Wild Things: Manufacturing Desire in the Urarina Moral Economy

Abstract

Drawing on the case of the Peruvian Urarina, this article seeks to understand the present high demand for Western trade goods among native Amazonian peoples by situating it within a broader economy of desire with roots in historical experiences of colonization. The relations of ‗taming' that have long been a feature of encounters with outsiders, mediating an opposition between ‗savage' and ‗civilized' states, have become a central part of the caring dynamic between husbands and wives. This is increasingly focused on the provision of commodities, which are construed as akin to wild pets in need of taming and whose acquisition is a quintessentially male pursuit, much like hunting. While exacerbating existing gender asymmetries, this process points to gender as a key point of articulation between the subsistence economy and a penetrating market, and exemplifies the ‗decoding' effects of capitalism, through which spheres of exchange are conflated and desires intensified.Keywords: Amazonia, consumption, gender, modernity, Peru. RESUMÉNTomando como referencia el caso de los Urarina de Perú, este trabajo investiga la demanda actual por artículos de consumo de los pueblos amazónicos, caracterizándola como una economía del deseo, la cual tiene raíces en las experiencias históricas de la colonización. Las relaciones de ‗domesticazión' , que durante mucho tiempo, han sido una característica de los encuentros con foráneos, las cuales median entre salvajes y el estado civilizado, han llegado a formar parte central del cuidado dentro de la pareja conyugal. Esto es cada vez más acentuado en el suministro de productos básicos, visto como algo similar a las crías de animales silvestres, y cuya adquisición es una actividad esencialmente masculina. Este proceso incluye al género como un punto clave de articulación entre la economía de subsistencia y el mercado, y demuestra los efectos -decodificantes‖ del capitalismo, a través del cual las esferas de intercambio se confunden y los deseos se intensifican.Palabras Clave: Amazonía, consumo, género, modernidad, Perú. In Amazonian Brazil, Ewart (2002) and Gordon (2003) have argued that it is not utility but the exotic qualities of commodities that can be most appealing: present-day desires are a continuation of a long-standing proclivity to incorporate alterity, to invigorate society through interactions with the ‗enemy-others' of which whites are, today, the best exemplars.Fisher (2000) has meanwhile pointed out that native peoples often appear not to distinguish between necessities and luxuries, and that the intrinsic attractiveness or the seemingly innate superiority of Western manufactured products cannot explain the relatively restricted types of goods desired, nor the quantities considered satisfactory.

Demonic trade: debt, materiality, and agency in Amazonia

“…Eagerness to participate in habilitación 7 reflects, in the first instance, a very high demand for foreign goods, which is in turn largely a function of internal or intra‐community dynamics. Foreign goods are densely woven into the fabric of contemporary social life because, like meat, they are central to the mediation of relations between spouses, and to a lesser extent other kin relations (see Walker in press). Even gender‐neutral items that are predictably in regular demand, such as salt, kerosene, and the like, serve a social role not reducible to their use value, narrowly defined.…”

“…13 13 For a more extended discussion of the factors underwriting consumptive desires, see Walker (in press). …”

Extractive Pluralities: The Intersection of Oil Wealth and Informal Gold Mining in Venezuelan Amazonia

“…As such, rather than adhering to accounts of occult economies in representing a denunciation of the morally contaminating capitalist economy, other facets of daily life must be taken into consideration. In order to be a convivial and self-sufficient unit, for example, the Sanema must engage with the wider national economyeven though experienced as a 'trade-off'-in order to access the goods that make their kin content, a materialised expression of compassion and generosity (see also Walker 2013). Contrary to the perception that incorporation into the extractive economy brings with it individualism and social degeneration, in the Sanema case it is a sign of the hard work one has undergone to obtain goods for kin (see also Allard 2010: 26;Alès 2000: 135).…”

Nosso Pai, Nosso Dono: Relações De Maestria Entre Os Mbya Guarani

“…Entre os Urarina (Walker 2013), as mulheres se colocam como pets em relação a seus maridos a fim de deles elicitar ações de proteção, ajuda, cuidado, fornecimento de bens e alimentos etc., e os homens, por sua vez, assumem atitudes de timidez e embaraço diante de vendedores brancos, fazendo com que se sintam na posição de terem que presenteá-los. O prestígio masculino se deve ao sucesso tanto na caça quanto nas trocas com os estrangeiros, e casamentos começam, muitas vezes, com a oferta de commodities por parte dos homens.…”