Abstract
The specific contribution of this study is to explore how a communitarian lifeworld prepares the ground for practices of political clientelism without requiring the “foundational favor” noted in other contexts. Based on the encounter between ethnographies from two different communities of the Mesoamerican tradition in Mexico, the article argues that this lifeworld is forged by the habitual ways in which most collective tasks are carried out, that is, by forming and participating in networks. First, we offer a concrete description of the operation of two problem-solving networks of political clientelism in these communities. These networks are considered legitimate since they appear to be part of the communitarian practices. Second, we observe that the state often fails to reach out to the citizens with many social benefits, and we maintain that the problem-solving networks bridge the gap between the citizens and the state. Third, we argue that the ethnographic approach has been of paramount importance in reaching these findings, which are hardly attainable without this method. We consider that the workings of the clientelist networks represent a deep expression of people’s communitarian lifeworlds.
Highlights
Introduction to Popular Movements and PoliticalChange in Mexico, edited by Joe Foweraker and Ann Craig, 3–20
We do not have the space for a thorough ethnographic documentation of the difference between political clientelism and vote buying; we find it necessary to make a brief note on the distinction between these two practices
The two local societies that we have studied feature strong communitarian institutions and practices, which imply frequent interaction and long-term relationships among their members, generating multiple networks of reciprocity, a ritual language, and a communitarian lifeworld
Summary
Our fieldwork was carried out independently in two separate but similar projects. We used basically the same ethnographic approach, since we were both interested in capturing the political process as it was seen from the perspective of the clients (Auyero 2002, 40). They live in the upper parts of the municipal center, above the church, on the outskirts of the center, or in rural communities in small houses of stone and wood, which they obtain through different government programs These less privileged neighbors participate, often together with the intermediaries, in different communitarian practices such as celebrations that belong to the Catholic ritual calendar, for instance, processions or manufacturing of the floral arches. One aspect of the community lifeworld, of particular interest in this study, is the way in which the community’s tasks are solved by means of networks People participate throughout their lives in networks dedicated to religious organization (fiscalías/mayordomías), assemblies, collective work (faena), fictive family relations (compadrazgo), agrarian organizations (bienes comunales/ ejido), or socioreligious practices embedded in the Catholic festive cycle.. I emphasize how the network shares some significant features of the communitarian lifeworld: it is oriented to long-term relationships (including intense periods during election times), to coexist with other social and religious networks, and to allow individuals to claim access to a variety of different resources (Adler-Lomnitz 1994, 76–77; Portes 1998, 3)
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