Managing Meagre Means and Reciprocal Reputations: Women’s Everyday Survival Tactics in a Malawian Village

Janneke Verheijen

A chapter in Individual and Social Adaptations to Human Vulnerability, 2018, vol. 38, pp 127-152 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: In rural Malawi, money constantly circulates. As soon as villagers, poor as they are, get some money in hands, it is swiftly spent. Tracking how money – and other valued items like food and soap – are pushed and pulled around through an extremely poor community offers profound insights into women’s everyday survival tactics. Central to these women’s survival is the ability to mobilise support in times of need. Material wealth is found to be both a prerequisite and a threat to this ability. It can best be spent quickly, in particular ways, so as to transform it into potential sources of future support in times of need. Maximizing access to potential future support while minimizing blockage – by always appearing able to reciprocate and not giving others socially acceptable justifications to withhold support – are concerns that to a great extent shape the village women’s everyday decision-making. Understanding the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion that both result from and trigger these survival tactics is important for social scientists and policy-makers as these have far-reaching consequences, including women’s HIV risk-taking, which are difficult to explain from other vantage points.

Keywords: Extreme poverty; money circulation; women’s survival tactics; informal safety nets; Malawi; Yao (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:reanzz:s0190-128120180000038007

DOI: 10.1108/S0190-128120180000038007

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