A Tale of Two Crises in Peru: Livelihoods and Social Reproduction During the 1980s and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the livelihoods ofpeople around the world. Structural economic constraints are highlightedat such moments of crisis, while those most affected have recourse to theirrepertoire of managing strategies. This case study of people from Allpachico,a Peruvian peasant community, compares their responses to the current crisiswith their responses to one in the 1980s, showcasing similarities in strategies(especially reciprocity and the sale or exchange of necessary reproductive tasksand products) and differences in the form they take. In the 1980s, women’s workand kin reciprocity helped people access use-values. By 2020, neoliberalismhad transformed the national economy and Allpachiqueño migrantsoverwhelmingly had precarious informal and contract work. Reciprocity andreproductive tasks are still central to livelihood, but now tend to be monetizedrather than involving use-values. As that earlier crisis shattered both secureemployment and peasant farming to lay the basis for neoliberalism, so now itappears that the COVID-19 pandemic, through the monetization of governmentsupport and reciprocity alike, is accelerating financialization in the form offinancial services and debt.

Participatory budgeting and well-being: governance and sustainability in comparative perspective

“…Outside of Brazil, however, it is not clear if these impacts have or will emerge. In general, we know that many programs PB do not have the positive effects on well-being found in research on Brazil (McNulty, 2018; Goldfrank, 2011; Vincent, 2012; Albert, 2016; Sintomer et al ., 2016; Dias et al ., 2021; Wampler et al ., 2021). In many cases, PB programs do little to advance well-being and may even lead to troubling results that create social or psychological harm, such as citizens' participation fatigue, increased public cynicism or creating new venues for corruption (Wampler, 2007; Goldfrank, 2011; McNulty, 2011; Albert, 2016).…”