimension allows and encourages free engagement with the market and advocates the freedom to spend, even to become excessively acquisitive of material wealth. But it simultaneously attempts to regulate this in the interests of those unable to participate in this dream of conspicuous consumption. Informalization intensifies as all manner of means are devised to tap into state resources. Neo-liberal means are used to ensure the wide spread of redistribution.

Résumé

Le gouvernement sud-africain a tenté à de nombreuses reprises de créer une économie de crédit unique, à travers notamment la loi nationale sur le crédit (National Credit Act) et la régularisation des microprêteurs (notamment les tant diabolisés usuriers ou mashonisas). Cet article étudie le thème de l'emprunt et de l'endettement du point de vue des consommateurs et de ceux qui cherchent à les protéger. Il suggère que l'on devrait parler de prêt plutôt que de prêteurs, que le prêt est souvent le fait de groupes plutôt que de personnes (variante du bien connu stokvel) et qu'il peut représenter une réponse à la prétendue « formalisation » (Guyer 2004) du système financier de la part de ceux qui en ont une grande expérience, plutôt qu'un rempart. Basé sur des recherches menées dans le Gauteng et le Mpumalanga, l'article présente une étude critique des stéréotypes répandus du « consommateur surendetté » et du « diamant noir », en recherchant des éléments permettant de les justifier ou de les réfuter. Il traite des facteurs qui prédisposent une personne à accéder à l'ascension sociale (et dans le même temps à l'endettement) ou l'en empêchent ; il démontre que l'aspiration et l'ascension sociale, ainsi que les problèmes de crédit ou de dette qui les accompagnent, remontent à bien plus longtemps ; enfin, il affirme que ces éléments peuvent nous apporter des éclairages sur le caractère contradictoire de l’État sud-africain. Sa dimension « néolibérale » permet et encourage à participer librement au marché et prône la liberté de dépenser, voire de devenir excessivement attaché à la richesse matérielle. Or, dans le même temps, il tente de réguler cet aspect dans l'intérêt de ceux qui ne peuvent pas participer au rêve de posséder des signes extérieurs de richesse. L'informalisation s'intensifie alors que l'on imagine toutes sortes de moyens pour exploiter les ressources de l’État. Une large redistribution est assurée à l'aide de moyens néolibéraux.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 82 , Issue 1: Special Issue: Popular Economies in South Africa , February 2012 , pp. 20 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2012

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