STUDIES OF THE A MERICAS edited by
James Dunkerley Institute for the Study of the Americas University of London School of Advanced Study Titles in this series are multidisciplinary studies of aspects of the societies of the hemisphere, particularly in the areas of politics, economics, history, anthropology, sociology, and the environment. The series covers a comparative perspective across the Americas, including Canada and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Latin America. Titles in this series published by Palgrave Macmillan: Cuba’s Military 1990–2005: Revolutionary Soldiers during Counter-Revolutionary Times By Hal Klepak The Judicialization of Politics in Latin America Edited by Rachel Sieder, Line Schjolden, and Alan Angell Latin America: A New Interpretation By Laurence Whitehead Appropriation as Practice: Art and Identity in Argentina By Arnd Schneider America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism Edited by Gary L. McDowell and Johnathan O’Neill Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives Edited by Jens R. Hentschke When Was Latin America Modern? Edited by Nicola Miller and Stephen Hart Debating Cuban Exceptionalism Edited by Laurence Whitehead and Bert Hoffman Caribbean Land and Development Revisited Edited by Jean Besson and Janet Momsen Cultures of the Lusophone Black Atlantic Edited by Nancy Naro, Roger Sansi-Roca and David Treece Democratization, Development, and Legality: Chile, 1831–1973 By Julio Faundez The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life, 1820–1880 By Iván Jaksic´ The Role of Mexico’s Plural in Latin American Literary and Political Culture: From Tlatelolco to the “Philanthropic Ogre” By John King Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico Edited by Matthew Butler
Reinventing Modernity in Latin America: Intellectuals Imagine the Future, 1900–1930 By Nicola Miller The Republican Party and Immigration Politics: From Proposition 187 to George W. Bush By Andrew Wroe The Political Economy of Hemispheric Integration: Responding to Globalization in the Americas Edited by Kenneth C. Shadlen and Diego Sánchez-Ancochea Ronald Reagan and the 1980s Edited by Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Bryn Davies Wellbeing and Development in Peru: Local and Universal Views Confronted Edited by James Copestake The Federal Nation: Perspectives on American Federalism Edited by Iwan W. Morgan and Philip J. Davies Base Colonies in the Western Hemisphere, 1940–1967 By Steven High Beyond Neoliberalism in Latin America?: Societies and Politics at the Crossroads Edited by John Burdick, Philip Oxhorn, and Kenneth M. Roberts
Wellbeing and Development in Peru Local and Universal Views Confronted Edited by James Copestake
wELLBEING AND DEVELOPMENT IN PERU Copyright © James Copestake, 2008. All rights reserved. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–0–230–60869–6 ISBN-10: 0–230–60869–8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wellbeing and development in Peru : local and universal views confronted / edited by James Copestake. p. cm.—(Studies of the Americas) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–230–60869–8 1. Well-being—Peru. 2. Quality of life—Peru. I. Copestake, James G., 1960– HN344.W45 2008 306.0985⬘09049—dc22
2008017288
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.
Contents
List of Figures
vii
List of Tables
ix
Foreword and Acknowledgements
xi
Notes on Contributors Abbreviations 1. Introduction and Overview James Copestake 2. Resources, Conflict, and Social Identity in Context José Luis Álvarez, Maribel Arroyo, Lida Carhuallanqui, James Copestake, Martín Jaurapoma, Tom Lavers, Miguel Obispo, Edwin Paúcar, Percy Reina, and Jorge Yamamoto 3. Subjective Wellbeing: An Alternative Approach Jorge Yamamoto, Ana Rosa Feijoo, and Alejandro Lazarte 4. Economic Welfare, Poverty, and Subjective Wellbeing James Copestake, Monica Guillen-Royo, Wan-Jung Chou, Tim Hinks, and Jackeline Velazco
xiii xv 1
31
61
103
5. Wellbeing and Migration Rebecca Lockley with Teófilo Altamirano, and James Copestake
121
6. Wellbeing and Institutions José Luis Álvarez with James Copestake
153
vi
CONT ENT S
7. Reproducing Unequal Security: Peru as a Wellbeing Regime James Copestake and Geof Wood
185
8. Conclusions and Implications for Development Policy and Practice James Copestake
211
9. Implications for Wellbeing Research and Theory Jorge Yamamoto
231
References
243
Index
265
Figures
1.1 Diagram for thinking about personal wellbeing as process 1.2 A framework for thinking about development discourse 1.3 Map of the research sites 3.1 From goals to latent needs 3.2 “Place to live better” importance and satisfaction by period of residence 3.3 “Raise a family” importance and satisfaction by age 3.4 “Raise a family” importance and satisfaction by locality 3.5 “Improvement from a secure base” importance and satisfaction by locality 3.6 Factor structure of resources perception 3.7 Factor structure of values 3.8 Variation in values by locality, individualism and collectivism 3.9 Variation in values by formal education, individualism, and collectivism 3.10 Factor structure of personality 3.11 Personality by migration history 3.12 Path model for “place to live better” 3.13 Path model for “raising a family” 3.14 Path model for “improvement from a secure base” 3.15 Integrated model of subjective wellbeing 7.1 Model for wellbeing regimes 8.1 A reflexive framework for appraisal of development interventions 9.1 Implications for wellbeing research and theory: Chapter summary
4 5 18 68 72 73 74 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 96 98 187 228 232
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Tables
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 4.1 4.2 4.3
4.4 4.5 4.6
Three contemporary discourses of development National poverty rates for 2000 Peru and the Human Development Index Human Development Index by department, 2000 Summary findings of Peru’s first national participatory poverty assessment Some Peruvian attitudes in regional perspective A brief description of the research sites in Peru WeD data collection methods Education above primary level by research site: Logit estimates Global happiness by research site: Ordered Probit estimations Comparative statistics for Lima, Junin, and Huancavelica departments Demographic details of the WeDQoL sample Self-categorization by site Self and community categorization of social identity compared Use of the term blanco (white) by site Seasonality in the Mantaro Valley: Highlights Poverty head count based on official and subjective poverty lines Subjective Wellbeing and income comparisons for an urban sample in Peru Measured and perceived income mobility, 1991–2000 of a representative sample of 500 households in Peru Average household income and expenditure by research site Official poverty lines for 2005 (Soles per person per month) Household poverty estimates (mean over 10 months)
6 10 11 11 14 16 19 21 22 24 37 40 41 41 42 43 105 105
106 107 109 109
x
TA B L E S
4.7 Comparison of income and expenditure-based poverty classifications 4.8 Distribution of responses to global happiness question by round 4.9 Average global happiness by research site 4.10 Ordered Probit analysis of happiness determinants 4.11 One way ANOVA of subjective wellbeing indicators against global happiness scores 4.12 One way ANOVA of subjective wellbeing indicators against household income poverty category 5.1 Place of birth of head of household and spouse/partner 5.2 Households providing or making transfers from/to relatives in last year 5.3 Demographic characteristics of household members who were away at the time of interview 5.4 Visits outside the community (involving staying away more than one night) 5.5 Migration motives and outcomes cross-tabulated 6.1 Checklist of questions for semi-structured interviews 6.2 A summary of community institutions by purpose 6.3 Link from components of “place to live better” to institutions 6.4 Link from components of “raise a family” to institutions 6.5 Link from components of “improvement from a secure base” to institutions 6.6(a) Characteristics of selected faenas 6.6(b) Characteristics of selected faenas continued 6.6(c) Characteristics of selected faenas continued 8.1 Necessity and satisfaction with components of wellbeing
109 111 111 113 116 117 125 125
126 129 131 157 159 160 160 162 166 172 173 213
Foreword and Acknowledgements
This book is the outcome of more than five years of intensive multidisci-
plinary research on what it means for us to “be well” and how this relates to the idea of development. Human wellbeing is explored not only as an idea that inhabits debates over development, but as something personally and uniquely experienced by us all as individuals. Central Peru’s complex cultural heritage, and the often staggering diversity of its social and physical geography, provided a fertile context for such enquiry. This was further enriched by our interaction with fellow members of the “Wellbeing in Developing Countries” Research Group in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Thailand, and the UK, as well as many others who shared with us their thoughts about what wellbeing means to them. Our methodological approach was as far as possible to elicit what people living in our seven selected research sites themselves understood by wellbeing, to generalize inductively from these “local” views, and use them to interrogate different understandings of wellbeing implicit in “universal” discourses of development. This does not signify a retreat into cultural relativism, a rejection of the possibilities of meaningful measurement of wellbeing, nor an outright rejection of a universal view of human development. Rather, the book seeks to relate local views to global development discourses and policy perspectives in a way that contributes to more constructive intercultural and policy-relevant exchange between them. By far the most important debt of gratitude shared by all the contributors to the book is to the inhabitants of the seven research sites in Central Peru, where the bulk of primary data collection took place. We hope that many enjoyed sharing conversations, experiences, and resources with us as much as we did. But we know that many also displayed a willingness to put up with repeated and lengthy interviews beyond any expectation of personal gain. We salute their goodwill, and gratefully dedicate this book to them. Within the research team itself, thanks are due above all to our six full-time field researchers, collectively referred to as the Pumas: Maribel Arroyo, Lida Carhuallanqui, Martín Jaurapoma, Miguel Obispo, Edwin Paúcar, and Percy Reina. They displayed integrity, endurance, patience, flexibility, and many other fine qualities in abundance. We are also very grateful to colleagues in their alma mater, the Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú (UNCP) in Huancayo,
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FORE WORD AND ACK NOW LEDGEMENT S
and other scholars in the region who participated in research workshops before and after the data collection period. As editor, I would next like to thank staff employed by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). This includes coresearchers and coauthors José Luis Álvarez, Teófilo Altamirano, Ana Rosa Feijoo, Alejandro Lazarte, Jorge Yamamoto. But it also includes many others, who offered ideas, advice, and practical help to ensure administration, data collection, and logistics proceeded as smoothly as possible. Particular thanks are due to Adolfo Figueroa who enthusiastically participated in the research in its initial phase. Among colleagues past and present here at Bath there are more coauthors to thank: Wan-Jung Chou, Tom Lavers, Rebecca Lockley, Tim Hinks, Geof Wood, Monica Guillen-Royo, and Jackie Velazco. Among the much larger number of people who contributed to WeD in important ways I would particularly like to thank Allister McGregor (Director), Katie Wright (whose work on wellbeing among Peruvians living in London and Madrid could easily have been included in this book), and Kate Burrell, who took over responsibility for subediting and arranging the final manuscript. Producing this book has been a complicated, lively, often messy and sometimes fraught experience. Whether overall I lived better or worse as a result is hard to say: but I certainly lived more. The support of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the production of this book is gratefully acknowledged, it being an output of the ESRC Research Group on Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD). For more about WeD go to www.welldev.org.uk.
Notes on Contributors
Teófilo Altamirano is professor of anthropology and director of postgraduate diploma course International Migration, Globalization and Development, at PUCP in Lima. José Luis Álvarez is a lecturer in anthropology at UNCP in Huancayo, and was employed by WeD for three years as a research officer. Maribel Arroyo is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator. Lida Carhuallanqui is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator. Wan-Jung Chou is a postdoctoral research officer in the Department of Economics and International Development at the University of Bath. James Copestake is head of the Department of Economics and International Development at the University of Bath. Ana Rosa Feijoo is a graduate in psychology from PUCP and was employed by WeD as a research officer. Monica Guillen-Royo is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. She completed a doctorate on consumption and wellbeing in Peru in 2007 as a member of the WeD Group. Tim Hinks is a development economist and lecturer in the Department of Economics and International Development at the University of Bath. Martín Jaurapoma is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator Tom Lavers works at the UN Research Institute for Social development in Geneva. After completing a Masters in International Development at the University of Bath he spent two years working for WeD, first in Peru and then in Ethiopia. Alejandro Lazarte is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department of Auburn University in Alabama.
xiv
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Rebecca Lockley is a doctoral student in the Department of Economics and International Development at the University of Bath. Miguel Obispo is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator. Edwin Paúcar is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator. Percy Reina is a graduate in anthropology from UNCP and was employed by WeD as a field investigator. Jackeline Velazco is an agricultural economist in the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. Until 2006 she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the WeD group at Bath, and previously as a lecturer at the Pontificate Catholic University in Lima. Geof Wood is professor of development sociology and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Bath. Jorge Yamamoto is a social psychologist and associate professor at the Pontificate Catholic University in Lima.
Abbreviations
ANOVA APR A CCT CFA CVR ECB EEG EPHR EPL
ESRC FONCODES GABA HDI HPA I&E IRM ISB MIR MRTA PGI PLB
Analysis of Variance Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (Popular American Revolutionary Alliance) Conditional Cash Transfer Confirmatory Factor Analysis Comision de la Verdad y Reconciliacion (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) Encuesta de Bienestar (Wellbeing interview protocol). See Chapter 3 Electro Encephalogram Emic and Post Hoc Research. See Chapter 9 Extreme Poverty Line. Peruvian government estimates of income needed in each region to purchase food for a month with a daily calorific value of 2,200 calories per person. See Chapter 4 UK Economic and Social Research Council Fondo de Compensacion para el Desarrolo Social (Peru’s fund for compensation and social development) Gamma-aminobutyric Acid Human Development Index Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Income and Expenditure Institutional Responsibility Matrix. See Chapter 7 Improvement from a secure base, one of three latent needs identified using the Peru WeDQoL. See Chapter 3 Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario (Revolutionary Movement of the Left) Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (Revolutionary Movement of Tupac Amaru) Patient Generated Index Place to live better, one of three latent needs identified using the Peru WeDQoL. See Chapter 3
xvi PRONAA R AF R ANQ S/. SEM SLS SPL SWB WeD WeDQoL WHOQoL PRONAA PUCP UNCP UCV
A B B R E V I AT I O N S
Programma Nacional de Asistencia Alimentaria (Peru’s National Food Assistance Program) Raise a family, one of three latent needs identified using the Peru WeDQoL. See Chapter 3 Resources and Needs Questionnaire. A research tool developed by the WeD Research Group Nuevos Soles (Peruvian currency) Structural Equation Modeling. See Chapter 3 Subjective Life Satisfaction index Subjective Poverty Line is the amount of income perceived to be the minimum necessary to live Subjective Wellbeing Wellbeing in Developing Countries Research Group Quality of life survey, a tool developed by WeD. See Chapter 3 The World Health Organization’s Quality of Life measurement instrument Programa Nacional de Alimentos (Peru’s national nutrition program). Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Pontificate Catholic University of Peru) Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú (National University of Central Peru) Unidad Comunal de Vivienda (Planned neighborhoods in Nuevo Lugar)
Chapter 1
Introduction and Overview James Copestake
1.1. Reconnecting Development and Wellbeing in Peru The concept of development—local, national, and international—remains a preoccupation of people and politicians across the world. For some it signifies a general belief in human progress, linked particularly to the spread of market liberalism and the struggle for more democratic government. For others, this vision is soured by daily experiences of poverty and conflict, coupled with a sense that global economics and politics are making their problems worse not better. Indeed, popular use of the word development often has an ambiguous if not outright satirical edge: implying change imposed by others (or through some unknown, possibly sinister process) that possibly does more harm than good.1 This book seeks understanding beyond the rhetoric of both development optimists and their would-be debunkers. It does so in two steps. First, we reconsider afresh what development is about by confronting it with another concept. Wellbeing is a more firmly person-centered idea, while at the same time open to multiple and indeed holistic interpretations. It opens up space for reflecting on the often unstated and restrictive philosophical assumptions underpinning much talk about development. Wellbeing discourse encompasses how people think and feel, as well as what they have and do; it acknowledges the differences as well as links between personal happiness and a sense of life fulfillment; it encompasses the effect of people’s relationships to ideas and to other people as well as to money and goods. It also counterbalances the necessary but narrow focus in development discourse on the negative (poverty, insecurity, exclusion, harm and so on).2 Second, rather than colonizing this conceptual space solely with abstractions of our own making, we seek an empirical approach: to clarify how different understanding of the dream of achieving wellbeing squares with the reality of development for specific people in specific times and places. In exploring how development can be reconnected to wellbeing we acknowledge that both public and private agencies often act in a way that fails to give sufficient weight to the wellbeing of all those affected by their actions. The definition and measurement
2
C O P E S TA K E
of both development and wellbeing is unavoidably political, and their meaning can easily be tarnished through misuse. But people continue to dream of a better future for themselves and for society even in the most difficult situations. In acknowledging difference and conflict over these terms, particularly the appropriation of development discourse by more powerful minorities, we do not abandon the possibility of mutual understanding, compromise, and consensus. Why Peru? The answer is partially arbitrary: what matters is to be specific, to ground argument in real lives, wherever they may be. But Peru is arguably a particularly good site for this enquiry because it starkly reflects a number of interesting paradoxes. It is a middle income country, blessed with rich and diverse natural resources. Its economy has performed reasonably over the last fifteen years, during which time it has also experienced two relatively peaceful and democratic changes in government. Yet Peru is also persistently one of the most unequal countries in the world, with a higher rate of poverty than its economic status suggests it should have. Opinion polls suggest that many Peruvians are also less happy with many aspects of their lives than people elsewhere in Latin America, evidence supported by high rates of migration abroad. In addition, Peru’s complex racial-ethnic mix contributes to culturally diverse visions of wellbeing that draw on strong indigenous as well as Western traditions. This book is one product of the “Wellbeing in Developing Countries” (WeD) Research Group at the University of Bath, formed in 2003 with a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The group’s officially stated purpose was to develop a conceptual and methodological framework for understanding the social and cultural construction of wellbeing in developing countries. 3 In addition to the UK, the founding group included researchers from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Thailand as well as Peru. The group’s academic backgrounds included anthropology, development studies, economics, psychology, politics, sociology, and social policy. In its first year the WeD group concentrated on conceptual and methodological development, as reported in detail in Gough and McGregor (2007).4 The Peru team also published a literature review on poverty, inequality, and wellbeing in Peru (Altamirano et al., 2004). This period was followed by two years of parallel primary research in the four countries. The field work carried out in Peru provides the empirical base of this book. 5 In brief, the book sets out to do five things. First, it presents a multifaceted picture of visions and realities of poverty and wellbeing as experienced and felt by inhabitants of the seven research sites (see especially chapter 2). Second, it contributes to the literature on how to construct general indicators of wellbeing to guide development. More specifically, it presents an original approach to identifying and analyzing people’s own subjective wellbeing (chapter 3). For relatively poor people in Central Peru, this is found to revolve around three latent needs: to find a place to live better, to build a family, and to progress with security. We argue that the use of orthodox indicators of development (such as income poverty reduction) is an inadequate substitute for monitoring satisfaction with achievement of such needs (chapter 4). Third, we explore how a holistic vision
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
3
of wellbeing informed by a better understanding of people’s own views provides insight into the wellbeing trade-offs arising from migration (chapter 5) and institutional change, including evolution of Andean traditions of community self-help (chapter 6). Fourth, we use the case of Peru to develop a framework for country-level analysis based on the idea of path-dependent evolution of wellbeing regimes (chapter 7). Finally, we draw general conclusions about the usefulness of wellbeing as a concept to thinking about development policy and practice (chapter 8) and review potential for further scientific research into subjective wellbeing (chapter 9). The remainder of this chapter is organized as follows. Section 1.2 elaborates further on the three key concepts of development, wellbeing, and reconnection. A broad conceptual framework for thinking about wellbeing is then presented and used to explore “growth first,” “needs first,” and “rights first” strategies of development, as well as the challenge to each posed by antidevelopment critics. Section 1.3 relates these ideas to the Peru context. Section 1.4 sets out the scope and methodology of the empirical research conducted in Peru, and section 1.5 presents a small selection of indicators for the seven fieldwork sites. Section 1.6 provides a more detailed chapter-by-chapter overview of the whole book.
1.2. Wellbeing and Development Discourse 1.2.1. Dimensions of Wellbeing Human wellbeing can be viewed in many different ways, and by defining it too rigidly development policy makers and practitioners risk alienating other stakeholders, including those they are trying to assist. While it would likewise be selfdefeating to propose too narrow a working definition of wellbeing at this point in this book a broad definition is a useful starting point.6 To this end wellbeing is defined here as a state of being with others in society where (a) people’s basic needs are met, (b) where they can act effectively and meaningfully in pursuit of their goals, and (c) where they feel satisfied with their life.7 Each of the three dimensions requires further clarification. The first raises the issue of what constitutes a basic need or, putting it negatively, something whose absence, when viewed in isolation, invariably constitutes harm.8 While arriving at a definitive full and final list may be impossible, agreement on at least some components (hunger, drinking water) is reasonably straightforward.9 Turning to the second part, goals can be viewed as potentially achievable expressions of a person’s values, hence embracing the idea of being fulfilled and living a meaningful life. It allows for changes in individual aspirations over time, differences based on context, and the likelihood of political conflict over wellbeing. Third, satisfaction introduces both positive and negative subjective feelings. Hedonic psychology (e.g., Kahnemann et al., 1999) tells us that these are not opposites, and are also affected by aspirations and adaptive preferences. This threefold framework for thinking about wellbeing leaves scope for further elaboration of each component, and also for exploring trade-offs between them in line with personal tastes, personality, culture, and context. It can also
4
C O P E S TA K E
accommodate universal and local perspectives to evaluating wellbeing: functioning meaningfully and feeling well within a specific context, on the one hand; having resources, capabilities, and opportunities to achieve goals that go beyond those that present themselves in local contexts, on the other. The threefold framework can be further clarified by comparing it with the more widely used twofold distinction between subjective wellbeing (SWB)— how people think and feel, and objective wellbeing (OWB)—what they can be observed to have and do.10 OWB is particularly associated with indicators of access to observable resources that contribute to meeting needs and to avoiding harm. However, success in achieving goals can also be objectively measured, as indeed can outward signs of happiness like smiling a lot. SWB is particularly associated with people’s reported feelings, but this concept extends beyond positive and negative emotions to include cognitive assessment of goal achievement, as well as subjective perception of the adequacy of available resources. This illustrates the more general point that subjective and objective aspects of wellbeing are in practice often very hard to disentangle, particularly when it comes to interpersonal relationships. The postpositivist rise of constructivism in social as well as the natural sciences reflects growing understanding that all assessment of objective states (wellbeing included) is also ultimately socially and culturally embedded, or intersubjective (Pieterse, 2001:142). In breaking with the tradition of regarding wellbeing as either clearly objective or subjective we place considerable emphasis on the process of goal formation, whether this takes the form of individual preferences, locally accepted norms, or universal theories. The feelings and motives elicited by goals are determined in part by their relationship to actual or perceived availability of resources to achieve them in a particular context. They in turn trigger actions whose outcomes affect future goals and resource availability (see figure 1.1). At the personal level, the framework can be used to explore subjective wellbeing
Personal goals
Induced motives and feelings of wellbeing
Personal resources and capabilities
Actions and interactions leading to Outcomes (material, social, cultural)
Wider context Figure 1.1 Diagram for thinking about personal wellbeing as process
5
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
defined as long-term satisfaction with personal goal achievement. Individual goals reflect personality and self-perception, which in turn reflect personal relationships, values, social identity, and culture (Yamamoto, 2006a). We also hypothesize that life satisfaction is influenced by individual perception of the gap between personal goals and the resources needed to achieve them.11 The same framework can also be used to assess collective or interdependent processes of production and reproduction of wellbeing: this being one way of defining development. We are interested in (a) the political process by which communities formulate collective goals, (b) the institutions through which resources are mobilized and distributed, and (c) practical action.
1.2.2. Dominant Development Discourse This starting point for thinking about wellbeing can be extended to the policy level and to the analysis of development discourse. Such discourse can be defined as a language that seeks to establish consistent relationships between three components. First, there is a normative or ethical position, embodying a definition of wellbeing. Second, there is a historical component, representing a view of development as an actual historical process determining availability of resources, opportunities, and constraints in any period. Third, there is a practical component, concerned with development as action or intervention. The three are connected by language, which embodies cultural values and assumptions; and to the extent that logical consistency is achieved then the discourse offers a reliable framework for meaningful action.12 Figure 1.2 also indicates how different forms of discourse are more or less successful in achieving such a synthesis—erring on the side of pragmatism at the expense of normative clarity, for example.
Normative dimension
Impractical; deterministic
Unrealistic; posturing Development discourse
Amoral; opportunistic Historical dimension
Figure 1.2
Practical dimension
A framework for thinking about development discourse13
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It is beyond the scope of this book to explore the evolution of development discourse over time, including how far distinct discourses have risen to the status of paradigmatic hegemony in different policy arenas.14 But it is important to expose the existence of sharply distinct assumptions about wellbeing implicit in contemporary policy positions. A useful starting point here is to explore different views about the nature and existence of a post-Washington consensus. As a first approximation, three positions can be distinguished in this debate as shown in table 1.1.15 Income first emphasizes the goal of raising average incomes per person and hence the importance of economic growth. Over the years it has been supported by classical, neoclassical, and some heterodox economists to the extent that they have all regarded economic growth as the key means not only to increasing average incomes, but also labor absorption, productivity growth, and falling rates of absolute poverty (Easterly, 2002). Recently its most influential version is also narrowly promarket or neoliberal, as characterized by John Williamson’s Washington Consensus (WC), though this continues to evolve.16 For example, there has been renewed interest in reducing inequality, particularly to the extent that this can be shown to be based on market failures and to restrict domestic demand in ways that adversely affect economic growth (World Bank, 2006). However, many advocates of this approach remain wary of public intervention aimed directly at reducing poverty on the grounds that these are prone to distort incentives away from innovation and growth, encouraging rent taking and seeking instead (Easterly, 2006). Needs first is based on a more multidimensional view of wellbeing and poverty. Its political home has been in the UN system, but it can be traced
Table 1.1 Three contemporary discourses of development Development discourse
Economic growth first
Wellbeing goals and values (normative component) Historical perspective (historical component)
Individual material prosperity, leisure, and choices.
Public policy and practice (practical component)
Basic needs first
Poverty reduction; satisfaction of multiple basic needs. Capitalism first: Managed capitalism: growth, jobs, and rational public rising incomes are response to delivered first and deprivations arising foremost by free from or ignored by enterprise. capitalism. Create better Build capacity to conditions for provide all with the pursuit of private means to meet a material self-interest basic set of human (market-led). needs (state-led).
Human rights first Social justice, equity of esteem, and opportunity. Beyond capitalism: social exclusion, oppression, and class struggle.
Fight for basic rights; increase demand for satisfaction of basic human needs (society-led).
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
7
back to the earlier literature on basic needs, and it encompasses Sen’s capability approach and the human development movement. It has historically been particularly concerned with the role of the state, including official international development agencies, and of rational planning to supplement the market in ensuring entitlement to human needs—particularly services with public good characteristics such as health, education, social protection, and food security. A needs-first perspective lies behind the Millennium Development Goals through a sharp increase in international aid flows coupled with fairer trade and sovereign debt reduction (Sachs, 2005). This initiative also indicates a willingness to work to an expertly informed universal specification of what constitutes basic needs for the achievement of wellbeing. Rights first emphasizes the relational (social, political, and cultural) dimensions of development, the struggle against injustice and the potential of human rights discourse to mobilize poor and excluded citizens through social movements to become more active agents of their own development. Rights discourse has become particularly influential within international NGOs, and the attempt to extend rights from the civil-political sphere to the socioeconomic. Hickey and Bracking (2005:862) describe this as a bid to secure basic needs of “distant strangers” not as alms but by rights through duties of action on major social institutions underpinned by a theory of transnational justice. However, in NGO hands and compared to needs first discourse the rights first approach is less rationalist, materialist, aid-oriented, top-down, and paternal and is more focused instead on justice, grassroots action, power, and citizenship education.
1.2.3. Anti- and Postdevelopment Perspectives The previous section highlighted how different ways of conceptualizing wellbeing are bound up with different interpretations of history and justifications for public action. Advocates of the three discourses we distinguished find themselves competing with each other not only in policy arenas but also to capture the popular imagination: competing discourses and public perceptions of development coexist in dynamic tension, mediated by bureaucracies, mass media, politics, and popular culture. The next section explores some of these tensions in the more specific context of Peru. Before doing so it is important to emphasize the extent to which these discourses have become global in reach, and in so doing have created powerful tensions with local perspectives. An indication of this is the growth of anti- and postdevelopment movements. Dissenters from universal development discourse regard it as a Faustian threat to individual autonomy and cultural diversity (Berman, 1997). Such resistance is most apparent in relation to the growth first discourse, particularly with its recent emphasis on market-led economic growth (e.g., Mehmet, 1995). But the two other discourses described above also attract criticism. For example, Illich (1992:88) suggested “basic needs may be the most insidious legacy left behind by development,” while Esteva and Prakash (1997:283) argued that “. . . any conception of universal rights—to education, for example—is controversial and a colonial tool
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for domination.” Hickey and Bracking (2005:862) also note that the (Western) “ethnocentric character of this discourse remains a problem as does the issue of how the weakest members of society mobilize to actively claim their rights, suggesting a need to look beyond rights based approaches.” Some of this criticism can be viewed as an attempt to redress the balance in emphasis between the three components of wellbeing identified above. In particular, zealous advocacy of universal needs and rights discourse risks overwhelming and distorting the local, vernacular, and idiosyncratic narratives of individuals, communities, and grassroots movements that are essential for effective and meaningful action in pursuit of their own goals. However, critics emphasize a unity of development discourse that transcends such detail. Rahnema (1997:ix) observes how the very diversity of voices participating in policy-oriented development discourse is part of its attraction, so long as debate does not “question the ideology of development” and the assumption of “its relevance to people’s deeper aspirations.” The key point here is that development is more than just discourse, but part of a powerful and professionalized bureaucratic nexus with its own interests that imposes its views of the world not only through language but also though its far-reaching practice. It is acceptable to suggest the leopard change its spots, so long as it remains a leopard. Development discourse is dangerous because it is aligned with a global apparatus that justifies its existence by using language (of problems, poverty, need, rights, underdevelopment) that are to some degree self-perpetuating, particularly when the labels are internalized by the people thereby stigmatized or labeled as lacking in some way (Escobar, 1995). At this point the discourse of antidevelopment acquires a strongly deterministic streak in its skepticism of the power of reform of global institutions. Ironically, this echoes both Marxist criticism of bourgeois charity and neoliberal critique of the possibility of a benign state. An unstated but even more fundamental assumption of antidevelopment criticism is that having neutralized or removed the development industry an alternative (postdevelopment) dynamic of grassroots action will emerge that both delivers human wellbeing in greater measure and is expunged of the tendency to create precisely the kind of bureaucracy that was wished away in the first place. Pieterse (2001:111) welcomes the “shift toward cultural sensibilities” but fears the “ethno-chauvinism” and “reverse orientalism” that would result from reification of indigenous and local culture. Too pure and dogmatic a critique of development, he points out, risks replacing it with its shadow, and is an abdication of the messier and more complex task of political engagement with the details of development both as discourse and as practice. This discussion takes us back to the central argument concerning the relationship between development and wellbeing. The antidevelopment and postdevelopment literature is useful in deconstructing development in its Western ethnocentrism, tendency to centralization and bureaucratic hegemony, selfinterest in intervention, and more. But the philosophical foundation required for reconstructing development is broader. Renewed reflection on the nature of human wellbeing is part of this, as is greater attention to culture.17 In particular, it provides opportunities to reassert development as a holistic endeavor, thereby
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
9
challenging the way it tends to be carved up into specialist subfields and disciplines oriented each with a bias toward some particular aspect of wellbeing that may be important but cannot be viewed in isolation.18 To realize the potential of a more reflexive approach to development it must be systematically informed by voices and narratives with firsthand knowledge of poverty in ways that are not sanitized by the same old bureaucratic, professional, and disciplinary machinery. Pieterse (2001:163) observes that the tendency toward “authoritarian high modernism” stemming from the Western Enlightenment accounts for much of the past failure of development effort, but that hope resides in its capacity for transformation through “reactions to and negotiations of the crises of progress.”
1.3. Peru Context This section briefly relates these different development perspectives to contemporary policy debates in Peru and to different ways of depicting its current state of development. A more detailed exploration of Peruvian political economy is presented in chapter 7.19
1.3.1. Growth First Peruvian economists and policy makers have generally agreed that sustained economic growth is important, but differed over appropriate macroeconomic policy, trade stance, level of state intervention, and scope for redistribution to bring it about. Since Fujimori’s accession to the presidency in 1991 policies have generally conformed to neoliberal, Washington Consensus views. Indeed two Peruvian economists have had a particular influence over this perspective: Kuczynski has not only served as Peru’s Finance Minister, but also contributed actively to debate over the Washington Consensus (Kuczynski and Williamson, 2003); while De Soto has championed the cause of microenterprise, particularly through consolidation of property rights (De Soto, 2001). Partially as a consequence, successive governments have pursued a combination of relatively conservative fiscal and monetary policies, domestic market deregulation, public sector reform, and further external trade liberalization, most recently in pursuit of a controversial free trade agreement with the United States (Crabtree, 2006). These policies, in parallel with improvements in the global economic context resulted in real annual GDP growth averaging 2.9 percent per year between 1995 and 2005 (1.2 percent in per capita terms). 20 Exports of goods and services over the same period grew by 8.5 percent per year, and with imports rising by only 1.9 percent per year Peru’s creditworthiness greatly improved. Inflation fell to single figures in the mid-1990s and remained there. Final consumption expenditure of households and government over the same ten year period grew in real terms by 2.4 percent and 3.0 percent per year respectively. However, the economy barely surpassed its size in the 1970s, and continued reliance on export growth left it vulnerable to future trade shocks. Moreover, given the legacy of high income inequality and outward
10 Table 1.2
C O P E S TA K E
National poverty rates for 2000 Total population No. (’000)
National Lima Other coastal urban Coastal rural Highland urban Highland rural Jungle urban Jungle rural
Share (%)
Absolute poverty incidence No. (’000)
Share (%)
Rate (%)
25,625 7,400 4,552 1,326 3,235 5,742 1,548
100 29 18 5 13 22 6
13,863 3,345 2,417 854 1,433 3,761 797
100 24 17 6 10 27 6
54.1 45.2 53.1 64.4 44.3 65.5 51.5
1,822
7
1,261
9
69.2
Source: UNDP (2002).
orientation (with growth concentrated particularly in irrigated coastal areas, mining, retailing, and other urban services) the effect of this economic performance on poverty incidence was modest. For example, in 2004, 54.3 percent of people were found to be below the official poverty line and 36.6 percent below the extreme poverty line. This represented a slight fall from 2001, when the corresponding figures were 51.6 percent and 31.8 percent. 21 Table 1.2 illustrates the disparity in poverty incidence between different zones of the country: the highest incidence and largest share still being located in the rural highlands, notwithstanding the rising incidence of poverty in Lima and other urban areas as well.
1.3.2. Needs First The main prescription of the donor community for overcoming the failure of economic growth to have a greater effect on poverty has not been to reject neoliberal economic policy but to augment it with more active state-led social programs. Aid and debt cancellation have increasingly been linked to support for such social policies alongside compliance with macroeconomic policy and good governance standards. Peru has been less susceptible to these pressures than more indebted and aid dependent countries, but the discourse of basic needs and poverty reduction has still been influential. For example, it has informed criticism of the very low proportion of government spending allocated to poverty and child welfare (e.g., Parodi, 2000; Vasquez et al., 2002), and many voices have been raised in criticism of the inefficiency of the state social programs that do exist (e.g., Tanaka, 2001; Copestake, 2006). Table 1.3 illustrates changes in Peru’s performance as measured by the human development index (HDI).22 The overall HDI has also improved steadily since recovery from the economic crisis of the late 1980s, as has the difference between its GDP per capita and HDI rankings.
11
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Table 1.3
Peru and the Human Development Index
Year
1987
1993
1998
2004
HDI score
0.753
0.694
0.737
0.767
HDI rank
74
91
80
82
Life expectancy (year)
63
66
69
70
Adult literacy (% of population)
85
88
89
88
GDP per person rank minus HDI rank
0
⫺3
7
12
Source: UNDP Human Development Reports for 1990, 1996, 2000, and 2006.
Table 1.4 Human Development Index by department, 2000 Mainly coast
Mainly highland
Mainly jungle
Tumbes Piura
0.620 0.561
Cajamarca Huanuco
0.495 0.494
Loreto Amazonas
0.621 0.515
Lambayeque
0.625
Pasco
0.575
San Martín
0.553
La Libertad
0.613
Junin
0.578
Ucayali
0.565
Ancash
0.577
Huancavelica
0.460
Madre De Diós
0.650
Lima/Callao
0.747
Ayacucho
0.488
Ica
0.667
Apurimac
0.457
Arequipa
0.635
Cusco
0.537
Moquegua
0.666
Puno
0.512
Tacna
0.681
Note: Departments in each column are listed from North to South. Data presented later in the book comes from the three departments shown in bold (see chapter 2). Source: UNDP (2002).
Peru’s first national “Human Development Report” (UNDP, 2002) provided estimates of the human development index for each department and province in the country. The latter are reproduced in table 1.4, and indicate that the HDI is generally highest on the coast and lowest in the highlands, with predominantly jungle areas occupying an intermediate position.
1.3.3. Rights First One criticism of the needs first perspective in Peru is that it encourages a technocratic view of poverty—as an absolute state of deprivation—in place of a more
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C O P E S TA K E
political emphasis on relative poverty and processes of exclusion. A deeper political analysis concerns the incentives of different stakeholders to address poverty. Figueroa (2001a, 2001b, 2003) develops a formal political economy model that first explains the persistence of unequal access to employment, financial services, and social protection, and then examines why it is difficult to construct a governing coalition committed to addressing the needs of the less educated and culturally subordinated racial majority.23 Tanaka (2002) adds a geographical dimension by pointing out that political incentives to address extreme poverty in more remote areas are much weaker than those in favor of tackling less acute and mostly urban poverty, particularly in and around Lima. He attributes this in turn to the weakness of political parties and networks linking government and society. Although the Velasco reforms greatly weakened the rural oligarchy in much of rural Peru, subsequent events have served to perpetuate the political dominance of richer, more educated and generally whiter Peruvians, particularly in Lima. Prospects for more progressive state social policy are weak so long as political capital can most effectively be accumulated through economic liberalism coupled with populist social policy and mass media management. The above suggests that a combination of cultural, political, and institutional constraints limits the incentive of political leaders, hence government, to instigate a stronger propoor development strategy; furthermore, external donor pressure on them to do so is also relatively weak. If so, then it can be argued that the critical driver for a more egalitarian development strategy is pressure from grassroots social and cultural movements. Figueroa (2003) describes this as the need for a “refoundational shock” to correct the colonial shock that pushed the country into a path of unequal development in the first place. In Peru, universal human rights discourse has spread in part through the damage wrought by the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) insurgency and the Fujimori government’s subsequent abuse of civil and political rights (Tanaka, 2003). Popular resistance to Shining Path guerrilla insurgency in the form of village militia (rondas campensinos), resistance to Fujimori’s authoritarianism, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, decentralization efforts, and gradual institutionalization of popular consultation in local government have all contributed to this process. However, consolidation of political parties around policies, interests, and grassroots organization rather than personalities and populist platforms remains at best shallow (Orias, 2005). Chapter 7 explores these issues in more depth.
1.3.4. Other Perspectives Rights discourse inherently entails making claims to universality, and in Peru this exposes those who employ it to the charge of imposing a Western ethnocentric cultural perspective that undermines the culture and aspirations of people from other traditions. A recurrent point of reference in this regard for Peru is the debate over the nature of Andean culture (lo Andino). Scholars who emphasize the importance of a distinctive Andean perspective in their analysis of rural poverty include Orlove (1974), Isbell (1973), and Flores (1977), while Doughty
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13
(1970), Lobo (1982), and Altamirano (1988) are among those who brought the same analysis to bear on urban poverty. According to these authors, lo Andino reflects a distinctive historical legacy, language, values, and traditions with rich variation from one region to another. This “cosmo-vision” also provides the basis for a distinctive view of development practice, as exemplified by the work of PRATEC, for example (Apfell-Marglin, 2003). Another example of this perspective is provided by Masías (2002) in his rejoinder to Hernando De Soto, who he criticizes (along with Sendero Luminoso leader Abimael Guzmán) for advocating a false path of development, deviating from an authentic Andean path based on traditions of community, reciprocity, and a holistic balancing of different aspects of life and wellbeing.24 Other scholars have been quick to accuse those who defer too strongly to local worldviews of being paternalistic. Starn (1991), for example, criticizes Isbell (1973) for “essentializing” peasant experiences, and overemphasizing the unchanging nature of Andean culture. The position adopted by Starn has in turn been criticized, amongst others by Poole and Renique (1992) who argue that ignoring lo Andino risks allowing Western cultural discourses in Peru to predominate, thus invalidating ways of life and means of production that remain distinctly Andean.25 One potential benefit of wellbeing discourse is to provide a conceptual framework that is broad enough to accommodate these differences. De Vries and Nuijten (2003) accept that Andean peasants often act in accordance with universal Western models: of rational pursuit of material self-interest, for example. But they also argue that their behavior is informed by more complex values, including reverence to a cultural otherness linked to the uniqueness of the Andean environment and history. The work of anthropologists on the subjective and internal meaning of life to people and communities has also contributed to more applied research on the disconnections (desencuentros) that can undermine the goals of development agencies working in the Andes (e.g., de Vries and Nuijten, 2003; Vincent, 2004; Bebbington et al., 2007). Anthropologists have also helped to explore the importance of semantic differences for development. For example, the words waqcha and apu are arguably the closest conceptual synonyms in Quechua for “poor” and “rich” respectively. However waqcha translated literally refers to an orphan who lives without parents, relatives, or social networks. This conception of poverty suggests that close relationships and social networks are considered to be an important asset in Andean societies, with both intrinsic and instrumental value (Altamarino, 1988a:27). It reminds us that a person’s wellbeing is often less influenced by government policy or livelihoods dynamics than by the joys and sorrows of ongoing relationships with family and neighbors.26 A practical response on behalf of many development agencies has been to seek better forms of consultation. A leading example here is the “voices of the poor” program of the World Bank.27 DFID and World Bank (2003) reports on the first participatory poverty assessment for Peru that set out to be national in scope. Primary data collection was carried out in nine communities (in Lima, Puno, Ayacucho, and Piura) and involved 730 participants. Findings are summarized in table 1.5.
Table 1.5 Summary findings of Peru’s first national participatory poverty assessment 1. Families confronting poverty 1.1 Women still bear the brunt of household reproduction. Migration of men for work and alcohol abuse make things worse, but male violence in the household is declining. 1.2 Access to health is a major problem, as is physical security, especially in urban areas (partly due to gangs, drugs, and youth unemployment). 1.3 In crisis (unemployment, illness, harvest failure) what matters most is the support of immediate and extended family. 2. Poverty and the world of work 2.1 Agriculture is stagnant, being affected by land shortage, uncertain weather, and market instability. Livestock rearing is generally more productive than growing crops. 2.2 Long hours, abuse from employers, and low and uncertain income are common experiences in urban areas. 2.3 Rural-urban links are crucial to consumption smoothing: rural areas as a source of food, urban areas as a source of income. 2.4 Land rights are a major issue in rural areas. Employment protection, education, and property rights are the main concerns in urban areas. Access to formal credit is an issue in both areas, despite the risks of indebtedness. 3. Poverty and institutions 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
Public and community institutions are uncoordinated. Discrimination and maltreatment is common. Public officials are inefficient and corrupt. FONCODES and PRONAA are the organizations that have the greatest impact and work most closely with community level organizations.a Water and electricity are valued highly, and even those on low incomes are willing to pay for these services so long as they get an efficient service. Education is the most important long-term solution to poverty, but the public system has many deficiencies. The high cost of uniforms, materials, and contributions for special events are a problem. Poor health is the main factor leading to increased poverty. Access to health services is impeded not only by high costs, but also by discrimination and verbal abuse from health workers. With respect to security, rural areas benefit from the presence of rondas campesinas and teniente gobernador (lieutenant governor). In contrast, the police are a threat, and the justice system is distant and corrupt. Municipal authorities do not respond to the concerns of the poor, whereas NGOs and church organizations are more reliable and effective. Communal organizations are important in rural areas, but less responsive to the interests of women and those in extreme poverty. Neighborhood organizations in urban areas are scarce and weak, especially once basic services have been secured. Their leaders are easily coopted by politicians. Women find mothers’ clubs and communal kitchens to be their main source of support in the struggle against poverty, although their involvement in food distribution brings unavoidable internal conflict. Continued
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
Table 1.5
15
Continued
4. Proposals of the poor 4.1 4.2
4.3
More government support is needed to reduce market uncertainty, and to improve access to credit and to technical assistance. There is scope for more participation in administration of schools and social programs, and for better coordination between government agencies, as well as more transparent legal processes for securing land titles. Women need more training opportunities on how to deal with male violence. Nutrition and food programs need to be more reliable. Health policies and programs need to work with traditional medicine and family networks, rather than ignore them.
Note: a FONCODES is the fund for compensation and social development (Fondo de Compensacion para el Desarrolo Social) and the main central government agency for organizing public works programs. PRONAA is the national nutrition program (Programa National de Alimentos) and supplies milk and other food supplements through comedores populares (community kitchens), nurseries, and mothers’ groups. Source: DFID and World Bank (2003): 222–27.
Participatory appraisal exercises of this kind that seek to identify wider public views on development provide a potentially important counterpoint to topdown policy perspectives. Apart from being focused on poorer people, they bear a close family resemblance to more mainstream opinion polls and focus groups. In Peru, as in other countries there is indeed a movement to incorporate broader questions about what people think and feel into national sample surveys, thereby generating a battery of so-called subjective indicators through which different aspects of development can be monitored (discussed further in chapter 4). A leading example is the annual survey of Latinobarómetro, from which the data reproduced in table 1.6 is taken. This indicates that Peruvians in general felt more negatively about their country than Latin Americans in general: indeed the first three rows indicate that they were more negative about their government, the state, and operation of the market economy than people in any other Latin American country. They were also distrustful of other people in general, though in this respect they are more typical of Latin America as a whole. They did not generally believe the country was progressing, that they lived better than their parents did, nor that the life of their children would be better than theirs. And they perceived themselves to be relatively poor. To sum up, this section has indicated that visions of development in Peru are complex, diverse, and contested. The three dominant global perspectives presented in the previous section are all influential, while the experience of Sendero Luminoso illustrates Peruvians’ openness to new and more radical imported visions, particularly among young people. Peru is also fertile ground for more home grown ideologies that are critical of any imported perspective. In seeking to understand how different views relate to each other we have also suggested
16 Table 1.6
C O P E S TA K E
Some Peruvian attitudes in regional perspective
Question (abbreviated form)
Do you approve of the current president? Yes Do you trust that taxes will be well spent by government? Yes In general would you say you are very/fairly satisfied with the way the market economy works in (country)? Would you say that you can trust most people? Yes Would you say that this country is progressing? Yes Do you believe your children will live better than how you live today? Would you say your parents lived better than how you live? Imagine a 10-step ladder, 1 is where the poorest people live and 10 the richest. Where would you stand?
Peru (%)
Latin America (%)
Peru’s rank (of 18)
16 10
49 21
18th 18th
12
27
18th
16
NA
8th
22
31
12th
49
54
13th
67
55
3rd
3.34
3.66
15th
Source: Corporacion Latinobarometro (2005).
that there is much to be learnt from systematic surveys of what Peruvians think and feel. It is appropriate therefore to turn now to a consideration of the empirical basis for this book.
1.4. Methodology 1.4.1. Overall Scope of Research This book reports on research conducted as one part of the wider WeD research project on wellbeing in developing countries described in section 1.1. A Latin American view, along with African and Asian views was regarded as essential to the research. Peru was selected within Latin America mainly on the strength of established research links between staff at Bath University, PUCP (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), and UNCP (Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú), through which a common interest in multidisciplinary research that locates poverty and inequality in wider political and cultural processes of social inclusion and exclusion had already been established (Figueroa et al., 2001; Altamirano et al., 2004). Guidelines for data collection under WeD were worked out within the research group over a period that started well before the onset of ESRC funding
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
17
in September 2003 and continued even beyond the planned date for starting fieldwork of May 2004. These entailed trying to reconcile different personal, disciplinary, and country-specific preferences with the use of comparable methods in each country. For example, the Peru team was keen to build on its earlier research on social exclusion (Altamirano, 1996) and it took time to explore how this related to the perspectives of UK participants. Different priorities also emerged over the cost, feasibility, scope, and importance of different methods, as well as the appropriate balance and sequencing of quantitative and qualitative data collection. These were recognized to be integral to the underlying research goal of developing new approaches to understanding wellbeing.28 The initial brief for data collection in Peru, as in the other three countries, was to obtain information on wellbeing over at least a year in at least two urban and four rural sites. The resulting database was expected to permit the following: (a) mapping of similarities, differences, and patterns in wellbeing during the year between different people and groups; (b) analysis of the relationship between different ways of defining and measuring wellbeing at individual, household, and group level; and (c) interpretation of the causal processes behind such variation, including the influence of government policies and other contextual factors. It was agreed that data collection should wherever possible be carried out through sustained and trusting relationships between respondents and field researchers living in the selected research sites. In the case of Peru, this entailed recruitment of a team of six graduate anthropologists from UNCP, each of whom took prime responsibility for data collection in one site. A seventh site was added later and shared between two of them. These researchers (four women and two men, including two native Quechua speakers) went through a rigorous selection and induction process. There was no turnover in this team during the research period, although budgetary constraints meant that the contracts of only four of them could be extended from July 2005 to February 2006.29 Section 1.4.3 reviews the different data collection instruments that were employed.
1.4.2. Selection of Research Sites Empirical research in Peru was not intended to enable general statements to be made about the country as a whole, but to reflect important dimensions of national diversity in order that the relevance of universal ideas about wellbeing could be tested against the views of people living in contrasting contexts. It was also accepted that site selection should build on prior geographical experience of the researchers and would need to take into account logistical constraints. Discussion of how to make the best selection led to the idea of adopting a corridor approach. This refers to the idea of identifying sites to reflect as far as possible the diversity of conditions along an interconnected East-West transect of Peru, linking coast, mountain, and jungle. By “diversity” we had in mind a broad and interconnected set of variables, including: (a) altitude, ecology, and
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natural resources; (b) accessibility and integration with external markets; (c) degree of urbanization and quality of infrastructure; (d) proximity to centers of political power; and (e) the relative influence of Western and indigenous culture and values.30 The corridor selected for the research stretches from a large “shanty town” on the outskirts of Lima, through the Mantaro valley to small villages in the highlands of Huancavelica and the cloud forest on the Eastern slopes of the Andes. This corridor is polarized, since it links the richest part of Peru (Lima) with one of the poorest (Huancavelica) in a relatively short distance. Table 1.7 provides a very brief description of each site, which also reflects diversity in social organization and culture of participation.31 At the center of the research area is the Mantaro Valley and the city of Huancayo, capital of the Department of Junin. Progreso is a poor neighborhood located within the city itself. Many of its inhabitants are migrants who came from other parts of the highlands during the 1980s. Descanso is a not untypical Mantaro farming town: Spanish-speaking mestizo (mixed race), with irrigated land close to the river and pasture stretching high into the surrounding hills. The district town of Alegria (along with annexes Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock) also lie within the economic hinterland of Huancayo city and close to the Mantaro River, but at a point where the river narrows into a gorge and enters the Department of Huancavelica. It is influenced by both the Spanish-speaking mestizo culture of Huancayo and the Quechua-speaking indigenous culture of Huancavelica. Selva Manta, in Junin Department, is inhabited mostly by people
Figure 1.3
Map of the research sites
Table 1.7
A brief description of the research sites in Peru
Name, altitude, and distance by road from Lima
Region, type, and population
Brief description
Llajta Iskay 3,400m 380km
Huancavelica (Rural– highlands) 365 Huancavelica (Rural– highlands) 212
Annex of Alegria with poor road access. Mostly Quechua speaking. High rate of migration to Huancayo, Lima, mines, and jungle: few immigrants. Annex of Alegria. A smaller and more closeknit community than Llajta Iskay. Mostly Quechua speaking. High rate of migration to Huancayo, Lima, mines, and jungle: few immigrants. Hamlet in a steep valley on the Eastern slopes of the Andes in the district of Monobamba. Spanish speaking. Comprises migrants from Huancavelica and other parts of Junin. Total evacuation during the violence, and since for education and business. Seasonal immigration for sugarcane and coffee harvesting. Farming town and district center in Tayacaja province with good road access to Huancayo city. Mostly bilingual. Some immigration from more villages as well as outmigration to Lima, Huancayo, the central jungle, and mines. Farming town and district center in the Mantaro Valley. Almost entirely Spanishspeaking, with easy access to Huancayo city. Some immigration, mostly for marriage. Migration out to Lima, central mines, and jungle, especially for education. Two neighborhoods on barren hillside overlooking the city of Huancayo. Bilingual. Residents mostly arrived in the 1980s from Huancavelica but also from Ayacucho and some highland villages of Junin. Large settlement (part of the district of Atí Vitarte) in hills to the east of Lima, founded in 1984. Mostly residents arrived in early 1990s from the Central Andes. Many are bilingual, but very few non-Spanish speaking.
Llajta Jock 3,300m 365km
Selva Manta 1,400–1,800m 290km
Jauja province of Junin (Rural–cloud forest) 560
Alegria 3,000–3,500m 355km
Huancavelica (Peri-urban– highlands) 5,440
Descanso 3,275m 290km
Junin (Peri-urban– highlands) 5,323
Progreso 3,275–3,325m 310km
Junin (Urban– highlands) 1,560
Nuevo Lugar 550–900m 35km
Lima (Urban– coast) 150,000
Source: Compiled from primary sources by the WeD peru research team.
20
C O P E S TA K E
born and raised in and around the Mantaro Valley. But its climate is more tropical, and access by vehicle is from the north through Tarma and La Merced rather than directly from the Mantaro Valley. Finally, Nuevo Lugar is part of the distant Lima-Callao metropolis some 300 kilometers from Huancayo. Being located close to the highway leading into the central highlands from which many of its inhabitants originated it is psychologically less distant from the other sites than pure geography might suggest. Chapter 3 provides a more detailed description of the seven sites.
1.4.3. Data Collection Methods Table 1.8 summarizes data collection activities in these sites between March 2004 and February 2006. These started with compilation of secondary data about each site, in the process of which field workers also introduced themselves to leaders and officials connected to each, taking great care to make it clear that they were not associated with any particular development agency or program, but that the fieldwork followed on from their anthropology studies at UNCP. The next phase of the work was to conduct open-ended interviews with a quota sample of men and women in each community designed to elicit broad perceptions of respondents about their quality of life. By the time this task was completed the researchers had become well-known in their fieldwork sites and this facilitated collection of more factual information, using what became known as the resources and needs questionnaire (R ANQ). This was a standard survey instrument, intended to permit comparisons of resources and needs not only across the seven Peru sites but also across the four WeD research countries.32 Where possible the researchers restricted further interviews to people covered by the R ANQ survey so as to permit subsequent crossanalysis. However, while this enabled them to build up personal relations with many respondents it also created a problem of respondent fatigue. This was addressed mainly by relying on smaller sample sizes in subsequent data collection exercises. The next major exercise was application of the Peru WeDQoL: a set of psychometric scales whose design was based closely on findings from the ECB, and which was designed to permit quantitative measurement and analysis of states of subjective wellbeing.33 This aspect of the work is described in more detail in chapter 3. The R ANQ and WeDQoL data together was intended to permit exploratory empirical analysis across the four countries of the association between measures of subjective and objective wellbeing. Subsequent fieldwork was designed to permit further analysis and interpretation of such relationships. Broadly, it focused on three mediating processes: migration, collective action, and the household economy. Accordingly, data collection during the latter part of the fieldwork focused on these three broad areas.
21
INTRODUC TION AND OVERVIE W
Table 1.8
WeD data collection methods
Activity
Dates
Community profiling
Mar– Compile secondary data about resources December and structures in each site. Conduct an 2004 inventory of all forms of social organization. Construct seasonal calendars (farming, festivals, and illness). Case studies of major conflicts. May–June Semistructured interviews with 419 2004 individuals across all seven sites to explore main values, goals, perceived resources, happiest and unhappiest experiences. July– Single visit questionnaire-based interview September of 1004 households across all seven sites 2004 (including all those covered under the ECB) to collect factual information on household resources, basic need satisfaction, and life satisfaction. Mar– May Two rounds of interviews with an initial 2005 sample of 550 individuals (including 302 from 208 households covered by the R ANQ) using three-point-scale closed questions on goals, values, adequacy of resources, personality, identity, and subjective wellbeing.b Mar–April Semistructured interviews with 71 key 2005 informants, including migrants, return migrants, and relatives of migrants (sample drawn from R ANQ sample). May–June Qualitative case studies of one faena 2005 (collective action initiative) in each site, and one “Glass of Milk” committee, using participant observation and key informant interviews. Jun 2005– Three round survey of 254 households February also covered by R ANQ. Supplementary 2006 sections on durable consumption goods (R1), migration (R2), and “Glass of Milk” program (R3).
Wellbeing study (ECB)a
Resources and needs questionnaire (R ANQ)
Quality of life survey (WeDQoL)
Migration study
Collective action case studies
Income and expenditure survey
Description
Use Ch. 2
Chs. 3,5
Chs. 1,2,6
Chs. 3,4
Ch.5
Ch.6c
Chs. 4,5
Notes: a ECB stands for encuesta de bienestar. b 176 of these respondents were also drawn from 134 households covered by the income and expenditure survey. c Copestake (2006) analyses and discusses the data collected on the Glass of Milk program. It is also discussed in chapter 7.
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1.5. Some Illustrative Data from the Research Sites Whether data collected in the selected sites would reveal insights into the relationship between development and wellbeing depended in part on there being sufficient variation in wellbeing indicators between them. To test this we report below on data from the R ANQ about two variables: educational attainment as an indicator of satisfaction of human needs; and general happiness as an indicator of subjective wellbeing.34 The findings confirm significant differences between the sites. That respondents in the two urban sites were generally better educated but less happy than those elsewhere also encouraged further enquiry.
1.5.1. Education Figueroa (2003) argues that access to formal education in Peru is a critical factor in reproducing social exclusion and inequality more generally. R ANQ data permits an analysis of the extent to which the probability of advancing beyond primary school is associated with site location. 41.2 percent of all adults in the 1,004 households covered by R ANQ had not progressed beyond primary education, and this rate was much higher in rural areas. Table 1.9 shows results
Table 1.9
Education above primary level by research site: Logit estimatesa Site/variable 15–65 year Primary Coefficient olds (total education 2,282) or less (%)
Nuevo Lugar Progreso
Urban– coast Urban– highlands Descanso Peri-urban– highlands Alegria Peri-urban– highlands Llajta Rural– Iskay highlands Llajta Jock Rural– highlands Selva Rural– Manta forest Women (all sites) Constant
T-Test Marginal Effects
645
26.0
⫺0.630
⫺4.73* ⫺0.145
465
37.0
⫺0.033
⫺0.24
491
38.5
(Reference case)
387
52.2
0.581
4.12*
0.143
133
78.9
1.873
7.95*
0.421
62
74.2
1.628
5.26*
0.375
99
58.6
0.853
3.72*
0.210
0.766
8.31*
0.182
⫺0.895
⫺8.33*
(Included in figures above)
⫺0.008
Note: a 1 = primary or less; 0 = other levels of education. Asterisk indicates significance at 1 percent level. Reference case is men living in Descanso. Pseudo-R squared = 0.093. Results are for all 16 to 65 year olds not still in the education system.
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of using a Logit model to estimate the likelihood of not completing primary school by research site. Differences from the benchmark case of working-age people in the Mantaro Valley district town of Descanso were significant in all cases except Progreso (the urban shanty town in Huancayo). Inhabitants of Nuevo Lugar in Lima were 14.5 percent less likely to exit schooling this early, whereas those in the rural sites were more likely to do so. In the extreme case, an inhabitant of Llajta Iskay was 42.1 percent more likely to exit formal education before entering secondary level. These estimates control for gender differences in the composition of each sample within each site, women being additionally 18.2 percent less likely to receive education beyond primary level.
1.5.2. Global Happiness As a rough and preliminary test of wellbeing within the sample, a global happiness question was addressed to heads of household during the R ANQ survey. The happiest heads of households were on average found in the Huancavelica district town of Alegria, where 25 percent reported being “very happy” and only 10 percent “not too happy.” At the opposite extreme, only 4 percent reported being “very happy” and 21 percent being “not too happy” in Progreso.35 In order to test for differences in responses between sites an ordered Probit model was estimated with global happiness being regressed onto a group of site dummy variables (see table 1.10). A dummy variable was added for womenheaded households in Model II to test whether women heads were significantly happier than male respondents. The coefficients can be interpreted by their sign and significance. In both models, household heads from Alegria report significantly more happiness than those in Descanso, whilst heads of households in Progreso were significantly less happy. Women heads of household were less happy than men (Model II).36 This confirmed that where people lived along the selected corridor did significantly affect how they felt about their wellbeing.
1.6. Outline of the Book Chapter 2 (Resources, Conflict, and Social Identity in Context) takes a historical and ethnographic approach to explaining how internal and external factors influence wellbeing in the seven chosen research sites. The first section briefly reviews the history of the region with particular emphasis on the racial/ethnic dimensions of political conflict, including the Spanish conquest, Independence, foreign investment, agrarian reform, and terrorism. It then reports on a small survey into how people in each research site perceived their own social identity. The main part of the chapter then takes the form of brief descriptions of the natural, material, human, social, and cultural resources in each site, interspersed with case studies of recent internal conflicts—between municipal officials and the leaders of communal farmers’ associations, for example.
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Table 1.10 Global happiness by research site: Ordered Probit estimations a Variables
Model I Coefficient Standard error
Model II T-Test
Coefficient Standard error
T-Test
Nuevo Lugar
⫺0.180
0.116
⫺1.550
⫺0.065
0.127
⫺0.510
Progreso
⫺0.428* 0.458* 0.053 0.108
0.125
⫺3.420 3.680 0.280 0.540
⫺0.451* 0.453* 0.046 0.127
0.126
⫺3.580 3.640 0.240 0.630
⫺0.360
Alegria Llajta Iskay Llajta Jock Selva Manta
⫺0.079
0.124 0.192 0.202 0.218
Women heads Cut 1 Cut 2 Sample Pseudo-R Squared
⫺1.133 1.239 999 0.038
0.095 0.097
⫺0.110
0.125 0.192 0.202 0.218
⫺0.500
⫺0.231*
0.101
⫺2.290
⫺1.180 1.201 999 0.041
Note: a (0=Not too happy, 1=fairly happy, 2=very happy) Asterisk indicates significance at 1 percent level. Reference case in Model I is respondents living in Descanso, and in Model II is men living in Descanso. Additional models also found statistically significant links between (a) perceived adequacy of income and (b) self-perception of income relative to neighbors.
Chapter 3 (Subjective Wellbeing: An Alternative Approach) presents an original methodological approach to measuring wellbeing without reliance on externally dictated theories and indicators. The introduction explains the conceptual framework, the epistemological (emic and post-hoc) approach and methodology. After a brief discussion of initial qualitative findings it derives three broad categories of latent needs from the data: place to live better, build a family, and progress from a secure base. These three variables lay the foundation for linking personal development to wider processes of social and economic development taken up in the following three chapters. Variation in the importance respondents attached to each of them as well as in their satisfaction with achieving them is then analyzed statistically by research site and according to the sociodemographics of respondents. The chapter then uses these measures to develop an integrated and quantitative model of the quality of life, linking need perception with perception of available resources, prevailing values, and personality. This model provides an important antidote to reliance on predetermined assumptions about the psychological processes affecting wellbeing. Chapter 4 (Economic welfare, Poverty, and Subjective Wellbeing) compares a classification of households according to standard economic welfare measures, with how individuals within them thought and felt. The introduction includes
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a brief review of secondary literature linking the two in Peru. Data is then presented for each site on income, expenditure, and poverty at the household level. These familiar welfare indicators are then compared statistically with (a) an index of global happiness and (b) the latent need importance and satisfaction indicators developed in the previous chapter. We find that material welfare and subjective life satisfaction indicators are not necessarily positively correlated with each other: indeed some are negatively correlated. Chapter 5 (Wellbeing and Migration) is the first of three chapters that moves from measuring wellbeing to exploring how it is generated and contested through specific social processes. Migration is an important determinant of wellbeing not only of those who move, but also those left behind. After setting out a conceptual framework for thinking about migration, the chapter provides a detailed profile of patterns of migration into and out of the selected research sites. In contrast to the usual emphasis on migration as a response to economic incentives it links migration to the three latent needs identified in chapter 3. It draws on qualitative data to explore in more detail the effect of migration on the relationship between parents and children. Chapter 6 (Wellbeing and Institutions) explores how a holistic understanding of wellbeing helps to explain the evolution of institutions in the selected research sites. In so doing it criticizes theories of institutions that emphasize their economic and political functions at the expense of their social, cultural, and emotional roles. The introduction defines what we mean by institutions (particularly forms of informal collective action) and briefly reviews the literature surrounding their origin and evolution both generally and in an Andean setting. This is followed by an analysis of variation in the mix of institutions by each research site, and discussion of how they support the different components of subjective wellbeing developed in chapter 3. Eight detailed case studies are then presented into the way faenas (community self-help projects) connect values, goals, resources, and peak happiness experiences. Chapter 7 (Reproducing Unequal Security: Peru as a Wellbeing Regime) returns to the wider policy context, locating the three different development discourses presented in the opening chapter within a general theory of national policy regimes. This starts by considering external “conditioning factors” affecting the research area including globalization, rising consumerism, and the evolution of the state. It then considers the changing “institutional responsibility matrix” including decentralization and second generation neoliberal reforms, as well as their interplay with rights-based, religious and paternalistic traditions of welfare provision. Third, it considers the relevance of an expanded inventory of “wellbeing outcomes” (material, social, and symbolic) to measuring and evaluating these changes. Finally, it explores regime “reproduction consequences,” particularly with respect to centralization of wealth and power, alienation, the political tolerance of inequality and the politics of social identity as well as of self-interest. The chapter argues that a wellbeing (rather than pure welfare) perspective on policy emphasizes both “freedom to” act and “freedom from” harm—increased personal security being critical to both.
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Chapter 8 (Conclusions and Implications for Development Policy and Practice) opens with a summary of foregoing chapters and then highlights four ways in which the discourse of wellbeing they explore can be useful. First, it creates conceptual space within which conflicts and development disconnects can be traced back to fundamentally different views of the nature of human wellbeing. Second, it opens the way for more informed use of psychological techniques for assessing what matters most to people, how satisfied they are with their life and why. Third, it supports the case for a more subtle analysis of policy that acknowledges how rational self-interest is compromised by collective values, ideologies, and impulses. Fourth, faced with the complex outcomes of crosscultural action across diverse and contested wellbeing domains and discourses it supports the case for more reflexive, improvised, contextual, and devolved forms of development management. Chapter 9 (Implications for Wellbeing Research and Theory) suggests new lines for research into subjective wellbeing. First, it argues that there is scope for further use and extension of research methods and analytical approaches pioneered in this book. Second, it suggests lines for combining them with analysis of the history, archaeology, and evolutionary psychology of wellbeing. Third, it suggests connections with research in the fields of genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. Finally, it argues for using locally grounded subjective wellbeing models of the kind developed in chapter 3 to systematically plan, monitor, and evaluate experimental development interventions to suit particular communities and contexts. Notes 1. A UK example is the negative connotation attached to “property development.” This is also reflected in the rise of postdevelopment and antidevelopment discourse (see section 1). Even without referring to its pejorative usage Clark (2002:22) distinguishes more than thirty different ways in which the word is used in the social sciences. 2. Also people cannot be quite so quickly othered by being labeled (and often belittled) as the poor—as if they belonged to a different species. If poor people are mostly just like everyone else, only with less money, then it is understandable to treat them as people first and poor second. 3. The euphemistic term “developing countries” further illustrates the point about ambiguity of the term development. The more substantive point is that WeD funding was explicitly to conduct research in low and middle income countries, in contrast to the high income country context of the bulk of previous research explicitly into subjective wellbeing. 4. Dean (2003) provides an analysis of multiple understandings of wellbeing implicit in the different discourses that influenced initial planning and design of WeD research in the UK. 5. A cross-country synthesis book drawing on work in all four countries is also planned. Meanwhile working papers across the whole program are available at www.welldev.org. 6. For example, in reviewing secondary literature on wellbeing and development in Peru, Altamirano et al. (2004) found it useful to distinguish between studies that emphasized how wellbeing was molded by relationships to things (material), other people (social), and ideas (cultural).
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7. Gough (personal communication) points out that these three dimensions can be identified in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle identifies eudaimonia as the highest goal in life and this is normally translated into English as “happiness.” Happiness is such an end “because we always choose it for itself, and never for any other reason’ (Ethics I vii). However, recognizing that pleasures can be f leeting, he goes on to define the happy man as “one who is active in accordance with complete virtue, and who is adequately furnished with external goods, and that not for some specified period but throughout a complete life’ (I x). This introduces three further ideas. First, the idea of activity (energeia)—of exercising one’s powers and realizing one’s capabilities through time (though, given the accidents of fortune, this can take the form of enduring hardships). Second, it introduces the idea of virtue (arete) since “virtuous acts have the greatest permanence” (I x). Aristotle grounds virtue in good actions within the context that a man finds himself. Finally, he recognizes that happiness requires external goods, “for it is difficult if not impossible to do fine deeds without any resources” (I viii). 8. For example, building on the work of Doyal and Gough (1991) and of Ryan and Deci (2001b) we can identify needs for health, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These in turn require inter alia a set of intermediate need satisfiers, such as food, childhood security, and so on, which have material foundations. 9. See Gough and McGregor (2007:11–16) for a review of different theories of basic needs. Reference to “in isolation” is important because it allows for situations where harm, even death, is voluntarily accepted in the name of some higher goal. 10. While OWB is by definition revealed through physical states and actions (including ownership of assets, allocation of time, the consumption of goods, and the use of services) that are in theory observable by others, its measurement in practice often relies on subjective statements of respondents (e.g., how much money and leisure they say they have). Hence it cannot be assumed that data on OWB is necessarily more reliable than that for SWB. Of course, both approaches to understanding wellbeing are real and important. 11. This contrasts with a rationalist analytical perspective, which emphasizes how decisions are made to maximize goal achievement subject to resource constraints. Recognition of the importance of individual and cultural constraints on such rationality is growing. For example, low wellbeing influences peoples’ actions and interactions through their influence on self-esteem, confidence, and the “capacity to aspire” (Appadurai, 2004). Similarly, preferences are bounded by cultural understandings, and “preference constraints” are themselves endogenous to development processes. 12. In a more comprehensive analysis of the different “foundations of knowledge” underlying academic disciplines Bevan (2007) identifies nine components: focus, values, ontology, epistemology, theorizing, research strategy, key conclusions, rhetoric, and praxis. 13. Lines show three sets of connections that render a discourse consistent and meaningful; arrows show three ways in which these can be weakened. 14. Useful examples of books that attempt this are by Hunt (1989) and Pieterse (2001). Copestake (2005) suggests that four dominant discourses can be distinguished in the past fifty years: comprehensive planning, basic needs, neoliberalism, and policy management. 15. In focusing on the main contemporary views I have not included a column for older, statist models of development—in contrast to Table 7.1 in Raczynski
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16.
17.
18.
19. 20. 21. 22.
23.
24. 25.
26.
27. 28.
29.
(1998), for example. The last two columns echo the distinction made by Wood and Gough (2004:321) between the historical role of “far sighted elites” and popular social movements in building welfare regimes. See Williamson (2003) for ref lections on the original conceptualization of the Washington Consensus and Fine (2002) for a more critical view. Rodrik (2006) provides a useful update that, while continuing to emphasize the primacy of economic growth, suggests ten additional components of an “augmented” Washington consensus. Rao and Walton (2004) indicate the extent to which some people within the development industry are taking culture more seriously. Radcliffe and Laurie (2006) articulate some of the worries about the dangers of what they refer to as a “new paradigm of culture and development” that is neglectful of historical and geographical variation and contestation. This echoes arguments picked up by Pieterse (2001) in his chapter on “critical holism and the Tao of development.” It is surprising, however, how little this chapter refers explicitly to wellbeing: this being an indication of how recently wellbeing has entered into the lexicon of development theory. See also Altamirano et al. (2004) for a more extensive review of literature on poverty in Peru. Figures come from “Peru at a glance” on the World Bank web site. Figures were taken from the “interactive poverty map” on the National Institute of Statistics and Information (INIE) web site. This is a multidimensional indicator of human development that takes into account indicators of per capita income, health, and education. See any UNDP Human Development Report for a more detailed description. See also Copestake (2004, 2006) for a summary and critique of this model. This analysis has also been echoed by the World Bank, which regards factor market imperfections and the restricted size of the domestic market for goods and services arising from inequality as not only a source of ill-being but also a significant brake on economic growth (World Bank, 2005). In the terminology developed here this constitutes a bid to appropriate selected aspects of a rights first agenda into an income first agenda. For discussion of Andean reciprocity, kinship, and exchange see Mayer (2002), Mayer and De la Cadena (1989), and Golte (1980). Degregori (2000) provides a comprehensive review of the history of anthropology in Peru, including the political tensions between Peruvian and foreign anthropologists. For a Marxian critique of postmodern peasant studies see Brass (2002). Coxshall (2005) provides a telling example. Even the personal tragedies resulting from conflict between Shining Path and government can only be fully understood in the context of the way they affected (and were mediated by) kinship relations. These consultations were an input into the World Development Report 2000/01 on poverty. See http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices Although data collection started in March 2004, final details of data collection (including an extension to February 2006) were agreed only at a meeting of all WeD country teams in March 2005. The team (who are all coauthors of chapter 2) was supervised in the field up to June 2005 by an experienced anthropologist, who had previously worked as a lecturer in anthropology at UNCP and who was a graduate of PUCP. From July
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30.
31.
32.
33.
34. 35. 36.
29
2005 to February 2006 they were supervised by a graduate sociologist from PUCP. The concept is also used in Peru, by USAID for example, to delineate and promote supply chains with growth potential stretching from the coast into the interior of the country. This is described by Abraham and Platteau (2004) as a spectrum from personalized relations between culturally differentiated members of large urban settlements (e.g., Nuevo Lugar) to culturally homogenous members of a small rural community (e.g., Llajta Iskay). Tanaka (2001) echoes this in his discussion of the relationship between community, clientelist, and broking forms of leadership and participation in sites of relatively high (Nuevo Lugar, Progreso), medium (e.g., Alegria, Descanso), and low (e.g., Llajta Iskay, Llajta Jock, Selva Manta) “complexity” respectively. The R ANQ was divided into six parts: household organization; global happiness; human resources; material resources; social resources; and cultural resources (language, social identification, and honorific titles). The global happiness part comprised one question: “taking all things together, how would you say things are these days; would you say you are very happy, fairly happy, not too happy?” Like other questions this was subject to translation and back-translation tests from English into Spanish and Quechua. The initial research proposal had been to adapt one of the quality of life instruments developed under the auspices of the World Health Organization. This was rejected in favor of an instrument design that relied more on semistructured interviews with potential respondents for scale construction, rather than compliance with the WHOQoL protocol for adapting its international instruments using focus group discussions with expert key informants. Statistical analysis of the education and happiness data was carried out by Tim Hinks. As is expected with this kind of question, the majority of respondents chose the middle category. Inclusion of this dummy variable affecting the coefficient on A in particular, where 182 household heads interviewed were women, compared with just 83 men.
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Chapter 2
Resources, Conflict, and Social Identity in Context José Luis Álvarez, Maribel Arroyo, Lida Carhuallanqui, James Copestake, Martín Jaurapoma, Tom Lavers, Miguel Obispo, Edwin Paúcar, Percy Reina, and Jorge Yamamoto
2.1. Introduction Our relationship with physical things, other people, and ideas (hence material, social, and symbolic dimensions of our wellbeing) are profoundly affected by where we live as well as the “place” of different localities in history. Here we concur with Long and Roberts (1984:3) that local and regional analysis of development is an important complement to national and international. Central Peru has been profoundly affected, for example, by changing terms of engagement with the national and global economy: altering the link between livelihood and land, increasing labor mobility, and exposing people to other cultural perspectives through new forms of media. Moreover this engagement is quite different from that of other parts of the country. The main purpose of this chapter is to sketch the geographical setting and historical context of our research, allowing for deeper reflection into regional differences as well as similarities. This entails describing salient physical and social aspects of each research site as well as the wider region in which they are located. More ambitiously, the chapter also begins to explore how sites are perceived and connected in the minds of their inhabitants. In doing so, we draw also on the concept of “imagined communities” to consider the idea of “place” in a historical, social, cultural, and political as well as a geographical sense (Anderson, 2003).1 Section 2.2 provides a brief introduction to Huancayo and the Mantaro Valley, with some references also to Huancavelica. Section 2.3 draws on community profiles compiled by the field team to describe each of the seven research sites in turn. The chapter also draws on secondary literature and discussions by the authors with many local actors, including other social scientists working in the region.
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2.2. Regional Context 2.2.1. The Corridor Concept The idea of “economic corridors” has been promoted in Peru by government and aid agencies as part of a strategy for development of strategic supply chains linking coast, highland, and jungle.2 The concept was adopted by the WeD research team to facilitate selection of a set of research sites to reflect as much variation as possible in contextual factors within the region, including altitude and access to natural resources, population density and degree of urbanization, the relative importance of local, national, and global trade, proximity to centers of political power, and ethnicity and language. The concept is particularly applicable to the chosen research area, given the economic importance of the central highway between Lima and the interior of Junin and Huancavelica. However, flows of money, people, and goods can neither be neatly segmented into discrete channels, nor does the idea of a corridor exist within the popular imagination.3 Here we focus first on the Mantaro Valley, then briefly contrast this with a perspective from Huancavelica.
2.2.2. The Mantaro Valley in Historical Perspective Although not much is known about habitation of the Mantaro Valley in the preInca period, archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest it was the center of a unified Huanca kingdom immediately before the Inca conquest in 1460.4 More controversial is the argument, advanced by historian Waldemar Espinoza, that the Huanca were sufficiently united and strong to greet the Spanish in 1532 as liberators and potential allies. José Maria Arguedas built on this interpretation of the conquest by arguing that this alliance (a factor in persuading Pizarro to locate his first capital in the Mantaro Valley at Jauja, and then on the nearest part of the Pacific Coast at Lima) allowed the Huanca nobility and their subjects to escape the extremes of colonial servitude and exploitation experienced by other Andean groups. Others have argued that this simplified version of a distinctive Huanca history can also be seen as a more recent process of reinvention of tradition and identity (Álvarez, 2005; Romero, 2004). Studies of colonial history in the valley suggest that while the gradual establishment of a dominant mestizo (mixed race) landowning class was far from rapid or smooth, it advanced further and faster here than in the Southern highlands, where a stronger tradition of absolute rule by Spanish overlords (gamonales) emerged.5 Key to the process were matrimonial alliances across racial and ethnic barriers, the establishment of nucleated farming towns on each side of the river (such as Descanso), the role of fraternal alliances (cofradias) of landowners and peasants within each town, and the slow decline of a distinct indigenous landowning aristocracy of kurakas (Álvarez, 2005). The role of mestizo landowners in the nationalist struggle for independence from Spain during the 1820s remains a matter of debate, but the conflict is
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likely to have created further opportunities for its consolidation as a class, as well as hastening the gradual disappearance from the valley of campesinos of pure indigenous ancestry. Consequently, the 1879–83 war and Chilean occupation did not pitch white landowning collaborators against Indian peasant guerrillas as starkly as it did further south. Rather, relatively successful resistance facilitated the emergence of a self-consciously patriotic mestizo social identity, in which hierarchy in control of land was conflated with communal and reciprocal traditions of work and festivity. In the 1920s, when anthropologists began to document the livelihoods and folklore of the valley, they could advance the idea of economically differentiated but culturally homogeneous communities: each with a distinctive identity linked to craft products, patron saints, festivals, weekly markets, and control of communal land. From there it was a small step for Arguedas and others to develop the idea of an even wider imagined community of mestizo peasants and landowners less deeply stratified by radicalized hierarchy than elsewhere in Peru (Álvarez, 2005). But if there ever was a golden age of harmonious communities in the Mantaro Valley then it didn’t last long. The penetration of capitalist relations in agriculture was greatly accelerated by the arrival of the Cerro de Pasco mining company and construction of the railway from Lima to Huancavelica at the beginning of the twentieth century. A substantial literature explores its impact on the regional economy, including the effect of wage income from miners on agrarian structure (Long and Roberts, 1978; Mallon, 1983). In rural areas, differential access to cash incomes stimulated the formation of a land market and the emergence of a class of commercial farmers selling food, wood, clothes, and shoes to meet growing demand from the mines and cities. These relied to varying degrees on reciprocal and communal forms of labor mobilization as much as on wage labor. In some villages, relatively equal land distribution combined with rising education to facilitate communal activities and infrastructural development: the hydroelectric project in Muquiyauyo (built in 1908) being a celebrated example (Adams, 1959). But more commonly smaller peasant farmers were unable to raise productivity to match rising off-farm employment opportunities. As a result their contribution to agricultural output became increasingly marginal relative to their dependence on seasonal migration. Population growth, farm differentiation, and informal small-business opportunities arising from increased demand for nonfood goods and services fuelled migration and urbanization. The city of Huancayo grew rapidly into the dominant regional trading, financial and supply center, linking mining and agricultural sectors, and controlled more by mercantilist than by landowning interests (Long and Roberts, 1978:70–87). Up to the 1960s it was still possible to view all of the above as part of a chaotic but progressive process of economic development, with the mining sector as the major engine of growth, pulling small-scale trading and more progressive farmers along behind it. However, by the 1970s direct and indirect employment creation as a result of mining and related activities was faltering. Major business interests in Huancayo began to switch their center of operation to Lima, weakening its small industrial base in favor of commerce and government
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services. The agrarian reform of 1969 did little to help small-scale farmers, being mostly restricted to upland pastoral zones and jungle estates (Long and Roberts, 1978:248–253). The agricultural sector throughout the country performed badly during the 1970s, with highland producers in particular finding it hard to compete with producers on the coast and abroad (Crabtree, 2006).6 Instead they became increasingly dependent on seasonal migration and remittances, including those sent back from rapidly growing towns in the jungle, such as Canchamayo and Satipo (CVR, 2003:136; INEI, 2005). Meanwhile in urban areas the struggle for secure employment accentuated the importance of ethnicity and education (Figueroa, 2003).
2.2.3. Violence and Poverty in the 1980s and 1990s The 1980s began with elections and heightened political expectations, but neither the government of Belaunde in the first half of the decade, nor that of Alan Garcia in the second, proved able to handle them. In the context of the wider “lost decade of growth for Latin America” the failure was in part economic: Peru’s GDP recorded an average annual fall of 1.2 percent through the 1980s, led by falling earnings from the mining sector (Sheahan, 1999:48). But even more traumatic was the growth of the Shining Path movement, fuelled in part by personal experience of poverty and exclusion from the prevailing political and economic system (Starn et al., 1995; Sheahan, 1999:33). The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR, 2003) dedicates a chapter to the effects of the Maoist insurgency in the central highlands, which it defines as the Departments of Junin and Pasco, plus the Northernmost Provinces of Huancavelica. It starts by noting the region’s strategic importance (as the shortest transport link from Lima to both mountain and jungle, and its reputation as the most prosperous highland region. It also emphasizes its hybrid mestizo identity: a commercially oriented economy and popular culture that combined growing consumerism with many traditional Andean characteristics and had avoided the extremes of agrarian conflict experienced elsewhere in the country (CVR, 2003:137). These features, as well as the rapid defeat of the MIR (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario) insurgency in 1965 led many people to assume it would be resistant to the revolutionary doctrines and tactics of both Shining Path (Partido Comunista del Peru—Sendero Luminoso) and MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru). Events initially bore this out: during the early 1980s, acts of violence in Junin were less frequent than to the south. However, both terrorist groups greatly strengthened their presence in the region during this time: MRTA through the arrival of leaders from Cuzco in 1984, and Shining Path through the arrival of insurgents from Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Apurimac after the army entered these departments in 1982. Shining Path opened its first guerrilla zone in the Chaupihuaranga valley of Pasco, and built strong networks among students, particularly at the National University of Central Peru (Universidad Nacional del Centro del Peru), as well as in poorer settlements surrounding
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Huancayo city.7 Although much smaller than Shining Path, MRTA infiltrated unions, student groups, and peasant associations. It established a strong presence in the jungle areas of Chanchamayo and in the cloud forest areas (including Selva Manta) stretching from there up to the Mantaro Valley. Destruction of infrastructure, hostage-taking, summary trials, and assassination of police, municipal, and communal leaders all increased rapidly, particularly after 1985. By 1987, Shining Path was present throughout the region; it controlled popular committees in many communities and its armed columns roamed freely. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the maximum number of recorded deaths and disappearances in the region in a single year was 785 in 1990, this being out of a total 3,618 recorded for the period from 1980 to 2000 (CVR, 2003:145). This includes 903 in the Mantaro Valley (including Huancayo city), 782 in the two Northern provinces of Huancavelica, and 1,556 in the central jungle areas. Local NGOs estimated that by 1990 approximately 15,000 displaced people were living in the Mantaro Valley (compared with more than 300,000 nationally). But it became increasingly hard to distinguish between internally displaced persons and other migrants, particularly as the “IDP” label became a means for securing support for relief and reconstruction (Stepputat and Sorensen, 2001:775). The government of Alan Garcia declared a state of emergency over the whole region in 1989. The presence of the army gradually spread out from the main barracks in Huancayo, Jauja, and La Merced into surrounding areas. Public confidence in the army was low, being fuelled by accounts of atrocities elsewhere, and this was initially reinforced by some indiscriminate punitive killings in communities in the Mantaro Valley (CVR, 2003:141). However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the tactics of the army in the region were mostly more restrained than further south, as well as more effectively directed toward a strategy of rebuilding confidence, accumulating intelligence, carrying out targeted actions, and supporting civilian self-defense committees through provision of training and firearms (CVR, 2003:143). This resulted initially in an increase in deaths and disappearances, but gradually the tide turned. MRTA’s strength waned first, after a series of setbacks in 1989, including the celebrated Battle of the Mills (Enfrentamiento de los Molinos) at which 67 MRTA militants were killed by the Peruvian army. By 1992, and with the capture of Abimael Guzmán, Shining Path also faced military defeat in the region. Violence nevertheless continued sporadically throughout the 1990s, with Shining Path retaining a minor presence in some jungle areas beyond 2000. Recovery from the national crisis at the end of the 1980s was gradual. The economic stabilization program introduced by Fujimori in August 1990 tackled the hyperinflation he had inherited, but resulted in two more years of economic stagnation and rising poverty (Diaz, Saavedra, and Torero, 2002). Although a long period of economic growth and gradually rising average incomes followed (interrupted briefly in the late 1990s) this was also associated with increasing inequality, mitigated only partially by the expansion of public investment and social protection programs.8 Agriculture in the highlands was also adversely affected by competition with the coast and from food imports, contributing to a
36
Á LVA R E Z E T A L .
sharp fall in real agricultural prices. For example, the five year average real farmgate prices for potatoes, wheat, and coffee for 1996–2000 was respectively 34 percent, 29 percent, and 36 percent of those a decade earlier, while the volume of food imports was 70 percent higher (Crabtree, 2006). Income was increasingly skewed in favor of farmers and traders with more land and better commercial connections, including Huancayo’s infamous “potato kings”—wholesalerscum-moneylenders with entrenched control over marketing of crops from particular localities. Meanwhile, poorer households sought to diversify their activities but were unable to stem the flow of out-migration (Escobal, 2001). In urban areas, the struggle to secure employment has spurred increased investment in private as well as public education, but often of poor quality. The availability of cheap imported goods has stimulated the retail sector, with fast-food chains and illegal imitation of branded consumer goods being other areas of growth. Some financial institutions (most notably the Caja Municipal of Huancayo) have flourished by attracting deposits built up from remittances and through investment in micro-businesses, mostly in the service sector. But the tendency for more successful business people and professionals to migrate to Lima and abroad means the city lacks a substantial resident business class. This social fluidity combined with unemployment and consumerism goes some way to explaining the growth of youth delinquency and gang culture. The presence of so many relatives outside the region, and the growing share of imported goods in the market, has also changed the regional identity: with Huanca nationalism persisting at least as much in the minds of the valley’s diaspora as those of its current inhabitants.9
2.2.4. A View from Huancavelica* The research sites in the district of Alegria are economically oriented toward Huancayo both through trade in goods and movement of people, but at the same time linked administratively and linguistically to Huancavelica. Hence some understanding of the latter is also necessary in setting the context for the research. Table 2.1 reveals some of the differences between the two departments and also Lima. The table shows that Huancavelica has a smaller and more rural population. Internal rural to urban migration is relatively low (Huancavelica city having a population of only 30,000) owing to the prevalence of migration out of the department altogether. GDP per person is also smaller and more reliant on agriculture than elsewhere. The Huancavelica regional economy contracted sharply in the second half of the 1990s, whereas it grew in Lima (along with much of the coast), and remained stagnant in Junin. Average formal education of those more than 25 years of age is less and illiteracy higher, particularly for women. The incidence of poverty and extreme poverty is also much higher. Cultural differences are reflected in the much higher proportion of children aged 5 to 14 who speak Quechua, as well as a slightly lower incidence of single mothers. The province of Tayacaja (where Alegria is located) occupies an intermediate position
37
R E S O U R C E S , C O N F L I C T, I D E N T I T Y I N C O N T E X T
Table 2.1
Comparative statistics for Lima, Junin, and Huancavelica departments
Department
Year
Peru
Lima
Junin
H’velica
Population (‘000)
2002
26,745
7,748
1,247
443
Population density (’000/sq. km) Population increase (% per year) Urban population (%)
2002
20
222
28
20
1993–2002
NA
2.0
1.5
1.1
1981
NA
1.0
60.0
25.0
Urban population (%)
2002
NA
1.0
67.0
29.0
Life expectancy (years)
2000
68.7
73.2
67.2
64.2
Adult illiteracy (%)
2000
10.7
3.9
11.9
27.5
Women’s illiteracy (%)
2000
16.0
6.2
17.6
38.3
Average adult education (years) Children speaking Quechua (%) Single mothers (%)
2000
8.1
10.0
7.6
4.6
GDP (million Soles 1994 prices) GDP (million Soles 1994 prices) GDP growth (%)
2000
NA
NA
8.0
59.8
2000
17.7
21.3
18.2
15.3
1995
107,039
50,155
4,420
940
2001
121,513
4,498
777
1995–01
57,462
13.5
14.6
1.8
⫺17.3
GDP per person
2001
13,815
6,473
3,545
2,122
Share of agriculture (%)
1995
13.3
1.9
13.9
24.8
Share of agriculture (%)
2001
NA
1.8
14.8
25.7
Poverty incidence (%)
2004
51.6
37.1
52.6
84.4
Extreme poverty (%)
2004
19.2
4.2
18.3
59.9
Source: UNDP (2002); PEISA (2003); INEI (2005).
between the departmental averages for Junin and Huancavelica: demographically close to the latter, but economically influenced by its commercial orientation toward the city of Huancayo, and in the more densely populated north of Huancavelica rather than the larger but more sparsely populated and pastoral south. Key informants emphasized a strong work ethic in Tayacaja, but also greater extremes of wealth, with many richer farmers being able to own their own transport and educate their children privately in the more Westernized schools in Huancayo city. The city of Huancavelica lies 150 kilometers south of Huancayo with direct road and rail links. It grew up originally to serve the nearby mine of Santa
38
Á LVA R E Z E T A L .
Barbara, which in the sixteenth century supplied the Spanish empire with much of the mercury it needed to extract and purify silver and gold. However, it is also the point of contact between the commercial economy and the more selfsufficient peasant farming communities to the east and south of the department. The city is also an entry point for growing numbers of government and nongovernment organizations, attracted there in part by Huancavelica’s dubious status as the poorest department in the country, with a Human Development Index of just 0.439.10 Part of Huancavelica’s low economic status can be attributed to the drain of educated people to Huancayo and Lima. In contrast, many of those who stay can recounted stories of being “badly treated” in these places and maintain their cultural orientation in the opposite direction. Cultural polarization is evident in the reluctance of people to use Quechua in the presence of strangers, and by separate queues for indigenous and white people outside banks and local stores. Among young and unemployed people there is a continued sense of oppression and cultural conflict between the communal peasant life and unfulfilled aspirations for better formal education and employment. Why is Huancavelica such a poor region? For many residents, the answer is both simple and profound: because the most important resources in the region (human, animal, agricultural, mineral, hydroelectric) are exploited to serve the interests of outsiders.11 The faded colonial style of the city itself testifies to this: aristocratic houses and lavish churches serving as reminders of the period of mining exploitation. During the colonial period, indigenous people were employed as servants or even as pongaje (effectively slaves). However, resources were directed toward foreign markets, with mine owners reinvesting very little in the region. Instead they encouraged centralism and the plunder of regional resources: the railway line to Huancayo and highways to the coast all built to reinforce these distribution channels. In the case of agriculture, merchants from Huancayo dominate the markets, extracting low prices from farmers (the word huanca is regionally used to mean “negotiator”). The trade in Alpaca and Vicuna wool is also controlled by outsiders. To conclude, although Alegria lies only on the edge of Huancavelica and is economically oriented toward Huancayo, it can be expected that many of its residents feel a stronger cultural and political ambivalence toward the modernization and globalization that the cities of Huancayo and Lima represent. This can be portrayed in stereotypes: of the more business-oriented and urban savvy Spanish-speaking mestizo in the Mantaro Valley, and of the Quechua-speaking Indian communero in Huancavelica. But it is more accurate to anticipate a many layered cultural landscape, providing people with opportunities to develop nuanced and indeed multiple identities, “cultural styles” and performances, deeply influenced but not wholly dictated by place of origin and race.12
2.3. Social Identities by Site By social identity we refer to how people are perceived or labeled by others. This is of course highly political. The same label can also carry multiple, ambiguous, and constantly changing meanings depending on who is using
R E S O U R C E S , C O N F L I C T, I D E N T I T Y I N C O N T E X T
39
it and in what context (Wright-Revolledo, 2007) and this presents a methodological dilemma. On the one hand, it is evident that social identities have an important bearing on wellbeing: both directly, through their inf luence on how people feel about themselves and are perceived by others; and indirectly, through their inf luence on status, power, and access to resources. On the other hand, use of such labels in field work is fraught with difficulties, both ethical and of interpretation. For example, a question in the R ANQ survey that asked people to describe themselves yielded data that was very difficult to interpret: most people opting simply to state where they came from in geographical terms. This section is based instead on closed questions included in the first round of the WeDQoL survey, comprising lists of social labels that the field team knew to be widely understood in the region. Although it is likely that some answers were influenced by the respondent’s perception of the social identity of the interviewer, most had been interviewed by the same person at least once before and were familiar with their presence in the locality. The data does also reveal significant differences between sites as well as insight into the underlying complexity of the issue. In our discussion of the Peruvian context, we have already alluded to the way the colonial settlement established a radicalized class hierarchy between blanco (white, of Spanish birth), criollo (white of Peruvian birth), mestizo, and indio (indigenous) categories (Manrique, 1999; Quijano, 2000). We have also described attempts to influence these labels by reviving serrano (highland) Andean cultural identity (lo andino). A further important evolution in social identity that is associated strongly with migration is emergence of the label cholo. Although its meaning remains fluid and much debated, a first approximation to a definition is of the peasant migrant in the city who gradually fuses indigenous and serrano identities with other influences (Manrique, 1999:6). The remaining labels used in the questionnaire are more explicitly racial in origin: negro (black), charapa (Amazonic Indian), and chino (East Asian, but not just Chinese as illustrated by reference to Fujimori as “El Chino” despite his Japanese ancestry). The sample comprised 550 individuals. Of these, 45 percent were men, 27 percent less than 25 years of age, 63 percent between 25 and 45 years of age, and 10 percent more than 45 years of age. Gender and age were not significantly different between sites. In contrast, there were significant differences between sites regarding residential status and religion (see table 2.2). In Llajta Iskay, Llajta Jock, Alegria, and Descanso, more than three-quarters of respondents had been resident there for more than 15 years, and a majority had been born there. In the two urban sites, in contrast, the majority were born in a “very different place” and had been resident for less than 15 years. Selva Manta represented an intermediate case; a higher proportion of respondents there were also Protestant. Turning to social identity, 329 of the 550 respondents were willing to describe themselves using 1 of 9 terms offered to them: mestizo, serrano, blanco, cholo, indio, negro, criollo, charapa, and chino. Of these respondents, 52 percent described themselves as mestizo, 25.2 percent as serrano, 11.2 percent as
40
Á LVA R E Z E T A L .
Table 2.2 Demographic details of the WeDQoL sample Llajta Llajta Selva Alegria Descanso Progreso Nuevo All sites Iskay Jock Manta Lugar Residence in site 1–5 years n
6–15 years
7
3
3
8
6
26
18
71
%
11.7
5.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
26.0
18.0
12.9
n
6
7
11
13
17
41
62
157
36.7
13.0
17.0
41.0
62.0
28.5
% Total
10.0 11.7
n
60
60
30
100
100
100
100
550
Where born? Here n
54
37
18
80
92
13
0
294
60.0
80.0
94.8
13.0
0.0
53.7
% In a very different place Total
90.0 61.7
n
1
3
1
10
0
71
65
151
%
1.7
5.0
3.3
10.0
0.0
71.0
65.0
27.6
n
60
60
30
100
97
100
100
547
49
8
90
91
79
83
449
28.6
95.7
95.8
80.6
84.7
84.4
28
94
95
98
98
532
Religion? (otherwise Protestant) Catholic
n %
Total
n
49
83.1 81.7 59
60
Source: WeD Peru: WeDQoL survey.
blanco, and 3.6 percent as cholo. (see table 2.3). Site differences were significant. The term serrano was used mostly by respondents in the urban and, to a lesser extent, the peri-urban sites. The term blanco was used more by people in rural sites, particularly those in Huancavelica. In 67.7 percent of cases, the respondent used the same category that they applied to themselves to describe their community as well. The main divergences were that 7.3 percent of respondents called themselves mestizo but their community serrano, and 8.5 percent described themselves but not their community as blanco (see table 2.4). The second of these divergences is explored further here, on the assumption that it might reveal more about how social identity differs between sites. Table 2.5 compares the use of the label blanco in response to six different questions, between-site differences in the frequency of responses being statistically significant in all cases. Responses to Question 1 reveal, quite contrary to what might be expected, that a higher proportion of respondents (one third) categorized their community as blanco in Llajta Iskay than in any other. More of them also categorized
Table 2.3
Self-categorization by site
Percent of site Llajta responses Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Alegria Descanso Progreso Manta
Nuevo All Lugar sites
Mestizo
53.3
70.0
90.0
53.3
56.7
41.7
30.5
52.6
Serrano
13.3
3.3
0.0
23.3
30.0
36.7
40.7
25.2
Blanco
26.7
20.0
10.0
15.0
6.7
5.0
6.8
11.2
Cholo
3.3
0.0
0.0
1.7
3.3
10.0
3.4
3.6
Criollo
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
1.7
15.3
3.0
Indio
3.3
0.0
0.0
3.3
1.7
1.7
0.0
1.5
Charapa
0.0
0.0
0.0
1.7
1.7
1.7
3.4
1.5
Negro
0.0
6.7
0.0
1.7
0.0
1.7
0.0
1.2
Total
30
30
30
60
60
60
59
329
Source: WeD Peru: WedQoL survey.
Table 2.4 Self and community categorization of social identity compared Community categorization
Self-categorization Blanco Mestizo Indio
Blanco
No
9
% Mestizo
No
Indio
Cholo
% Negro
Criollo
Serrano
Total
Cholo
All sites
Negro Criollo Serrano Charapa
6
0
0
0
0
2
0
17
2.7
1.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.6
0.0
5.1
17
137
1
1
2
2
10
2
172
%
5.2
41.6
0.3
0.3
0.6
0.6
3.0
0.6
52.2
No
1
1
2
0
1
0
2
0
7
%
0.3
0.3
0.6
0.0
0.3
0.0
0.6
0.0
2.1
No
3
3
0
7
0
2
2
0
17
0.9
0.9
0.0
2.1
0.0
0.6
0.6
0.0
5.1
No
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
%
0.0
0.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.6
No
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
%
0.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.3
0.0
0.0
0.6
No
6
24
2
4
1
5
67
3
112
%
1.8
7.3
0.6
1.2
0.3
1.5
20.4
0.9
34.0
No
37
173
5
12
4
10
83
5
329
%
11.2
52.6
1.5
3.6
1.2
3.0
25.2
1.5
100
Note: All percentages rounded to the nearest decimal point. Source: WeD Peru: WeDQoL survey.
42
Á LVA R E Z E T A L .
Table 2.5 Use of the term blanco (white) by site Percent of site responses 1. Community
Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Alegria Descanso Progreso Nuevo Manta Lugar
All sites
No
10
3
1
1
0
2
0
17
%
33.3
10.0
3.3
1.7
0.0
3.3
0.0
5.2
No
8
6
3
9
4
3
4
37
%
26.7
20.0
10.0
15.0
6.7
5.0
6.8
11.2
No
3
0
2
7
3
1
0
16
%
10.0
0.0
6.7
11.7
5.5
1.7
0.0
5.0
4. Good or very good?
No
28
19
24
52
47
34
49
253
%
93.3
63.3
80.0
86.7
78.3
56.7
81.7
76.6
5. Personal ideal?
No
18
18
13
26
9
12
8
104
%
60.0
60.0
43.3
43.3
15.0
20.0
13.3
31.5
6. Not content with category
No
5
2
2
9
4
2
2
26
%
16.7
6.7
6.6
15.0
6.7
3.3
3.3
7.9
7. Respected? (yes)
No
28
25
29
44
52
58
57
293
%
93.3
83.3
96.7
73.3
86.7
96.7
98.3
89.3
2. Self
3. Interviewer
Note: The actual questions were as follows. 1. In this community the people are [ . . . ]? 2. You are [ . . . ]? 3. Classification of research investigator [ . . . ]. 4. How do most people regard the following [ . . . ]? (very bad, bad, good, very good). 5. If you had the chance to be born again, what would you be like? 6. Are you content to be [response to question 2]? (very discontent, discontent, content, very content). 7. Are [ . . . ] respected in Peru? Source: WeD Peru: WeDQoL survey.
themselves in the same way.13 In both cases, the frequency of this response was next highest in the other rural Huancavelica site (Llajta Jock). This contrasts with the categorization of the interviewers who were half as likely to categorize respondents in any site as blanco.14 Respondents in Llajta Iskay were most likely to say they regarded the majority of blancos as “good” or “very good.” A higher proportion of respondents in Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock also said that if it was possible to be born again, then they would wish to be blanco; whereas in all other sites, the majority said they would wish to be either serrano or mestizo. Their view of the level of respect accorded to blancos in Peru was not markedly higher, this being lowest in the two peri-urban sites. This data serves as a warning against a simplistic assumption that the closer people are to Lima the more they identify themselves with being blanco. A tentative interpretation is that in the rural sites of Huancavelica fewer people are content with the way they categorize themselves and are categorized by others.
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43
2.4. Community Profiles This section provides a brief narrative overview of each research site (including physical features, demography, culture, history, livelihoods, social organization, and external services) on the basis of information collected between 2003 and 2005. Statistics, unless otherwise stated, are for 2002.15 We start with the three small hamlets, then describe the two peri-urban district centers, and finish with the two urban settlements.
2.4.1. Llajta Iskay Llajta Iskay is located at an altitude of 3,500 meters overlooking the gorge cut by the Mantaro River after it crosses the boundary from Junin to Huancavelica. It is an annex of Alegria district, whose headquarters is 25 kilometers away by unpaved road. Llajta Iskay has a population of 365, of whom 90 percent are Catholic and the remaining 10 percent evangelical. The latter are divided into two groups, who make regular use of adjacent chapels, while a priest only rarely visits the very dilapidated Catholic chapel. The district mayor offered to help renovate the church if all denominations agreed to share it, but this was not accepted. The most important festivals are the Festival of the Cross in May and Santiago in July, when many migrants return to the village from Lima and Huancayo (see table 2.6). Quechua is the first language in nearly all households, but three-quarters of the population are bilingual in both Quechua
Table 2.6
Seasonality in the Mantaro Valley: Highlights
Month
Seasons
Crop farming
Main festivals
January February March April
Wettest period. Limited work and money
Land cultivation and weeding
New Year Carnival
May
End of the rainy Main harvest period for rain season fed crops Dry and sunny, but cold at night
June July August September October Start of the rainy season November December
Easter Festival of the Cross Santiago
Land preparation and sowing
Source: Detailed seasonal profiles for each site compiled by the field team.
All Saints Christmas
44
Á LVA R E Z E T A L .
and Spanish: children and younger people put pressure on family members and teachers to speak Spanish so that they can learn it too. Most land is held by an association of communal farmers comprising 73 members, with land distributed among households and some plots retained for communal cultivation. The land controlled by the association has been reduced through conflict, including an unresolved dispute over grazing land with a neighboring hacienda. In the last 10 years, the community tried to reclaim control of some of this land through Courts of Justice in Tayacaja and Huancavelica, but the dispute remains unresolved. Membership of the communal association is effectively compulsory for everyone over the age of 18, except the very old and even they complain of being forced to do communal work after they have retired. A small amount of privately titled land also exists and can be purchased and sold, and there is a longstanding land conflict over some of this between two of the families. Agriculture is the main economic activity (followed by cattle rising) but none of the land is irrigated. The main agricultural products are potatoes, peas, barley, and beans. These are sold internally or carried by lorry to Huancayo or Lima. All households keep domestic animals such as cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats. Wild animals in the area include pumas and foxes. Communal working practices are very important to the farming system and include ayni (reciprocal help between two people), minka (e.g., everyone working together for one person at harvest time, during the sowing season or to build a house), and faena (communal work for the benefit of the community, including cleaning ditches and improving roads).16 Leadership of the community is divided between the teniente gobernador (representative of the government), the justice of peace, the municipal agent, and the president of the communal association.17 There is much comparing of current with past incumbents and competition between posts, fuelled by longstanding personal rivalries. For example, a faena was organized to build an adobe lockhouse in response to anger at young people returning to the village from outside and not being controlled by their families.18 But it remained unused for some time while argument raged about who should authorize its use. Meanwhile, another faena was organized to install new water pipes. These were provided (with much fanfare) by the municipality but their quality subsequently became a matter of fierce argument. A much bigger dream is to secure electricity, but most people are skeptical that the community will ever manage to organize itself effectively enough to do so. There are no formal links with outside political parties, indeed, most people perceive themselves to be unaffected by outside politics and view elections as a chore because they are forced to travel to Alegria to vote. Politicians only come to the community during municipal or presidential elections. The Government supports a preschool and primary school with 4 teachers and 113 pupils between them, but attendance is low. Many children do not complete primary school, leaving to work in agriculture instead. Many marry when as young as 14 years old, and almost all by the age of 20, by seeking permission within the community and without servinacuy (living together first). Although many dream of securing education for their children outside their
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community they also complain about being unable to finance such an investment from farming income. Meanwhile, the nursery and school buildings have been eroded by rain and are at risk of collapse. People’s commitment to the school has also been undermined by disputes with one of the teachers, suspected of stealing school materials. Most houses have piped water, but there is neither electricity nor public sanitation. There is a health center in the community, but it is rarely open owing to the absence of staff and people tend to rely on traditional medicine. According to the visiting nurse, the most frequent health problems are acute malnutrition, pneumonia, bronchial infections, intestinal parasites, and skin diseases. Additional problems affecting women include vaginal infections, inflamed ovaries, and rheumatism. The death of a prominent member of the community (probably of AIDS) prompted widespread anger, fear, suspicion, and accusations of evildoing. The community also has an administrative building; there is one public telephone and four small stores that sell groceries, including liquor and coca. Government provides food assistance through free school meals and there is one “glass of milk” group.19 The government agency PRONAA also provides products such as tuna, rice, sugar, oil, yucca flour, corn, and milk for children each month through the school. Cáritas, a Catholic NGO, supports barley production and land conservation through terracing. The Ministry of Agriculture has promoted planting of eucalyptus and pine, and a faena was organized to establish the tree nursery, though not without some internal dispute, because the site selected had traditional Andean spiritual significance to the community.
2.4.2. Llajta Jock Llajta Jock is located 11 kilometers along the dirt road to Llajta Iskay from Alegria. It is also an annex of Alegria, with a similar mix of Catholic and Protestant, but the population is smaller (212). Most people speak Spanish and Quechua, while a few older people speak only Quechua and approximately 20 percent (all younger people) speak only Spanish. Important festivals include Santiago and Jalapato in July, for which many migrants return home.20 Other festivals have been abandoned as there are so few people living there. 44 houses are inhabited, all made of adobe with tiled roofing and mostly two storey. Llajta Jock is situated on land inherited by one of four children of the owner of a nearby hacienda. The settlement was formally recognized as a separate annex in 1976. As in Llajta Iskay, the main economic activities are crop and livestock farming, and there is also an association of communal farmers. More land is in private ownership and many people work as laborers for larger farmers, earning 8 to 10 Soles per day. Some lands are irrigated and so can generate two harvests each year. Previously the only crops were barley, wheat, beans, peas, and native potatoes. But in the last five years, richer farmers with links in Huancayo have bought land in the community and begun to grow a wider range of potatoes, also introducing new types of fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide. There is no access to bank credit for the population, but loans can be obtained in
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emergencies from the association of communal farmers or from neighboring families. The communal association possesses plantations of eucalyptus that are sold when required and also owns gypsum deposits. Cáritas technicians from Alegria offer some agricultural and nutritional advice. There are three small shops, but Alegria is the main market for selling produce. There is a preschool with 28 children and a primary education center with 53 students, but they have insufficient teaching resources such as text books and other materials. Adult illiteracy is 52 percent for women and 48 percent for men. As in Llajta Iskay, the community does not place great emphasis on education, preferring children to work on the farms and in the weekly market. But increasing numbers of children do continue their education by attending the secondary school in Alegria. This is linked to a higher incidence of migration, destinations including Huancayo, Lima, and the central jungle where people go to assist with coffee harvesting (especially between January and March). Many families receive groceries, clothes, and money from relatives who have moved to Lima. There is a health center in the community, staffed by two health technicians who work in coordination with the health center in Alegria. Seventy percent of the population use the health post, with the remainder relying on traditional medicine. Common ailments are similar to those in Llajta Iskay. The community has had an electricity supply since 2003, and a bus service runs to and from Alegria twice a week. To become a member of the community, one must be 18 years old and resident in the hamlet for at least 1 year. The community has an elected council, governor, and municipal agent, and an irrigation committee that manages water resources jointly with two neighboring communities. Fifty percent of women are married while forty-five percent live with a man outside of marriage. There is only one woman who has a position in the council and one working for Cáritas. As in Llajta Iskay, the community does not engage much in wider politics, the main influence of government being the school and clinic. Ingredients for school meals are provided by PRONAA and there is a “glass of milk” committee. Many traditional customs have declined, including respect for the authorities and participation in faenas. This is mostly attributed to out-migration and children’s exposure to inappropriate behavior through television. The community has had a long running legal dispute with a private organization over control of a lime quarry. Money has been raised to pay legal costs through faenas and by appealing to relatives in Lima. Residents dream that the quarry could provide them with better income than farming, and that this would encourage more people to live there. The community also fought and eventually won a 10 year legal battle with a large landowning family over disputed land. The same family provoked much anger when their grain mill caused a break in the village electricity supply. This was eventually resolved with mediation by the school teacher, and the mill no longer operates.
2.4.3. Selva Manta Selva Manta is located at an altitude of between 1,400 and 1,800 meters in cloud forest in the northeast of the department of Junin, and in the province of Jauja.
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It is an annex, located 12 kilometers from the district center and more than 30 kilometers from the nearest asphalt road. The road to the hamlet was completed in 1970 at the initiative of a timber company from Lima, supported by the community and municipality. The population is 560, of whom 90 percent are evangelical Protestants, who have services 3 times a week in their own chapel. Most of the population originate from the Mantaro Valley and speak Spanish as their first language: only a few more recent migrants from Huancavelica and Huancayo know Quechua, but rarely use it in public. The village was first established by Franciscan missionaries, the site previously having fallen within the territory of nomadic indigenous communities. Italian immigrants arrived at the beginning of the twentieth century and colonized the zone, constructing six private haciendas and investing in sugarcane cultivation and livestock rearing. Their descendents have mostly moved to local towns or Lima, but continue to control much of the land. The most important festival for the community takes place in the district center in July, marking the anniversary of the district. It lasts three days, with jalapato and traditional dances such as carnivales de Jauja, and is attended by people from other annexes and many out-migrants returning from Lima and Huancayo. Typical food is pachamanca, with ingredients such as cassava, sweet potato, meat, and the drink warapo. Other festivals have stopped because of the influence of the evangelical majority, who on occasions have also interrupted the Catholic mass. Young people increasingly socialize separately, meeting people from neighboring annexes to drink chicha and other beverages. Most people (men, women, and children) work in the haciendas as agricultural laborers earning approximately 10 Soles a day, often paid in-kind. Sugar cane is the most important product, followed by coffee and aguardiente (sugar cane liquor). The climate is warmer than in Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock, the alluvial soils are better and cultivation is more intensive. Selva Manta does not have a communal association of farmers and most people do not own land. Products are sold in San Ramon, Lima, and Huancayo. Forest land is important for food, building materials, tools, firewood, and medicine. Streams and rivers are abundant: water wheels power the sugar cane crushers, and fish are an additional source of protein. Selva Manta possesses a great biodiversity of flora and fauna, and its residents are quick to bemoan its unrealized ecotourist potential. Selva Manta has its own primary school, and in comparison with Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock parents are much more supportive of their children’s education. But for secondary or higher education, children must travel outside the district. Most leave school early to work in agriculture and it is common for women to have their first children by the age of 16. Temporary migration is also common for trade and social purposes: indeed many families effectively operate with rural and urban household bases, the latter most commonly in San Ramon. Employment in production of sugar cane and aguardiente attracts seasonal migrants, mostly from elsewhere in Jauja. In contrast to the thriving primary school, the health post is not working and there is no access to electricity or piped water. PRONAA supports school meals and there is a “glass of milk” committee. But the most important organization
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in the settlement is the ronda campesinas (village militia) created at the behest of the Peruvian Army in 1990. During this period conflict between the army, MRTA, and Shining Path resulted in a curfew from 18.00 hours and forced women and children to hide at night in the fields, while many moved away to nearby towns and to Lima. Although most people have returned, this experience continues to cast a shadow of mistrust over the community, and men aged 17 to 40 years are still required to belong to the ronda. They are given weapons by the Peruvian army, who periodically visit for inspection and training.
2.4.4. Alegria The first references to Alegria are found during Inca times, as one of many resting places, approximately 10 leagues apart, along the main Inca highway between Cusco and Quito. Alegria has been a district center since 1912, and this is celebrated annually. The new municipal offices on the plaza are a striking homage to modernism, complete with tinted plate glass windows and rooftop satellite dish. The district consists of hills and valleys ranging between 2,500 and 3,600 meters above sea level. Its total population in 2002 was 5,440, nearly three-quarters of them dispersed among 16 rural annexes (including Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock), with an overall density of just less than 35 per square kilometer. According to municipal figures, the total district population grew by the surprisingly high figure of 10 percent between 1999 and 2002.21 However, these figures also indicate that the proportion of men living in the rural annexes actually fell by 2 percent, whereas their female population grew by 13 percent. In contrast, the population of men and women living in the municipal area rose rapidly: by 26 percent and 19 percent respectively. The result was a fall in those living in annexes from 72 to 69 percent of the total population, and a rise in women’s share of the population (particularly in annexes) to nearly 54 percent. Having already described two of the district’s annexes in some detail, this section presents data on the population living in the municipality itself, this having been selected as a separate research site. It can in turn be divided into six quite widely dispersed neighborhoods (barrios) separated by fields and straddling the main road between Huancayo and Huancavelica. Although they share a single town cemetery, each barrio has its own dominant families, municipal representatives, community organizations (including “glass of milk” committees), and identity. Periodic conflicts rise up within and between them: one barrio would prefer to split into two; two others are in dispute over water rights from a common stream; and a third in conflict with a neighboring annex over water rights. With most households heavily dependent on agriculture it would be misleading to describe the municipality as urban—hence the term peri-urban. Most households do have access to electricity and piped water, but only one barrio has mains sewerage and more than 90 percent of houses are made of mud brick. The number of private houses (509) compared to the number of households (approximately 350) indicates much nonresident ownership of property by exresidents now living in Lima and Huancayo who also attract residents to work in
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their urban businesses. But a growing number of older people (from outside and inside the district) have also chosen to settle in the town, renting a few rooms and often living off a small pension. At district level 4,000 hectares of land (of a total area of 17,000 ha) are cultivable, and 8 percent of this can be cropped more than once in the year through seasonal irrigation from streams. Within the 6 barrios of the municipality itself, 310 people belong to a single communal farmers association. Membership is open only for those more than 18 years of age who have a partner and have been resident (and active in meetings) for at least 2 years. Most households own less than three hectares of land and sharecropping is common: the tenant taking between half and three-quarters of the income, depending on the crops and on who pays for inputs. Cultivation mostly relies on oxen, and the main crops are barley, potatoes, wheat, peas, beans, and maize. Since 1998, a particular effort has been made by the municipality and Caritas to improve production and marketing of barley. An annual barley festival in the plaza attracts competitors from throughout the province, and a grain processing center was completed in 2004. However, farmers were wary of weakening often longstanding links with private traders, and the center procured less than 30 tonnes. The Caritas technicians have also set up revolving seed funds with farmers’ groups to encourage use of new seed varieties and techniques. But they admit progress had been slow, blaming this on both the farmers’ risk-aversion and (more vaguely) cultural misunderstandings. Farmers themselves complained particularly about the time burden of attending weekly faenas to help cultivate demonstration plots. Other livelihoods include farm laboring (earning 8 to 10 Soles per day), trading (mostly women, who can earn up to 20 Soles per day) and house-building, which can be much more lucrative. Although the town has neither a bank nor a post office (and only one very erratic public telephone) there is a major market each Friday (established in 1938) that attracts cattle and sheep traders from the surrounding area and from Huancayo city. Non-farm paid work is provided by the municipality, a sawmill, a metal workshop, a petrol station, a hotel with five rooms, and three small bakeries. Many people are unemployed or underemployed. Seasonal migrants, including many secondary school leavers go to Lima, Huancayo, and to the central jungle areas in January to find work harvesting coffee, returning to Alegria for festivals in July and August. Unpaved roads and tracks link Alegria with surrounding communities. The main road from Huancayo to Huancavelica was widened and upgraded in 2004. This was the source of various conflicts. Workers came mainly from outside, some bringing their wives, but others renting local lodging and causing problems with residents that resulted in two of the three disco venues in the town being closed down. Some local people were employed by a subcontractor (at a rate of 14 Soles per day) but on several occasions it lacked funds to pay them at the end of the month, causing them to go on strike. Meanwhile owners of small shops and restaurants, and those able to rent out rooms enjoyed a temporary increase in income, while at the same time fearing that completion of the new road would eventually result in fewer passers-by stopping. In contrast, the mayor has ambitions to develop the town as a recreational and ecotourism
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center. In addition to the plaza with its attractive view, there are fossil beds, the old Inca road, and limestone caves to visit. Those with houses adjacent to the road that had to be destroyed when it was widened received compensation, but conflict arose over the amount, particularly in the case of a local lawyer. Other residents argued that he obtained and extended his house deliberately to get more compensation. He then refused to vacate it until the Road Ministry agreed to give him more money, thereby delaying settlement and completion of the works for the whole community. The president of the communal association also claimed he had not paid the proper amount for the house. Others accused the lawyer and his wife of being greedy by putting their own interests ahead of those of the town. The lawyer in turn made accusations in the provincial court of aggravated robbery, usurpation of property, and physical aggression. Most of the adult population of Alegria town is bilingual in Spanish and Quechua, though a growing proportion of young people understand Quechua but cannot speak it. Approximately 80 percent of the population is Catholic, although only about a quarter regularly attend mass: most of the small chapels are generally in disrepair and used only for annual festivals, of which the most important are Santiago (July 25), the Virgin of Asuncion (August 15), All Saints (November 1), and Christmas (December 25). There are also three protestant churches with small congregations.22 Other community activities include football clubs and three community radio stations that broadcast from 06.00 a.m. to 09.00 p.m. each day. A small openly gay group of at least five men live in the town. Despite much disapproval one member of this group (a resident for only two years who runs a small restaurant) was appointed majordomo of the town’s anniversary celebration. There are two nursery schools, three primary schools, one secondary school, and an occupational education center. Secondary school children from the annexes live in the town during weekdays, and other children in the district go to Huancayo for their secondary education (total school enrolment in the district fell from 1,914 to 1,407 between 1993 and 2004). The road improvement makes it easier for teachers and health professionals to commute to work from Huancayo city (one way fare S./8), and also enables skilled workers to commute in the opposite direction. The health services are insufficient in terms of infrastructure, equipment, and staff. There is one health center with a doctor, two midwives, a nurse, and three technicians. The main problems it deals with are respiratory complaints, digestive problems, infectious diseases, genito-urinary infections, injuries, and nutritional deficiencies. According to the Education Ministry the malnutrition rate in children fell from 65 percent in 1999 to 55.8 percent in 2005, but these figures are much contested.
2.4.5. Descanso Descanso is located in the Mantaro Valley to the North of Huancayo, at an altitude of 3,275 meters. It is 17 kilometers from Huancayo city and a short
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distance from a main road to Lima. Intact pre-Inca stone grain stores and other archaeological evidence indicate that there has been a settlement there for more than 500 years. But the town only acquired district status in 1952. It also lies only a few kilometers from the main town of a neighboring district and there is a strong rivalry between the two, sustained by unsettled land disputes, feuding between youth, and accusations of “cross-border” house burglaries. The 2002 census indicates the district had a population of 5,900 (distributed between four urban barrios and three rural annexes), with approximately 10 percent of households having a dwelling in both the town and upland areas. Ninety percent of the population is Catholic and ninety-eight percent speaks only Spanish. The majority of the 1,037 houses in the town are built from adobe, but many also use brick and cement. Ninety percent has access to electricity and drinking water, though lack of sewerage remains a widespread issue. Drinking water is provided to the town by a water users’ association with 762 members. It has been running for 30 years and is regarded as the most effective organization in the district, with water quality checked quarterly by the Ministry of Health. The 2005 census estimate of 4,114 implies a dramatic 30 percent fall in population over just 3 years, and is consistent with reports of a continued high rate of net migration away from the district. Agriculture is the main source of income for 80 percent of households, with another 10 percent relying mainly on livestock income. Casual work is provided by five small brickmaking businesses and commercial limestone quarrying. One of the annexes also has a small handicraft cooperative. Only 530 out of nearly 15,000 hectares of land in the district are cultivated, and 10 percent of this is irrigated by canal from the Mantaro River. Much of the irrigated land is owned by people who have migrated away and sharecropped. At the other extreme are undulating upland pastures stretching up into the Huaytapallana mountain range. The slopes are widely forested and support a wide variety of wildlife including medicinal plants. They are also used for grazing domestic animals and for rain-fed agriculture that causes localized erosion. The communal association was registered in 1938. It has 170 members and controls 9,000 hectares of upland. Small cultivable plots are distributed annually for cultivation by lot, and members also have grazing rights and share in revenue generated from forestry (mostly eucalyptus). The association has had a long-running dispute with the largest private landowning family in the town, which it accuses of acquiring land illegally at the time of the formation of the district. Several attempts to resolve the dispute legally (and as part of the agrarian reform) have failed, and it is said to have prompted accusations of terrorism during the 1980s. While facing criticism for not doing anything to resolve this issue, the president of the community association also played an active part in protests against environmental damage by the two companies extracting limestone in the district. For a long time the companies sought to “compensate” the community with gifts of cement and irrigation pipes, whereas the community demanded a comprehensive environmental assessment, followed by a legal settlement and payment of royalties. Meanwhile, production has been interrupted. In 2003, the president of the association
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also entered into an agreement with a Spanish NGO to construct a school for “Andean leadership.” But work was delayed by arguments among members over the terms on which the land was leased to the project. Rivals also accused the president of making unauthorized sales of timber, and though not proven this resulted in him being suspended a year ahead of his scheduled term. The town has a health center, staffed by eight professionals all of whom commute by bus from outside the district. Common problems include chronic bronchitis, diabetes, diarrhea, fevers, and general infections. Approximately half of households use the health center as their first point of consultation, while the rest rely on a mixture of herbal medicines or buy their own drugs commercially. There is also an independent midwife in the town. She was said to provide a warmer, home-based service, but she has attended few births since the clinic stopped charging for antenatal and obstetric services. Awareness and use of contraception is quite high, but adolescent pregnancy remains very common. Another foreign NGO has funded campaigns to uphold the rights of children and to keep the town clean. But its main function is widely regarded as providing a secure salary for its local staff. The district has 3 preschools, 4 primary schools, and 1 secondary school, with a total of 1,208 students and 10 teachers (although only 1 lives in the district). Approximately 70 young people also commute to neighboring towns and to Huancayo for further study. Adult illiteracy is much lower than in Alegria (9 percent among men and 16 percent among women according to the 1993 census), and there is an active parent-teacher association. In 2003, the longstanding secondary school head stood unsuccessfully for election as district mayor. His supporters criticized the successful candidate (also a teacher) for having lived away from the district for most of his working life, returning with a party political affiliation and money to spend on the campaign in pursuit of his own political career. Conflict flared up later when the municipality unveiled a plaque on the school wall to commemorate improved concrete-block fencing and drainage. Angry parents removed it because there was no reference to their own contributions to the work, and the municipality reacted by calling the police to investigate what they regarded as an act of vandalism. The most conspicuous acts of the municipality after taking office were to renovate its own offices and give the main square a makeover, which included removing most of the trees. This attracted further criticism and deepened a rift between those whose livelihoods were more rooted in the district (centered particularly on the communal association) and those with past or present working experience elsewhere. This was particularly evident at the main Santiago festival. While bigger than ever, this was dominated by visiting migrants, whereas local residents excluded themselves from the planning of it for fear of being asked to make financial contributions that they could ill-afford. In 2004, the municipality hired a facilitator to organize three meetings to promote wider participation in its own planning (in line with national guidelines for decentralization). Fifty attended the first, forty the second, and twenty the third. Many complained that the room was too cold and that decisions had been taken already. A year later the meetings were better advertised and explained.
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A district advisory board was also established, comprising representatives of the community association, market committee, neighborhood groups, and NGOs. Although many people were still critical of the mayor, they were more reconciled to him completing his term of office. Nevertheless, older residents complain that the district is less united than it used to be, pointing to the conflicts between schools and the municipality, and within the communal association in particular.
2.4.6. Progreso The barrio of Progreso is in the southernmost of the three districts making up Huancayo city and has a total population of 3,540. The three poorest of its five sectors climb up barren hillside overlooking the city and it was these that were selected for primary research. Each hillside sector has its own elected management committee, involved (to varying degrees and not without internal conflicts) in improving water supply, sanitation, electrification, and land titling. Inhabitants originate from Huancavelica and Ayacucho as well as from Junin, the majority being bilingual in Quechua and Spanish. Approximately three-quarters are Catholic, but to attend mass they must walk to a neighboring barrio. Important religious events include the Festival of the Cross on May 24/25 and the Virgin Carmen Festival on the July 15/16. The remainder of the population belong to Pentecostal churches, of which there are four, one of which holds services in Quechua. Relations between Catholics and Protestants are bad. Religious buildings have been vandalized and house burglary (mostly of small animals and electrical appliances) is often attributed to youth from the other faith group. Tensions also exist between Huancas and Huancavelicans, and in one sector these were conflated with a longstanding feud between two dominant families.23 After 1943 the area was allocated to a communal (peasant) association, which still owns an office, some forested parts of the hillside and a cemetery. However, most of its property was appropriated by members in 1966, particularly by the family of the then secretary, who in turn illegally “sold” it to refugees from the violence of the 1980s and early 1990s. Inhabitants of two of the three hillside barrios have still not obtained formal land titles for their house plots. Doing so has been complicated by irregularities in the sale of the land in 1966 as well as subsequently.24 In one sector, further conflict arose when allegations of corruption were made against the president of the sector association. Although the majority of residents regarded him as capable and honest, another committee member (who may himself have had ambitions to become president) accused the president of using the money collected to pay for lobbying on the land issue for his own meals and transport. Associates of this rival broke into the president’s house in broad daylight, stole furniture, kitchen utensils, and electrical appliances. The president did not report the robbery to the police, but is said to know who the culprits are and to have promised vengeance. Cement roads link the lower neighborhoods of Progreso to the rest of Huancayo, with several minibus companies competing for the routes. In contrast, the higher sectors can only be accessed on foot, along steep unmade paths between the houses. Less than a quarter of buildings are made of brick and
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cement, the remainder being adobe, and only 68 percent of households have access to drinking water, mostly from wells dug 8 meters deep. The water is chlorinated and available without charge. In one sector, there is a water committee which, with the help of the FONCODES installed pipes to bring water from tanks higher up the hill. However, this water is rationed and only sufficient for 80 of the 150 households in the sector. Only 80 percent of houses have electricity, and those without have organized themselves into electrification committees to lobby for new connections. There is no farmland in Progreso itself, but some individuals cultivate vegetables within their house plots. Many also breed guinea pigs and chickens, and a few have sheep, pigs, and even cows. There are many informal livelihood activities in the neighborhood: firewood distribution, deshelling garlic, trading firewood, and sewing festival costumes, are examples. Most men work in and around the major wholesale market of the city, which is within walking distance, and also serves as a center for recruitment of casual labor. The main occupations are street vendors (40 percent), market vendors (26 percent), construction workers (12 percent), agricultural laborers (10 percent), and cobblers (9 percent). There is also an association of rickshaw/cart (vehiculos minores) owners, which strictly controls the number of operators. The barrio does not have its own school and only one sector has a nursery, with 3 staff and 80 children. Most children walk to schools in nearby areas, but there is a very high dropout rate, with children leaving to find casual work in the markets. Only 52 percent of all adults in the three upper barrios have completed primary school. Domestic violence and mistreatment of children are common, and the medical center estimates that 70 percent of children less than the age of 6 are malnourished. There are many unmarried couples living together, and many young single mothers. Most married couples are older, or belong to one of the evangelical churches. The most feared problems are crime, alcoholism, domestic violence, and drug-addiction. Progreso is recognized by external agencies as an area of extreme poverty. The government health center was relocated and expanded in 2005. It has a doctor, nurse, obstetrician, dentist, and social worker. Popular canteens and “glass of milk” committees operate in each sector where they are controlled by dominant families. There are several NGOs present, whose goals include protecting children’s rights, promoting village banking groups, and providing food assistance for malnourished children. There is very limited access to credit, especially in the two sectors where people have no formal land title. No national or regional political parties have branches in the neighborhood, and it is visited by politicians only during presidential, regional, or district elections. The neighborhood representative is elected for a period of two years and has organized the building of the medical post and faenas to clean the streets and drains.
2.4.7. Nuevo Lugar Nuevo Lugar is located approximately 20 kilometers east of the center of Lima, a few kilometers north of the main highway to Huancayo. The lower part of the
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settlement, closest to the highway, is at an altitude of 550 meters, but houses stretch up the hillside to a height of more than 900 meters. The climate is warm, sunny, and extremely dry, rainfall is minimal and the soils are largely barren. The area has been occupied since pre-Inca times, some Inca ruins remain, and after the Spanish conquest it was part of a large colonial estate. Most of the current population have moved there only in the last 25 years: the recorded population for 2000 (100,025) was more than twice that recorded in 1993 (44,526). Plans for a large settlement took place in 1984 and were formally approved in July 1985. The project was led by the municipality of Metropolitan Lima (controlled at the time by the United Left Party) in close collaboration with a network of Lima-based associations of migrants already resident in other parts of the city. The settlement was divided into 23 areas (each known by a letter of the alphabet), which were further divided into 239 neighborhoods called UCV (unidad communal de vivienda). Each recognized housing plot is 90 meters square, with 60 lots per UCV. However, these guidelines have subsequently been undermined by continued unplanned arrivals of migrants both into and above existing neighborhoods. Zones are also informally classified into three by altitude: A to F being the lowest (and richest); G to I in the middle, and J to Z the highest (and poorest). In general more recent migrants are to be found in the higher zones, many of them arriving from the interior of the country (especially from Junín, Cerro de Pasco, Huancavelica, Apurimac, and Ayacucho) during the worst periods of conflict in these areas. A census in 1985 indicated that just more than half of household heads were born outside Lima and approximately 20 percent of the population was bilingual. Many inhabitants of the lower zones complain that the higher zones are chaotic havens of “gangs, thieves, drug addicts and prostitutes.” In contrast, inhabitants of the higher zones often refer to those living lower down as “selfish, evil and land dealers.” Older residents also complain that the settlement has become less well organized over time. Nuevo Lugar is legally a centro poblado (population center) of the district of Atí-Vitarte, but it also has a self-governing council elected by residents.25 This council has been campaigning for district status since 1987, but the municipality regards Nuevo Lugar as lacking a sufficiently diverse economy and skill base. When interviewed in 2005, the general secretary of the self-governing body fiercely denied this: “there is nothing you can’t get done here” he comments. He also criticized the municipality for prioritizing improvement of the main plaza, rather than allocating sums to improve hospital and other facilities for the growing proportion of residents who are elderly. Interviewed on the same day, the municipal agent described the settlement as immature and prone to assistentialismo (dependency culture). He dismissed the self-governing council as debilitated by political infighting. Behind these brief comments lies a complex history of conflict within the settlement, which is reviewed in some detail in an appendix of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Problems arose in part from the electoral success of APR A in 1985 soon after the formation of Nuevo Lugar. Although it temporarily gained control of the self-governing council, the
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municipality quickly and drastically reduced technical and financial support to the new settlement. When the United Left took back control of the selfgoverning council it was politically weakened and compromised by the need to negotiate deals with APR A to secure resources. At this time Shining Path cadres were also establishing their presence in the settlement. Many local people defied it (with strong support from within the Catholic Church), and criticized it for being more interested in its own power than in development of the settlement. Nevertheless, Shining Path built up a strong presence: infiltrating secondary schools; playing a strong role in popular protests for more resources in 1988; using Nuevo Lugar as a base for blocking the central highway in 1989; and stage-managing the seizure of the potato harvest of a local landlord, during which one of his employees was shot. Shining Path also benefited from and accentuated (through intimidation and murder) the organizational weakening and loss of legitimacy of both APR A and the United Left. On coming to power in 1991, the Fujimori government established a military base in Nuevo Lugar, giving soldiers a relatively free hand to search, intimidate, and arrest. It also quickly co-opted popular kitchens through use (and abuse) of its powers of patronage over food disbursement. As elsewhere, popular rejection of its message, and the resilience of local leaders and self-defense groups were instrumental in Shining Path’s loss of influence, though it retained a presence in Nuevo Lugar long after the capture of Abimael Guzman in 1992. A strong legacy also persisted of distrust, clientelism, and eroded local political autonomy. For example, rivals for control of the self-governing assembly resorted to violence and assassination attempts in 2003, and meaningful decentralization of municipal control appears to remain a distant goal. Economically, at least, the settlement has partially recovered. Private bus and taxi services operate in all zones, although quality of roads and frequency of service declines with altitude. The lower part of the settlement has electricity, water, drainage, telephone, and Internet connections. The higher parts are mostly electrified, and many now have at least some access to drinking water if not sanitation.26 Government also provides some night police and street cleaning. Private firms supply electricity, telephone, cable TV, education, health clinics, credit, security, and transport. All the main political parties have branches in the settlement, and many NGOs are also active. However, 70 percent of the working population leaves Nuevo Lugar daily or weekly for the center of Lima, to work as domestic servants, in factories or in retailing. Within the settlement, most employment is in retailing and services. Nearly a quarter of all households have a female head of household. There is virtually no commercial agriculture, and only a little formally regulated manufacturing (shoemaking, carpentry, and mechanical goods in an industrial park set up in 1986). Sand, clay, rocks and limestone are extracted on a small-scale for cement making and coastal defenses, but the work is dangerous and poorly paid. Education is available through 33 state schools and 34 private schools, with 90 percent enrolment of school-aged children, and 5 percent illiteracy among adults, only 60 percent of whom completed primary schooling. The state higher education institute offers three courses: car maintenance, computing,
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and electrical trades. In 2005 the government also operated two public hospitals and six other health centers, and there are also more than 30 private health facilities and even more numerous pharmacies. The main health problems found in Nuevo Lugar are respiratory diseases, diarrhea, dehydration, nutritional deficiency, circulation problems, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. As many as a quarter of households run short of food each month, depending for survival on communal kitchens and food distribution programs. There are 250 communal kitchens and 253 “glass of milk” committees provide food to 75,000 children. As in Progreso, many young couples live together without legally marrying. Domestic violence is a major problem, and there are a large number of young single mothers, particularly in the high zones.
2.5. Some Initial Conclusions The main purpose of this chapter has been to provide a “thick” description of the setting of the research on which this book is based, rather than to develop a specific argument. Inevitably this description will also reflect the partial (though far from uniform) perspectives of the field team and authors. However, some points can usefully be made at this stage about the tension between local variation and uniformity in experience of wellbeing within the research area. Not surprisingly, the community profiles highlight the diversity of the seven research sites and hence the difficulty of generalizing about them, let alone about the three departments in which they are located. For example, we have noted major locational differences in access to physical resources, prevailing livelihoods, urbanization, commercialization, population size, political designation, dominant cultural-linguistic orientation, and recent history. In an attempt to capture such diversity the original site selection was influenced by the “corridor” hypothesis: that these variables could to some extent be mapped onto a single underlying variable with a strong spatial component. The evidence presented here warns against this. Three examples illustrate why. First, despite being physically located within walking distance of the center of a major city most people in Progreso are politically more marginalized than the inhabitants of the two peri-urban district centers. Second, the inhabitants of Selva Manta are physically and politically more remote than those in Alegria district, but labor allocation and livelihoods are more strongly commercialized. Third, although physically close to each other and sharing a similar livelihood pattern, Llajta Jock and Llajta Iskay have many striking differences. Community cohesion appears to be stronger in Llajta Jock even though access from outside is easier and more of its inhabitants were born elsewhere. At the same time as confounding the idea of a simple linear corridor, the chapter has also revealed important commonalities between the sites. First, the struggle to build and sustain livelihoods combining self-employment with paid employment takes place within interconnected (if heavily segmented) labor and product markets. Temporary movement as well as longer-term migration are critical to these connections and vary according to geographical location. These patterns are explored further in chapter 5. Second, there are strong similarities
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as well as important variations in the informal institutions regulating social behavior (festivities, collective action, clientelism) as well as in the provision of services by government, NGOs, and community groups. These are explored further in chapter 6. Third, while a polar distinction between Western and Andean orientation is dangerously simplistic, there are marked differences in the balance of social identities among people living in each site. These three sets of variables (livelihood, institutional mix, and social identity) cannot be mapped onto each other in a simple linear way, and directly influence wellbeing in their own distinct ways: livelihood being more concerned with the material; institutional mix with the relational; and social identity with the symbolic. Nevertheless it is also worth exploring further the complex links that do exist between them. At the beginning of the research, we posited (in line with Figueroa’s formalization of social exclusion theory) a likely hierarchy: material entitlements dominating welfare, embedded within sociopolitical relations, and in turn protected by cultural/symbolic norms (Altamirano et al., 2004). Without rejecting this entirely, there is clearly scope for more complex theorization about the relationship between each of them and wellbeing. Notes * This section is largely based on field notes by Altimirano and Álvarez following a visit to Huancavelica in 2005, translated into English by Michelle McCrory. 1. Although primarily interested in nationalism, Anderson argues that “all communities larger than primordial villages (and perhaps even these) are imagined” (p6). Although he did not address explicitly the link between wellbeing and imagined political communities, the two are tacitly linked in the way he explains the rise of nationalism as a response to the cultural weakening of religion and dynastic hierarchies, and as a mechanism for enabling people to transcend their own temporal and spatial insignificance as mortal individuals. 2. The regional government of Junin (2003:72) uses the term to refer to the main road network linking Huancayo to Satipo via La Oroya and Tarma. USAID also adopted the term for a $35 million commitment for the period from 2002 to 2007 to a project entitled “increased economic opportunities for the poor in selected economic corridors of Peru.” Huancayo and Huancavelica were included as separate corridors and a number of value-chains with potential to support the livelihoods of poor people were identified within them, including barley production in and around Alegria. Rather ironically (given its capacity to depress agricultural prices) much of the funding committed was in the form of food aid. 3. An attempt by the national government of Alejandro Toledo to establish macro planning regions based on the idea of linking coastal, highland, and jungle regions was roundly defeated by referendum in October 2005. In Junin, 75 percent of voters said no to being linked with Ancash, Huanuco, Pasco, and the provinces of Lima. In 2005, 84 percent of voters said no to being linked with Ayacucho and Ica in Huncavelica, (Escuela Para el Desarrollo, 2007). 4. Previously it had been divided into three: Hatuna Xauxa, Lurin Huanca, and Hanan Huanca, whereas in cultural terms there had been two distinct areas (Xauxa and Huanca) since the twelfth century.
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5. Such studies include Richard Adams in Muquiyauyo (1959), Gavin Smith in Huasicancha (1989), Gabriel Escobar in Sicaya (1973), and Florencia Mallon in Acolla (1983). 6. Sheahan (1999:48) reports an annual decline in value added in agriculture in the 1970s for Peru of 0.6 percent, compared to an average annual GDP growth rate of 3.7 percent. Its contribution to GDP fell from 16.6 percent to 10.7 percent and food output per person fell by more than 20 percent. 7. UNCP was the center of major infighting between MRTA, Shining Path, and paramilitary during 1989. The police and army entered the main campus in June 1990, detaining more than 100 students, and in 1991 the army took control of the whole university. The military presence on campus came to an end only in July 1998. 8. These include financial and technical support for community infrastructure projects through FONCODES, provision of food to popular kitchens and for children’s meals by PRONAA, and provision of milk powder and other food to “glass of milk” committees via municipalities. 9. Many emigrants retain their cultural affinity by returning to participate in fiestas. These originate in Kuruka assertion of power in colonial times, combined with Catholicism, the agricultural calendar and celebration of “the cycle of life.” 10. The manager of the President hotel, for example, remarked that “before our best clients were miners and business men, now its NGO workers and state civil servants.” 11. Antunez de Mayolo is one of the largest power plants in South America, located on the Mantaro River at Quichuas, Colcabamba. However, it does not generate any benefits for the region, apart from a disputed monthly levy of 8 million Soles for the province of Colcabamaba. Water to irrigate valleys along the Inca coast is also taken from the high lagoons of the department. 12. For a discussion of the idea of cultural styles see Ferguson, 1999. 13. The last column indicates that more of the respondents in Llajta Iskay were also discontent or very discontent with the social category they gave themselves. 14. Overall, the interviewers classified the respondents into three categories: 92.3 percent mestizo, 5 percent blanco, and 2.8 percent indio. In addition to raising questions about the social identity and categorization of the interviewers themselves it also serves as a reminder that respondents’ replies may also have been influenced by this. 15. For more detailed descriptions in Spanish see the WeD Web site http://www. welldev.org.uk/research/methods-toobox/cp-countries/cp-peru.htm 16. See chapter 6 and Mayer (2002) for a fuller description and analysis of these institutions. 17. The communal association also has an elected secretary, treasurer, vocales (to notify people of meetings), and a datarista (registrar of births etc.). Posts are generally elected by a show of hands and there is much rotation of individuals between them—anyone completing a turn at all receives a special certificate. 18. Cattle rustlers and bandits (abigeos) have also been a problem. Some villagers were arrested by the police (who came from Pampas) and imprisoned for three years after they took the law into their own hands by killing one such thief. Some people in the community had suggested they tell the judges that everybody killed him, but they were unable to maintain a consistent story.
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19. This is part of a national nutrition scheme that operated in all seven research sites; see Copestake (2006) for a detailed discussion of the program drawing upon data collected in each site. 20. Santiago celebrates St James the Apostle but incorporates many pre-Colombian elements, particularly associated with care of animals. Jalapata involves the ritual honoring and slaughter of a duck whose last will and testament then becomes a vehicle for commenting on people and events in the village. It is celebrated in many other villages as well as in Huancayo and Lima. 21. Figure from the National Statistical Office suggest it then declined again to 5,072 in 2005. 22. Two of these have been embroiled in disputes. In one case, the preacher was found to have two wives. In the other, the owner of the land on which the chapel was built died and his benefactor refused to accept their tenure. The leader of the congregation began to raise money to build a new one then ran away with it. 23. This flared up when the youngest daughter of a leading family became unexpectedly pregnant. Her father had been president of the sector association three times, and her mother was president of the sector “glass of milk” committee and of the children’s canteen. The head of the family of the suspected father had recently taken over as president, prompting an attempt to split the sector into two. Fortified by alcohol, members of his family visited the house of the first and became violent. The former president, his wife, and one son were hospitalized. They took legal action, which is yet to be resolved. 24. When interviewed he said “these people come from other places, they are foreign people wanting to invade my lands. I could not permit that and had to sell it, practically giving it away. But they are not grateful; they throw away their rubbish and spoil my crops, almost like they do it on purpose.” 25. The sub municipal office also covers a smaller neighboring settlement. However, inhabitants of this settlement violently contested the planned settlement of Nuevo Lugar in 1985, laying weak foundations for subsequent collaboration between them. 26. Water to half the population (all in the lower zones) is supplied through a treatment plant from the river Rímac, whereas higher areas rely on water delivered by truck by the municipality and private water sellers.
Chapter 3
Subjective Wellbeing: An Alternative Approach Jorge Yamamoto, Ana Rosa Feijoo, and Alejandro Lazarte1
This chapter presents an original Peruvian subjective wellbeing (SWB)
approach. The problem of imposition of theories, methods, and development practices from self-appointed “developed” countries to appointed “developing” countries is discussed and the alternative rationale and methodology for SWB investigation is presented and explained. Findings based on this approach are reported, providing empirical evidence for its validity and usefulness. These support an alternative theory of SWB that differs from the established Western theories and offers potential solutions to critical problems on development practice in developing countries.
3.1. An Emic and Post-hoc Methodology and Rationale It is well known that SWB is strongly influenced by culture, particularly by values. It is also widely recognized that culture and values differ around the world. However, SWB theories and international development practice do not start from the SWB conception of each culture; they are conducted with the assumption that Western SWB conception is best and should replace other conceptions in a process usually called “development.” This perspective ignores culturally distinct SWB conceptions—some with less interest in wealth for example; there are just underdeveloped and developed cultures. Ironically, in some studies “developed” countries report lower levels of happiness and “underdeveloped” countries appear to be happiest, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean (e.g. Marks et al., 2006). If this is correct two important consequences arise: to avoid unhappiness associated with developed country approaches to SWB, and to investigate happiness associated with alternative SWB models, particularly in developing countries.
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In order to address these consequences, some degree of distance from established theories and methods is required, particularly a distance from the practice that starts with strong theoretical assumptions followed by simplistic self-confirmatory methodology, and an interpretation of the results based on the original theory: a quasi-circular rationale. Here we propose an emic and post-hoc approach, an inductive process that captures the SWB categories and contents of the population under research (emic), and then a theorization based on patterns identified through iterative exploratory to confirmatory analyses using methods that control for researcher bias. The first step in the process is ethnographic research. As described in chapter 1, a researcher migrated to each of the research sites to be resident there for more than a year. Participant observation and unstructured interviews were first used to establish basic understanding and to build the strong relationships with the community, a prerequisite to collection of reliable data that captures deep thinking and feelings (see chapter 2). In-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interviews then provided the emic material for identifying SWB components. This interview (the Entrevista de componentes de bienestar, ECB, or components of wellbeing interview) mimicked a casual conversation where people could express in their own terms the content of SWB. The results were processed through content analysis, reducing the casual conversation into categories that summarized the ideas of the people in their own context. At this stage, an emic list of categories for each wellbeing component was completed. A dichotomized database was created in order to start the post-hoc theorizing process with the aim to identify SWB patterns controlling the bias of the researchers through exploratory statistical analyses. Each category of each SWB component was a variable in the database: if a subject mentioned a category then a score of one was assigned in the database; if the subject did not mention that category then a zero was assigned. Through this process, a dichotomized database was obtained from the open-ended conversation, and exploratory statistical methods were conducted in order to identify SWB patterns in the qualitative data. These exploratory statistical results were also triangulated with the ethnographic data. In a second stage, the categories of each SWB component found in the previous research stage were converted into items for a closed question-based survey. The close-ended answers were scalars, so the respondents could express the degree of importance or agreement to each question. This survey was administered in the same sites, bringing quantitative data for confirmatory statistical analysis, adding to, and building on the qualitative data. Therefore, exploratory results provide hypotheses that were tested under confirmatory quantitative conditions. These results were contrasted again with qualitative data. The iterative process continued until a convergent and robust solution was achieved. All these processes were conducted at two levels. The first comprised analyses of each SWB component, and is reported in sections 3.4 to 3.8. The second took the form of integrative analysis of each SWB component within a coherent overall SWB model and is reported in section 3.9. Section 3.2 elaborates on the underlying conceptual framework, while section 3.3 provides further details of the methodology.
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3.2. Conceptualizing Subjective Wellbeing Despite the post-hoc and emic approach, a starting definition of SWB is required. Different theories and particularly empirical approaches were revised, and led to the conclusion that there were at least five core components of SWB: needs, resources, need satisfaction, values, and personality. However, the detailed content of each of these components, and the relations between them were constructed through the emic and post-hoc approach. Needs are the universal conditions for human functioning and there is abundant evidence about their role in SWB (Brunstein, 1993; Brunstein et al., 1999; Sheldon, 2001; Sheldon and Elliot, 1999; Sheldon and Houser-Marko, 2001; Sheldon et al., 2002; Sheldon et al., 2004). Resources are means required to achieve those needs (neoclassical economics is virtually based in this assumption). The perception of need achievement or life satisfaction is an independent variable from needs and there is abundant evidence about its important role on SWB (e.g., Diener, 1984; Diener et al., 1999; Fujita and Diener, 2005). The role of values as a cultural dimension in SWB is widely stated as well (e.g., Diener et al., 2003; Oishi et al., 1999; Schimmack et al., 2002), as is the role of individual differences or personality (e.g., Diener et al., 2003; Schimmack et al., 2002; Weiss et al., 2002; Weiss et al., 2006). The current challenge is to integrate available evidence into a coherent model (Nesse, 2005). At the end of this chapter, we conclude that SWB can be defined as the process of satisfying universal needs considering personal, cultural, and contextual conditions. A goal is set in relation to individual (personality) and cultural (values) characteristics for need achievement, which is mediated by resources (material, subjective, social.). The achievement perception is also moderated by individual and cultural characteristics
3.3. Method 3.3.1. Participants Four hundred in-depth interviews were applied in the qualitative phase, 550 participants were selected for quantitative phase I and 330 for quantitative phase II. Phase I collected data on goals, resources, goal achievement, and values. Phase II collected data on personality and other related variables. Two phases were required in order to avoid respondent fatigue. Quantitative phase II had a smaller sample size due to budget limitations. The sampling was based on a corridor concept (see chapter 1). Two rural sites, two peri-urban, and two urban-marginal were selected. Five sites were located in the Mantaro Valley, starting at more isolated villages, ending in urban shantytowns. One urban-marginal site was selected in Lima. A quota sampling on those sites was applied. Neighborhood was the unit of sampling. Based on the size of each neighborhood, proportional size was calculated. Random selection from each neighborhood was conducted, however, due to seasonal variation in residence fully random assignment cannot be claimed. This procedure was
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applied to both qualitative and quantitative phases. One additional rural site in the high rainforest was selected as strong migration to that place had been detected during the qualitative research phase.
3.3.2. Measures The components of wellbeing interview (ECB) is an in-depth, open-ended, structured interview protocol developed for this study in order to capture the emic categories of needs, resources, need satisfaction, and values (Yamamoto et al., 2004a–f). Application of the ECB required field researchers with specific characteristics. First, they should belong to the general cultural context so they could understand the symbols and the subtleness expressed through the interview and through observation. At the same time, they should not be from the same village or live close to it, as this would risk making it impossible for them to treat the research with sufficient analytical detachment. In addition, they should speak the native language of the site, Spanish and/ or Quechua. Each field researcher migrated to the site. The first month was dedicated to the ethnographic research and also served to contact people and build rapport. In-depth interviews were open-ended in order to capture the emic contents of each variable and the precise expression of them, which is important for subsequent emic psychometric scale development. The interviews were conducted in natural environments for the participants. One by one, participants were found and interviewed in their homes or in the fields while looking after their animals or during agricultural activities. In some cases, interviewers also participated in these activities. Field researchers also actively participated in the communal activities of the site, such as festivities, the school lessons, and faenas (see chapter 2). Each field researcher conducted the content analyses in order to reduce the open-ended answers into categories taking into account context, connotation, and meaning. Afterwards all the content analyses by site were merged into a single list, excluding site-specific categories. The latter were coded for further within-site analysis. A subjective Wellbeing Psychometric Battery (WQP: Yamamoto and Feijoo, 2005) was developed, integrating a goal scale, a resources scale, a goal achievement scale, and a values scale. In addition, an adaptation of the Goldberg personality scale to the Peruvian urban-marginal sample conducted by Calderón (2003) was used. This is a semantic differential scale widely used in evolutionary psychology research. In ideal terms, an emic native personality scale would have been developed, but budget constraints did not permit this. The WQP is an emic battery. The single merged list of categories of each SWB component obtained as the final result of the content analysis of the qualitative phase research was the list of indicators for measure construction. The questions related to each indicator were phrased using the terms collected in the interviews; however, in some cases, it was necessary to find new terms that could be understood transversally in all of the research sites.
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3.3.3. Analytical Techniques Factor structure. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted in order to identify the underlying patterns behind the data. The list of items for each SWB component was reduced into the minimum number of factors that could explain coherently the variance in the sample. Each factor represents the natural combination of items in the sample. The output of this analysis comprised several alternatives from which to select a final preferred solution, with the final choice being based on triangulation with the qualitative data. In addition, the selected factor solution was tested with a more acid mathematical test: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Using an identity matrix, fit indexes provide confirmatory evidence of the validity of the final solution. This procedure was followed for each SWB component. For the specialist reader, this chapter reproduces results of key statistical tests (shown in brackets and italics) but these can be ignored by others. It is important to comment that CFA procedure requires a theory as a starting point (Hair et al., 2004). However, as a core part of our epistemology, no theoretical starting point was used. In order to avoid this dilemma, CFA was supported not by a specific theory but by cross-reference to the qualitative emic evidence. In addition, we tested several models using different subsamples before arriving at the model presented here: a procedure that provides additional consistency to the CFA solution. After finishing each piece of analysis we looked again to available theories to corroborate findings: we do not deny the validity of previous theories, but sought not to impose them onto reality. Differences. MANOVA was used in order to identify differences in factor scores associated with differences in sociodemographic variables. For example, are there significant differences in the values of factors by site? In these analyses, factor scores were analyzed as multiple dependant variables, and sociodemographic cross-variables were used as fixed factors. Scalar cross-variables were analyzed as covariates. If differences were found, recoded scores were analyzed as fixed factors. If a variable showed significant differences, further analysis was conducted in order to identify in which of the specific factors the difference was located. In addition, post-hoc statistical analyses were conducted where pertinent, in order to identify homogeneous subsets underlying differences among fixed factor categories. Life Satisfaction Index. Subjective Life Satisfaction (SLS) index reports the contrast between need (expectancy) and need achievement (perception). Repeated MANOVA measures were used. Need and Need Achievement Perception were selected as time 1 and time 2 dependent variables. Where there was a significant difference, we interpreted it as a level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, according to the direction of the difference. In order to analyze differences between SLS and demographic variables (education for example) the same procedure was used introducing fixed factors or covariates. The SWB definition stated in section 3.2 incorporated resources as mediators of life satisfaction. Resources are introduced only in the general SWB model due to the limitations of the MANOVA.
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SWB Model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted in order to integrate coherently all the factors of all the SWB components. Like CFA, SEM requires a theoretical grounding, but we again rely instead on qualitative evidence. Amos 5.0 software was used for CFA and SEM; other statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 14.0.
3.4. Goals and Needs Goals are the starting point for construction of SWB as defined in this chapter. People set goals that will ignite behavior. Goals are specific ways to satisfy needs, defining needs as the core requirements for complete human functioning and development. As satisfaction of needs is sensitive to contextual conditions, goals can be regarded as concrete, specific ways to achieve them, and the best way to measure them. From this perspective, latent goal structure could be interpreted as needs and can be identified through factor analysis as already described.
3.4.1. Goal and Need Latent Structure Goal structure is defined by three robust factors: Place to live better (PLB), Raise a family (R AF), and Improvement from a secure base (ISB). The first has three indicators: nice and clean neighborhood, quietness (without violence or delinquency), and salir adelante (to move ahead).2 The second has two indicators: partner/marriage and children. The third has five indicators: salaried job, household goods, children’s education, daily food and health, and superior education. This factorial structure has a good fit [chi2 (32, N = 500) = 40.765, p = .138, CFI = .990, RMSEA = .023] according to all the indices of fit used in the confirmatory factor analysis (see figure 3.1). All the factor loadings were significant. The Place to live better (PLB) factor or need indicates looking for a good place to live and is related to core issues in social sciences like migration and urbanism. Migration is a social pattern widespread in cultural and geographical terms and it is an important issue on the contemporary agenda (see chapter 5). Peru is not an exception: on the contrary, it is a country with strong internal and external migration patterns that elude simplistic explanations (Altamirano, 1985, 1988, 1992, 2000). Migration is not only a modern social issue, it is rooted in the ancient history of human kind; genetic anthropology suggests that modern humans began a massive migration in Africa 60,000 years ago that eventually populated the whole planet (Wells, 2003). In addition, PLB need is not only about finding a good place to live, but it also describes a continuous movement for improvement that is well documented by processes like the hedonic treadmill (Brickman and Campbell, 1971; Brickman et al., 1978). This first need seems to be related to Peruvian and ancestral history, bringing support for its validity. A clean and nice place to live is the first goal of this need (lambda = .79), identified by many with urban modernity (squares, paved roads, and streets) rather than the presence of unspoilt nature in line with Western bucolic or pastoral images. This is a possible explanation for a development practitioner’s
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paradox. While the community lacks basic services, people prefer a new plaza or a paved road, even if traffic is low. For example, there are paved roads in some Amazonian villages where nobody even owns a car. International development practitioners might consider this goal absurd compared to health services, for example. However, health in a villagers’ mind can be a non-priority goal, managed adequately through traditional medicine and through cognitive mechanisms of coping with sickness and accidents. We are not stating who is right or who is wrong, rather emphasizing the ethical implications of imposing practitioner’s values and priorities on those of villagers without a deep understanding of their emic adaptive or nonadaptive function. Quietness, without delinquency and without violence is the second goal (lambda = .64). This resembles a minimum functioning condition for living, related to security. Move ahead (Salir adelante) goal (lambda = .48) introduces a forward-looking and development/ improvement element into this factor, whose precise content will vary from site to site. Further exploration of this variable and its variations is ongoing. Raise a family (R AF) refers to having a partner, within or outside marriage. It is not just about someone to live with, but also related to having children. In contrast to elsewhere, the number of partners choosing not to have children in this sample does not seem to be falling. Partner selection for successful reproduction is a core motivation of humankind (Buss, 2004; Shackelford and Buss, 1997c), as for other living species (Darwin, 2004). The fact that this goal is also rooted in deep and ancestral motivations could be viewed as cross-validation of our results.3 Andean culture includes social acceptance of living together before marriage (servinakuy). In syncretistic urban-Andean adaptations, an extension of this tradition helps to explain the high rate of people who live together, have children, and are not married. Hence in practical terms, the meaning of partnership and marriage are hard to disentangle in this sample. Having children is the second goal item loading onto this factor (lambda = .77). Partner attraction, selection, and retention, an underlying process behind this goal, is probably one of the most influential motivations in contemporary society. From different points of view, the importance of this goal is supported. ISB combines two independent motivational factors or states in psychology— security and improvement (for example, Alderfer, 1969; Maslow, 1943); also in economics see Schultz (1964). This analysis suggests that they are part of the same latent need. People’s motivation for improvement should not risk whatever base of secure functioning they already have. For others, their main motivation is to protect what they have and the improvement motivation remains latent. The specific content of what is improvement and what constitutes security is influenced by culture, or local understanding of the meaning of improvement. Thus an adequate car of 50 years ago is not so adequate anymore. Finishing secondary school in a village where the norm is to finish primary school could be a great improvement. For an individualistic society, taking advantage of opportunities for individual profit could be a means of improvement, while this would risk shame and social rejection in a more collectivistic Andean community. What remains the same is the dialectic tension and risk between the goals of security and improvement
.79
Nice and clean neighborhood
.64 Peacefulness
Place to live better
(No violence/ delinquence)
e1
Alfa .67
e2
.48
Move ahead
e3
Partner or marriage
e4
Children
e5
.32
.79
Raise a family
Alfa .75
.77
.78
.36
Salaried job
e6
House
e7
Improvement .50 from a secure base .50
Education for children
e8
.38
Food and health
e9
Get a degree
e10
Alfa .60
.55 .53
Figure 3.1 From goals to latent needs Note: Model fit: CMIN=40.765 DF=32; CMIN/DF=1.274; P=.138; CFI=.990; RMSEA=.023; RMR=.008; AGFI=.972; PGFI=.572; NFI=.956. Source: WeD Peru.
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A salaried job goal (lambda = .55) is regarded as a source of security as well as a source of money. It is important to understand this point in relation to the fact that most respondents were living at the margin of the officially regulated economy. It means many do not have a secure source of income for food and shelter, but obtain these services directly through their own labor. However, such livelihoods are often very vulnerable to shocks: harvests depend on weather conditions, and it is not unusual for crops to be devastated by diseases or climatic conditions. Even when there is a good harvest, the price falls and income remains low. People need money for education, fuel, and many other things, but their capacity to earn it is very limited. In this context the salaried job goal can be better appreciated, even if the amount of the salary is very low. House (lambda = .53), and daily food and health (lambda = .50), also indicators of this factor are widely understood as basic necessities. Education of children (lambda = .50) and the quest for professional status (lambda = .38) are additional items, whose meaning is further clarified by the cross-analysis below. They also feature prominently in the ethnography on migration reported in chapter 5.
3.4.2. Cross-analysis This part reports on sociodemographic variables that show significant effect on need factors. Variables not shown here, including gender, have no significant differences. Age does produce significant differences on goals. The MANOVA result for comparing the three needs to differ significantly as a function of respondent’s age [Wilk’s Lambda = .861, F(15, 1572) = 5.447, p < .001]. The R AF Goal score is significantly different across age groups [F(5, 535) = 13.852, p < .001]. A Tukey HSD comparison shows that the younger the respondent the lower the score for R AF. The lowest average score corresponds to the youngest group (up to 35 years), while the highest score is obtained by the oldest group (more than 56 years) Sites also produce differences on all three need factors [Wilk´s Lambda F(18, 1531) = 28.845, p < .001. PLB: F(6, 543) = 50.868, p < .001. RAF: F(6, 543) = 23.388, p < .001. ISB: F(6, 543) = 37.403, p < .001]. However, the corridor concept is not supported. Using a Tukey HSD comparison, the PLB goal average score describes Llajta Iskay as significantly different from any other site. This pattern will be constant throughout the analysis. Llajta Iskay is a case of a rural community with strong goals of modernity. A second group of sites that do not differ in their PLB goal averages comprises Descanso, Alegria, and Selva Manta. These two peri-urban sites and the rural site closer to the peri-urban showed the second lowest score. Nuevo Lugar and Progreso, the two urbanmarginal sites, are the third group of sites with higher scores compared to the previous groups. Progreso and Llajta Jock are the sites with the highest score. These averages describe a typical cross-site analysis in this study: a mixture of urban, peri-urban, and urban-marginal that can be explained by the interaction of different influences not just by the economic geography of the corridor. Historical episodes that lead to specific adaptations may have a high impact.
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Number of children also showed an effect on need scores [Wilk´s Lambda F(3, 525) = 20.763, p < .001], with R AF need [F(1, 527) = 57.440, p < .001] being higher for respondents with more children. Birth control programs assume that having fewer children is better for quality of life. Here is contrary evidence in terms of goal setting: those who have more children attach more importance to them. There could be different interpretations to this. First, in rural and periurban environments, food, shelter, and related needs are not a problem as so long as there is available land and houses can be built through community reciprocity (minka). Second, in these sites production is strongly related to family workforce, so more children are more of an advantage than a problem. Third, there is a higher risk of child mortality, so a higher number of children increases the probability of having family support in old age and also continuing the lineage, the latter being considered a fundamental motivation for living species by evolutionary theorists (Buss, 2004; Darwin, 2004). These three interpretations are speculative but subject to testing. Residence time also affects the need scores [Wilk´s Lambda F(9, 1324) = 5.192, p < .001]. The PLB need score tended to decrease with prolonged residence time [F(3, 546) = 8.462, p < .001], as did R AF need [F(3, 546) = 3.717, p < .011]. Religion also relates to significant differences in need scores [Wilk´s Lambda F(3, 528) = 3.704, p < .012]. Protestants show higher R AF need than Catholics [F(1, 530) = 9.700, df = 1, p < .002]. Educational level affects the R AF need score [Wilk´s Lambda F(24, 1559) = 3.924, p < .001]: the higher the educational attainment, the lower need [F(8, 539) = 8.727, p < .001]. Marital status also impacts the R AF need score [Wilk´s Lambda F(15, 1497) = 7.818, p < .001]: starting with the average score for singles it increases through living with a partner, being married, and being widowed. Divorced shows a score drop [F(5, 544) = 22.101, p < .001]. Finally, migration shows differences [F(9, 1317) = 10.226, p < .001] on PLB need [F(3, 543) = 28.637, p < .001] and on ISB need [F(3, 543) = 9.723, p < .001].
3.5. Need Satisfaction 3.5.1. General Satisfaction Need satisfaction is defined by the contrast between needs and their perceived achievement. Significant differences between these two will define satisfaction (perception of need achievement greater than need expectancy), dissatisfaction (need expectancy greater than need achievement perception), and equilibrium (no significant differences between need expectation and need achievement perception). Satisfaction is not presented here as an independent hypothetical construction whose structure was developed following the emic process: participants’ own categories of need satisfaction were not elicited separately in a qualitative study whose structure could be tested through exploratory SEM methods. Rather, the structure of need satisfaction is taken to be the same as the needs structure. Therefore “satisfaction” as used below can be defined more precisely as “need achievement perception,” and its structure mirrors the needs structure presented in the previous section.
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The next step is how to contrast needs and satisfaction. This was conducted through correlated group t-tests comparing needs and satisfaction scores as the two dependent variables. Comparing all sites as a whole, this analysis showed a general dissatisfaction in the sample. PLB showed dissatisfaction [(M difference = –.367) F(1, 549) = 319.055, p < .001], RAF showed satisfaction [(M difference = .312), F(1, 549) = 107.196, p < .001], and ISB showed dissatisfaction [(M difference = -.696), F(1. 549) = 1688.70, p < .001]. However, specific cases of satisfaction are found, which are supported by the qualitative data, and they probably make the most interesting part of the need satisfaction analysis. In order to track these cases of satisfaction, the influence of different sociodemographic variables were analyzed through repeated measures ANOVA, introducing sociodemographic variables as fixed factors or covariates. Due to the density of the results not all the significant differences are discussed.
3.5.2. Place to Live Better (PLB) Satisfaction PLB by site reveals significant differences [F(6, 543) = 71.778, p < .001] around a general dissatisfaction. However, peri-urban sites do not show significant differences suggesting equilibrium between perception of need and of achievement. As the mean score is above the median in the scale, this equilibrium can be interpreted as a positive state. In contrast, urban sites reveal a nightmare level of dissatisfaction. Need is higher and satisfaction is lower, creating the biggest gap. Qualitative data provides support for the negative emotion in these sites toward the environment. Rural sites show a more complex pattern. Llajta Iskay was an outlier in needs, showing a lower level compared to other rural sites. Nevertheless, it appears as the least unsatisfied of them all (equilibrium at P.01) when needs are contrasted to satisfaction. Llajta Jock shows the highest level of achievement on PLB, consistent with qualitative analysis. However the expectations are higher, resulting in a dissatisfaction that was also supported by qualitative data. Only when goals and achievement were contrasted was qualitative data consistent with quantitative analysis. This also provides evidence of the importance of not analyzing needs without reference to goal achievement perception at the same time. PLB by Time of residence in the site has an effect on satisfaction [F(3, 546) = 27.313, p < .001]. Figure 3.2 shows this as an adaptive interaction: as time of residence increases, the goal expectation decreases but the achievement perception increases. Finally, Migration pattern also shows differences [F(3, 543) = 76.373, p < .001], whereas no differences emerged by age, sex, number of sons, religion, education, marital status, or role in local organizations.
3.5.3. Raise a Family (RAF) Satisfaction Age produced significant differences in satisfaction [F(5, 535) = 10.677, p < .001]. Figure 3.3 describes the average satisfaction along lifespan. At the younger years, R AF is not a problem: it is not a goal and it is not achieved. Later on,
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Satisfaction
Need Perception of achievement
Estimated marginal means
2,6
2,4
2,2
2,0
1 to 5 years
6 to 15 years
16 to 30 years
more than 31 years
Period of residence
Figure 3.2 “Place to live better” importance and satisfaction by period of residence Source: WeD Peru.
the goal starts a stable climb. Achievement climbs abruptly, levels off slowly, and stabilizes in the 50s. This could be an ideal situation. Marital and family dissatisfaction is an issue in modern society (Calderón, 2003) due to the gap between modern society and ancestral evolution (Buss, 2000). The findings of the present study support this proposition because the less modernized respondents studied here show higher satisfaction on R AF—probably the most important need for wellbeing in this group. Cross-cultural studies with European or United States samples comparing this goal are required. Casual observation also suggests that PLB and ISB satisfaction would be higher in these countries compared to developing countries, but there is evidence of general dissatisfaction about raising a family there (e.g., Gottman and Levenson, 1992). This suggests a paradox about development: if R AF is the most influential need for happiness, this could explain why world happiness surveys (e.g., Marks et al., 2006) find that designated third world countries are happier than self-designated first world countries. Site also produces significant differences [F(6, 543) = 8.407, p < .001]. Figure 3.4 reveals a linear decrease from rural sites to urban-marginal. However, expectation shows a nonlinear function, with rural sites (excluding Llajta Iskay as an outlier) showing higher goals, that
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2,0 Satisfaction Need Perception of achievement
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less than 25 years
26 to 35 years
36 to 45 years
46 to 55 years
56 to 65 years
more than 66 years
Age
Figure 3.3 “Raise a family” importance and satisfaction by age Source: WeD Peru.
in turn reduce the level of satisfaction. Llajta Jock is the only unsatisfied site with respect to this goal. By contrast, Nuevo Lugar, the more urban-marginal site, does not have a high conscious expectation about family; however the satisfaction is high. Probably, in poverty conditions raising a family could be contradictory in terms of the implicit costs and probabilities to afford it. Having children could be a non-desired issue. However, when it does occur, it seems to be a source of satisfaction. This could be related to the high rate of children and the early age of maternity and paternity. Some nonconscious processes can also affect these decision-making processes (Bernardi et al., 1992; Grant et al., 2002; Hobcraft and Kiernan, 2001; Kissman, 1998b). Further explorations and cross-validation in relation to the effect of the gap size between expectations and perceived achievement is required. Number of children also reveals significant differences [F(12, 516) = 16.297, p < .001] and partial contribution to the effect of satisfaction (part. eta2 = .51). As the number of children rises, so does satisfaction as well. This provides additional evidence relevant to the debate over family planning, discussed earlier in the chapter. Education is also significant [F(8, 539) = 2.583, p < .01]. The goal expectation decreases as education increases.
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Satisfaction
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Need Perception of achievement
Estimated marginal means
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2,4
2,2
2,0
1,8
Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Manta
Alegria Descanso Progreso
Nuevo Lugar
Site
Figure 3.4 “Raise a family” importance and satisfaction by locality Source: WeD Peru.
Satisfaction is highest at lower educational levels and tends to decrease as education increases, stabilizing for groups with complete secondary education and higher. The group with incomplete higher education showed an important fall in achievement. Further exploration is required of this important and controversial topic: given the importance attached to education in development, what implications arise from a possible trade-off between ignorance and happiness? Marital status also shows differences [F(5, 544) = 72.708, p < .001] and a moderate effect on satisfaction (part. eta2 = .55). Dissatisfaction is found for respondents who are single and widowed. Equilibrium is found for those with an absent partner and divorced, and greatest satisfaction on living with a partner and being married. No differences by sex, time of residence, religion, or role in local organization were found.
3.5.4. ISB Satisfaction Site also produce differences in satisfaction [F(6, 543) = p < .001., (part. eta2 = .75)]. Figure 3.5 shows changes in need and need satisfaction across sites; however, the relative gap between need and need satisfaction remains unchanged. We can hypothesize that there is a positive change in objective indicators of ISB
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3,0
Estimated marginal means
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2,6
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2,4
Need Perception of achievement
2,2
2,0
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Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Manta
Alegria Descanso Progreso
Nuevo Lugar
Site
Figure 3.5 “Improvement from a secure base” importance and satisfaction by locality Source: WeD Peru.
in more urban sites compared to more rural sites (salaried job, education, and health). This suggests an adaptive process where needs are kept low but not too low: enough to maintain some motivation but at the same time limit frustration. The satisfaction of partial needs is also of less consequence since it does not persist: given the huge costs of migration from rural to urban-marginal areas in hedonic terms it seems to be a questionable investment. This finding supports the hedonic treadmill hypothesis (Brickman and Campbell, 1971; Brickman et al., 1978) proposed in nonpoor urban sites. Further studies of the interaction between this process and learned helplessness, “change resistance” and relative privation could offer further insights. Education shows significant differences [F(8, 539) = 2.906, p < .004]. While the interaction between education and satisfaction is not significant in its effect on the dependant variable it does have a moderate influence on the pairwise effect (Part. eta2 = .75). This means the need shows a decrease as education rises along with achievement perception, with dissatisfaction remaining at all educational levels. Those who have completed higher education do show less dissatisfaction. Marital status shows differences [F(5, 544) = 3.114, p < .009] and the pairwise effect is considerable (Part. eta2 = .613): there is variation in achievement perception but dissatisfaction level tends
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to remain stable. A similar pattern is found for Migration [F(3, 543) = 7.969, p < .001, Part. 2 = .638]. Lastly, no effects of age, sex, number of sons, time of residence, religion, and role in community organization were found.
3.6. Resources Perception Resources are defined as the perception of the availability of means required for goal achievement. In the preliminary qualitative phase already described, a comprehensive list of resources was obtained from respondents. To avoid duplication, the list was restricted to resources that were not also perceived as ends in themselves and therefore already included in the goal satisfaction scale. The quantitative phase used a resource scale based on this list.
3.6.1. Structure A unidimensional factor solution was supported by a confirmatory factor analysis [chi2(14, N=531) = 20.671, p = .110, CFI = .987, RMSEA = .030]. Seven indicators were included: to get loans, to rent/lease (land), saving, migration, inheritance, social contacts,4 and gestiones.5 Thus, an interrelated mixture of economic, social, familial, and migration indicators defines this unidimensional factor (see figure 3.6). For instance, migration assumes the existence of networks of family and friends. This has several implications. First, as was the case with the qualitative phase, the confirmatory factor analysis provides empirical evidence of the significance of nonmaterial resources. If this is correct, then any analysis that only includes material resources in a subjective wellbeing conceptualization is strongly limited. Objective wellbeing analysis must also consider the complexities and particularities of the subjective measurement of resources, since physical measurement of these resources is also generally based on the subjective perception of them. Second, this factor solution provides empirical support for refuting the assumption (underpinning programs based on a purely material conceptualization of development) that resources for development are fundamentally economic. While there is scope for more detailed analysis of perceived resources, the present findings should not be underemphasized: while money may be a relatively universal resource in some societies, the situation presented from these sites is very different, and it cannot be assumed that a more money-oriented societal model is associated with greater happiness.
3.6.2. Cross-analysis Sites significantly differ in their average resources [F(6, 543) = 48.640, p < .001]. In terms of gender [F(1, 545) = 8.698, p < .003], men reported higher resources than women. Individuals with more residence time in a community also showed higher resources [F(3, 87.622) = 4.271, p < .005]. Migration pattern produces differences [F(3, 543) = 14.036, p < .001]: individuals who migrated to different and very different places reported the lowest level of resources. Rural sites, excluding
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To get loans
e1
To rent/ lease (land)
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e4
Inheritance
e5
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e6
Saving
e7
Migration
e9
.57
.53
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.53
.49
.56
.42
Figure 3.6 Factor structure of resources perception Note: Model fit: CMIN=20.671 DF=14; CMIN/DF=1.476; P=.110; CFI=.987; RMSEA=.030; RMR=.012; AGFI=.978; PGFI=.494; NFI=.961. Source: WeD Peru.
Llajta Iskay as an outlier, show higher levels of resources. This can be attributed to greater community organization, stronger familial networks, reciprocity, and mutual support. In addition, money could be scarce but as agricultural communities, lack of food is not an issue. This situation could be weakened in periurban sites and diluted in urban-marginal sites. No differences by age, number
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of sons, religion, educational level, marital status, or role in local organization were found.
3.7. Values While there is no single definition of values, different authors agree that they include beliefs shared by a social group about the relative merit of different behavioral states or ends (Smith and Schwartz, 1996). Theoretical discussion of values is strongly related to morality and ethics, and this has important methodological implications. Personal morality and ethics conceptions are subjectively universal and generalized as to what is correct in any context: otherwise they would not fulfill their function as noncircumstantial behavioral guidelines. These personal conceptions can then filter through research design and interpretation, resulting in an implicit ethnocentric bias in theory and research: Said (1978) provides a classic discussion of this. Rigorous contemporary empirical research is grounded in testing alternative approaches, not rejecting some a priori. As social scientists rather than philosophers we are interested in the values behind social behavior more than what is behind politically correct discourse. And while this idea is not new, putting it into practice is difficult. The post-hoc and emic approach of this research provides a testable alternative. In relation to the social desirability problems, previous evidence shows that when we do not ask about a person’s own values but the values of people generally in the site, there is less bias to conform to socially desirable or politically correct responses. Following this methodology we obtained the following results.
3.7.1. Factor Structure Following an exploratory factor analysis that suggested two factors, a confirmatory factor analysis provided additional support for the bidimensional structure [chi2(4, N=522)=1.237, p = .872, CFI = 1.0, RMSEA <.001] of collectivism and individualism (hereafter C-I) shown in figure 3.7. While this result supports theoretical assumptions about these dimensions (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1990; Triandis et al., 1986; Triandis et al., 1988) the content and interpretation may differ. First, collectivism and individualism are not poles of the same continuum but two independent and negatively correlated variables. This has several implications, such as the possibility to score highly on individualism and collectivism at the same time. As figure 3.7 displays, collectivism has three indicators: “support and advice” (lambda = .89), “to share” (lambda = .78), and “neighborhood organization and individual progress” (lambda = .44), which are all coherent with the previous qualitative evidence. These indicators can be explained in terms of the evolutionary origin of values: a cognitiveaffective structure that supports a strategy of mutual support instead of war based on principles of collective organization that transcend context and individual interests. Support and advice as the first indicator with the highest loading (lambda = .89) provides evidence in this direction.6 In reflecting the importance
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Support and advice
e1
To share
e2
Alfa .73
.89
Collectivism
.78
.44 Neighborhood organization and individual progress
e4
–.32
.99
Envy
e5
Selfishness
e6
Alfa .91
Individualism .84
Figure 3.7 Factor structure of values Note: Model fit: CMIN=1.237 DF=4; CMIN/DF=.309; P=.872; CFI=1.000; RMSEA=.000; RMR=.002; AGFI=.996; PGFI=.266; NFI=.999. Source: WeD Peru.
of interpersonal relationships it goes beyond representing a form of economic support: rather it is a wider conception. To share—the second indicator—supports this noninstrumental connotation. It refers to giving to others close to you what you have in a natural, horizontal way without explicit reciprocity. The last indicator of collectivism is the mixture of two observed variables, neighborhood organization and participation and individual progress. Collectivism has been understood as the subject’s subordination to the group, or at least the
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significant prevalence of the group at the expense of the individual (Markus and Kitayama, 1991; Triandis et al.,1988). However, this evidence suggests a noncontradictory relationship between the subject and the collective. At the same time, people search for individual improvement and collective organization. Individualism has two indicators, envy (lambda = .99) and selfishness (lambda = .84). The loss of community organization was systematically reported as a crisis of values in the participant observation phase of this study. A significant negative correlation (r = ⫺.32) between the two factors supports this interpretation. Individualism seems to be an adaptive process to modern urban settings with infectious tendencies that can be transmitted through the influence of migrants. In big cities, a collective strategy may not make sense. It is not possible to support and give advice to all the people around an individual, and even more difficult to share with all those who need something that we have. However, in a small community with less than 70 families, with relatively homogeneous wealth compared to the wealth differences in big cities, sharing is not a problem. Face to face interaction helps to reveal who is really in trouble. Embarrassment, guilt, and shame will regulate the reciprocity and possible abuse in the sharing of resources. In addition, in small communities, an individualist strategy may be unrealistic. As there is no market supply of services, everyone must support each other. Much of the harvest is gathered together in a collective way. Day by day, all the community in a festive mood harvest the land of one member of the community. At the end of the period, all of the members of the community get the harvest. This is called minka and it is rooted in an ancient Andean culture tradition, as discussed further in chapter 5. However, when people migrate, a less than fully conscious adaptive process may not react with the speed and precision required in cross-sociocultural environmental contexts, producing crosssociocultural environmental shocks and nonadaptation.7
3.7.2. Differences Values do show significant differences by site [Wilk´s Lambda F(12, 1084) = 11.243, p < .001] in both factors. Collectivistic [F(6, 543) = 15.356), p < .001] values compared with Tukey HSD analysis show three groups of sites. The first, Llajta Iskay and Alegria, showed the lowest mean. Second, Alegria, Nuevo Lugar, Progreso, Selva Manta, and Descanso, produced an intermediate average score. Third, Llajta Jock was the single site with the highest score. These subsets did not resemble the linear corridor concept but the result is coherent with the qualitative analysis. Llajta Jock appeared as the site with the highest sense of community, and Llajta Iskay, despite being nearby and having a similar rural condition, had a very low collectivistic sense. Llajta Jock becomes a case study for collectivism. This evidence suggests that collectivism cannot be explained by community size or rural condition alone. More complex models need to be developed. The individualism scores [F(6, 543) = 15.356, p < .001] show two site groups that differ between them using Tukey HSD comparison. The first site group with the lower average were Llajta Iskay, Llajta Jock, Selva Manta, and Alegria.
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The second group with a high average on individualism contains all communities but Llajta Iskay. The first resembles in some rough way the corridor concept: all the rural places and the closer to rural peri-urban ones are in this group. It is also interesting to analyze the interaction between collectivism and individualism. Llajta Iskay has the lowest collectivistic score, but the lowest individualism as well. A focus only on the first could lead one to interpret it as an individualistic site, but this is not the case. Llajta Jock has the highest collectivistic mean but individualism is also the highest among rural sites. Figure 3.8 also shows the sustained increase of individualism in the peri-urban and urban sites along the corridor, supporting the hypothesis that individualism is an adaptation to the more modern urban socio-environment. Another pattern shown in the graph is the relative coexistence of both values in Selva Manta, Descanso, and Progreso. Although rural, Selva Manta is more connected to the urban network in economic terms (See chapter 2). Descanso is a peri-urban site close to the urban site and Progreso is a shantytown close to the peri-urban. Qualitative analysis shows hybrid adaptation processes, particularly in these sites, that is consistent with the pattern outlined above. A paired sample t-test shows no significant differences between individualism and collectivism scores on Selva Manta [t(29) = .713, p < .481], Descanso [t(99) = –1.661, p < .100],
2,4
Estimated marginal means
2,3
2,2
2,1
2,0
1,9
1,8
Values
Collectivism Individualism
1,7
Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Manta
Alegria Descanso Progreso
Nuevo Lugar
Site
Figure 3.8 Variation in values by locality, individualism, and collectivism Source: WeD Peru.
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and on Progreso [t(99) = –1.809, p < .074] therefore supporting the hypothesis of hybrid adaptation processes. Sex does show a significant difference [F(2, 544) = 3.552, p < .029]; women have a higher mean than men on Individualism [F(1, 545) = 6.993, p < .008]. Education level does not show significant differences on general coefficients [Wilk´s Lambda F(16, 1076) = 1.514, p < .080] but does show on Roy’s largest root [F(8, 539) = 1.953, p < .05]. Figure 3.9 reveals further patterns. The first can be observed from no education to incomplete secondary education. Both values describe the same U function: higher for the no-education group, decreasing in the primary education group, and slightly increasing in the incomplete secondary education group. After this section, let us say, from incomplete secondary education, individualism and collectivism develop an inverted, similar shaped pattern; as educational level increases, collectivism decreases and individualism increases. This inverted pattern is nonlinear, since at complete secondary education, individualism decreases and collectivism increases. With higher technical education individualism decreases in relation to the previous educational level but remains higher than with incomplete secondary. Individualism keeps increasing on technical complete and university incomplete, and then falls on university complete compared to university incomplete, but remains higher than technical complete. The same but inverted pattern is described by collectivism. Generally speaking, two patterns can be discussed. People with no education have similar levels of individualism and collectivism, and some equilibrium between interdependence and independence. Primary education decreases both values, more on collectivism, which could be related to some kind of educational shock. Attending secondary school increases both values. From complete secondary, education has an opposite influence on values, increasing individualism and decreasing collectivism. Each of these steps results in relatively slight changes, but the accumulated effect can be large, particularly for higher educational levels. In simple terms, education seems to increase selfishness and envy and reduces community organization, sharing, and mutual support. It is not so simple to assume that this specific individualism factor could be a proper adaptation to more modern urban socio-environments. From the perspective of the qualitative phase results, it is understood as a crisis of values: the weakening of a functional system. Individualism from a nonindividualistic society seems to be a sign of human deterioration and a source of interpersonal ill-being. We think that at least it is an incomplete and unsuccessful cross-cultural shock adaptation. More analysis is needed, but it already seems clear—at least in Peru—that rather than seeing a Millennium Development Goal to increase education as self-evident, we must rethink what formal education currently achieves and embark on a long journey of working out how it can be radically changed. Migration pattern also shows significant differences [F(6, 1084) = 2.386, p < .027] due to the effect of individualism [F(3, 543) = 4.134, p < .007]. Role in the community organization shows differences too [F(2, 528) = 3.149, p < .044]. Individualism [F(1, 529) = 5.981, p < .015] is lower for people who have an active role in the community. This finding is coherent with the evidence that leadership is not related to individualism in all societies (Ballard and Kleiner, 1988; Madzar, 2005; Savicki, 1999;
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Estimated marginal means
2,3
2,2
2,1
2,0
1,9
Values Collectivism Individualism
Higher University University No Primary Primary Secondary Secondary Higher schooling incomplete complete incomplete complete technical technical incomplete complete incomplete complete
Stage at which education was completed
Figure 3.9 Variation in values by formal education, individualism, and collectivism Source: WeD Peru.
Yan and Hunt, 2005). In contrast, values show no difference by age, supporting the theory that assumes stability on achieving adulthood. 8 Number of children, time of residence, religion, and marital status also showed no differences.
3.8. Personality Personality represents the individual dimension in behavioral analysis. It is related to enduring traits that characterize the way a person behaves in neutral contexts. Empirical evidence systematically reports a relationship between personality and wellbeing. Furthermore, some evidence suggests it is the most important predictor of wellbeing in humans (Diener et al., 2003; Schimmack et al., 2002), in chimpanzees—Pan Troglodytes—(Weiss et al., 2002), and orangutans—Pongo Pygmaeus and Pongo Abelii—(Weiss et al., 2006). Costa and McRae (McCrae and Costa, 1997; McCrae et al., 2000) propose a robust five-factor personality model (FFM).9 This model is widely accepted and
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assumes a universal five-factor structure with a biological basis. Nevertheless, cross-cultural research provides empirical evidence that the model has limitations. Di Blas et al. (2000) found three factors in Italy, Saucier et al. (2000) found a two-factor solution more robust when comparing results across 12 languages. In addition, other studies found five factors that do not correspond to the FFM solution. Triandis and Suh (2002) reviewing the literature on culture and personality conclude that caution is required with the FFM, particularly within non-Western cultures. The present findings analyze personality structure in a different cultural context from a Western sample. Exploratory Factor Analysis identified 14 factors using an Eigenvalue above one as the selection criterion. In order to test the five-factor model, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted. Model fit does not support this theory [chi2 (735, 322) = 1393.526, p < .001, CFI = .609, RMSEA = .053]. According to the logic of this research and in order to explore alternative personality structures, FFM was abandoned and emic personality extraction was conducted instead.
3.8.1. Factor Structure Three emic factors were found at the confirmatory level [chi2 (41, 322) = 55.297, p = .67, CFI = 961, RMSEA =033] without correspondence to the FFM: MoscaAhuevado, Buena onda-Mala onda, and Sociable-Warm. As emic factors, a single word translation is not provided, since the terms do not have an exact equivalent in English. See figure 3.10 for the indicators involved in each of these personality traits. The latent personality variable Mosca (lambda = .51) has four indicators: self-confidence (lambda = .40), perceptiveness (lambda = .40), pragmatism (lambda = .57), and analytical (lambda = .61). Standardized Regression Weights are shown in parenthesis. Contrasting with FFM, there are two indicators from Openness or Intelligence, one from Stability, and one from Consciousness. The literal translation of Mosca is fly—a colloquial Peruvian word for someone having a quick, sharp mind. It implies an awareness of the environment, pragmatism, and self-confidence, not related to the academic or specialized intelligence, but rather having quick reactions and survival skills. One possible interpretation is related to environmental adaptation. In the educated Western world, abstract intelligence is a requirement for achievement. From early childhood, society stimulates its development. In contrast, in a rural environment, abstraction is less stimulated. Interpersonal relations are not abstract, due to a population size that allows everybody to know each other. Daily problems are also specific, like building and repairing water channels, solutions that have an ancient history. At this level, rural people operate with a high adaptation level. However, the modern environment requires abstraction. Massive cities lead to impersonal relations where abstract principles are required for social functioning. Problems are not daily life problems, but are more abstract: reflecting what happens in lives that are systematized and socialized through modern education. Therefore, adaptation would lead to a Mosca person in a more rural socio-environment. These findings are coherent
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Figure 3.10 Factor structure of personality Note: Model fit: CMIN=55.297 DF=41; CMIN/DF=1.349; P=.067; CFI=.961; RMSEA=.033; RMR=.040; AGFI=.952; PGFI=.603; NFI=.869; Source: WeD Peru.
with low levels of abstraction found in urban shantytowns and rural environments (Alarcón, 1986) and are interpreted as a cognitive underdevelopment from within the linear evolutionary theory of cognitive development emanating from Piaget (1964). Findings of the present study assume a nonlinear evolutionary homoplasy: Mosca is a highly adapted personality trait for the rural socioenvironmental context. In urban-marginal sites, the Mosca trait could be related
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to a hybrid adaptation that could be adaptive in some situations but not in others. In some contexts, the term Mosca has the connotation of intelligent but dishonest pragmatism, which could be a nonadaptive strategy in societal terms but could function as an adaptive mutation for discriminated groups in a more hostile environment. The definition of Mosca in this paper has a neutral moral orientation: an analytical-pragmatic trait for good or for bad. Buena onda10 (lambda = .91) has four indicators: flexible (lambda = .46), organized (lambda = .46), desprendido11 (lambda = .58), and generous (lambda = .48). Three indicators are similar to the FFM “agreeableness” factor and one from the “consciousness” factor. Buena onda is more than an agreeable person; it assumes generosity and the absence of selfishness. It also refers to someone who is organized, rather than charming in an unstructured way. Flexibility could be interpreted in terms of an important component of good relations in a multicultural context. According to participant observation, to be Buena onda is considered a prime personal condition, in many situations more important than intelligence and moral virtues, which makes sense in a collectivistic culture where good interpersonal relations are a more important part of an adaptive and nonindividualistic need satisfaction strategy than a sharp mind. Sociable-Warm (lambda = .80) has three indicators: Warm (lambda = .34), Shy-Sociable (lambda = .63), and Reserved-Sociable (lambda = .63). Two indicators coincide with the FFM “extroversion” factor and one from the “agreeableness” factor. This refers not just to an extrovert person since it also includes agreeableness in terms of warmth. This sociability dimension is highly12 correlated to Buena onda (lambda = .725): the former reflecting the intensity of interpersonal relations and the latter having more to do with the quality of interpersonal relations. Despite the high correlation, both are independent, suggesting the independence of quality and intensity of interpersonal relations. Therefore, a person could be high on intensity and low on quality, or high on both, or any other combination like a nonsociable Buena onda.
3.8.2. Differences There are significant differences between personality factors and site [Wilk´s Lambda F(18, 908) = 6.432, p < .001] that do not reflect a linear corridor concept. Differences are shown for Mosca [F(6, 323) = 8.649, p < .001], for Buena onda [F(6, 323) = 8.963, p < .001], and for Sociable-Warm [F(6, 323) = 6.499, p < .001]. Post-hoc tests show three groups for Mosca: 1) Nuevo Lugar, Progreso, Llajta Iskay, and Alegria; 2) Progreso, Llajta Iskay, Alegria, Llajta Jock, and Descanso; and 3) Descanso and Selva Manta. Buena onda shows a more corridorlike structure; the more urban the site, the less Buena onda occurs. Three groups: Llajta Jock and Selva Manta (higher mean); Selva Manta, Alegria, and Descanso (intermediate mean); and Alegria, Descanso, Progreso, Llajta Iskay, and Nuevo Lugar (lower mean). Sociable-Warm shows two homogeneous subsets: Llajta Jock, Alegria, and Selva Manta (higher mean); and Alegria, Selva Manta, Nuevo Lugar, Descanso, Progreso, and Llajta Iskay (lower mean). These results do not support the idea of a universal structure of personality.
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Personality shows significant differences by age [Wilk´s Lambda F(15, 881) = 1.691, p < .05]. Significant differences are found on Mosca [F(5, 321) = 2.786, p < .05]. There exists an increase of this personality factor at adult age and then a decline over the years. There are also significant differences by residence time [Wilk´s Lambda F(9, 789) = 2.161, p < .05]. in Mosca [F(3, 326) = 2.959, p < .05], and Sociable-Warm [F(3, 326) = 3.100), p < .05] factors. Mosca shows a continuum increase with years of residence, suggesting cumulative effect of the adaptive character of this factor. Sociable-Warm increases over residence time but slightly declines after more than 31 years of residence. In general terms, personality factors increase over time of residence, suggesting they have an adaptive function. Social warmness seems to develop faster over time in a specific environment. Mosca takes more time. Note that the adaptive function is not about age, but about years living in a specific environment. Place of origin also shows differences with time [Wilk´s Lambda F(9, 784) = 2.778, p = .003], in Mosca [F(3, 324) = 5.838, p = .001], and Buena Onda factors [F(3, 324) = 2.956, p < .05]. Figure 3.11 describes an interesting factor pattern. A person who was born in a very different place has the lowest personality scores. In contrast, nonmigrants showed the highest Mosca scores, second highest Buena onda scores, and
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Figure 3.11 Personality by migration history Source: WeD Peru.
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second highest Sociable-Warm scores. This pattern suggests the adaptive nature of personality. This adaptation could be activated during early childhood and remain constant for the rest of life. People who have an active role in local organization show higher personality scores [Wilk´s Lambda F(3, 314) = 2.985, p < .05]; Mosca [F(1, 316) = 5.569, p < .05], and Sociable-Warm [F(1, 316) = 5.538, p < .05].
3.8.3. Concluding Remarks on Personality The evidence suggests that there are biological tendencies underlying personality factors but influences activated during early childhood seem to be crucial and to remain relatively stable during the entire lifespan. Changes can also be found in specific factors in certain circumstances, predicted by the adaptive character of the personality-situation combination. For instance, Mosca increases over the years for those living in the same site. At the same time, Mosca scores decrease by age, which can be explained by biological lifespan effects on cognitive ability. The nature of personality seems to be related to adaptive processes. As part of evolution, human beings develop a variety of adaptive personal strategies. Those strategies differ within groups in order to provide adaptive variation. Jackson (Jackson and Joshi 2004), for instance, finds that group heterogeneity is a robust predictor of group efficacy, particularly personality differences. However, some strategies will be more necessary in specific settings. Further research is required with wider samples and diverse cultural contexts.
3.9. Subjective Wellbeing Model As previously discussed, latent needs, resources, latent need achievement perception, values, and personality are found to be the core components of subjective wellbeing. Through a qualitative and quantitative iterative investigation, we have identified an emic factor structure for each component. The next step is to integrate all these pieces into a single coherent holistic view. In this direction, Nesse (2005:8) wrote of the “. . . extraordinary knowledge base we now have on factors that influence SWB. But what are we to do with all this information? We need a model. All the variables studied and their connections need to be incorporated into a path diagram so we can see their inter-relationships.” Here we propose an emic and post-hoc empirically validated model. In order to achieve this objective, achievement of each latent need will be analyzed independently with several questions in mind. Which needs, resources, values, or personality factors have a significant influence on each perception of need achievement factor? What are the directions and intensities of these influences? Do all components fit as one integrative model? Each independent need factor analysis will be called a quality of life analysis. The integrative model of all the three will be called subjective wellbeing. The first round of analysis was conducted using second order factors (i.e., needs, resources, need achievement, etc.) and no significant results were achieved. However, when using first order factors (PLB, and/or R AF, and/or ISB) instead, significant results appeared for both partial paths and integrated models. These
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results show that to assume second order factors will explain wellbeing was too simplistic. The complexity of an integrative wellbeing model is that the interrelations explaining achievement of distinct latent needs are different. No simple models could be expected because the complexity of the interactions is part of the nature of being human. However, beyond these differences a holistic wellbeing model can be identified. All the regression weights and covariances in the models to be presented below are significant (p < .05 or better), and all models show a significant fit (p < .01 or better). The path coefficients reported are standardized coefficients.
3.9.1. Quality of Place to Live Better (PLB) The path diagram in Figure 3.12 shows an integrative model for quality of PLB that produced a good fit, [chi2 (9, N = 330) = 13.644, p = .136, CFI = .983, RMSEA = .040]. The PLB achievement is explained directly by four observed variables, and indirectly by two other variables. Resources have the strongest direct influence (beta = .32). In turn, Resources are influenced by Improvement from a secure base (beta = .20), Buena onda personality (beta = .17), and Sociable-Warm
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Figure 3.12 Path model for “place to live better” Note: Model fit: CMIN=15.196 DF=9; CMIN/DF=1.688; P=.086; CFI=.977; RMSEA=.046; RMR=.015; AGFI=.960; PGFI=.317; NFI=.947. Source: WED Peru.
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personality (beta = .19). Individualism exerts a negative influence (beta = ⫺.17) on PLB achievement and also influences ISB goal (beta = .11). ISB goal is correlated to PLB goal (r = .48). PLB goal has a negative impact (beta = ⫺.14) on PLB achievement. This goal is positively influenced by Sociable-Warm personality (beta = .19). Sociable-Warm personality also has a positive influence on ISB goals (beta = .17). ISB goal has a positive influence on resources (beta = .20). Buena onda personality has a positive influence on PLB achievement (beta = .14). In other words, as the PLB goal increases, its achievement perception is reduced. This inverse relation provides evidence toward the idea that some pursued goals do not lead to subjective satisfaction when achieved. The literature refers to this process under different labels, including the hedonic treadmill (Brickman and Campbell, 1971; Brickman et al., 1978) and self-concordant goals (Sheldon and Elliot, 1999). This also explains the reason why migration could in some cases be a never-ending quest that leads people to go through bigger and bigger cities within countries and eventually overseas. As previously discussed, human migration was a voyage started in Ethiopia some 55,000 years ago and achieved populating the whole world about 10,000 years ago (Wells, 2003). Individualism, defined as a higher motivation for noncollectivistic achievement and a proclivity to individual material possessions, may explain the negative relation with need satisfaction in terms that the goal will increase with partial achievements. Let us come back to the process where an achieved goal may not be followed by a positive change in subjective achievement perception. Sheldon and Elliot (1999) explained this effect as a function of the nature of the goal itself. Independently, other authors found that personality is a strong predictor of subjective wellbeing without considering the nature of the goals pursued (Schimmack et al., 2002). Independently of both, other authors found that material resources led to an increase of subjective wellbeing under some conditions (Cummins, 2000; Diener and Oishi, 2000; Headey and Wooden, 2004). Putting all the pieces together, we can see that goal (negatively), personality, and resources are interrelated to explain the quality of PLB. The interrelation of these concepts could be a more comprehensive explanation as to why migration is widespread in Peruvian society despite the objective decrease in quality of lives: less status, risk of hunger, loss of social networks, decrease in the quality of the landscape, for example. The positive influence of Buena onda personality could compensate the negative effect of values and goals, producing positive thoughts and a positive mood. This, combined with the perception of resources availability, could explain the perception of quality of a place to live. Contemporary positive psychology is focused on the role of goals and reality perception under different ways of optimistic thought (for example Daukantaite and Bergman, 2005; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). However, there is little attention to the operationalization of personality and values within intervention programs. According to personality and values theory, both are related
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to long-term, nonchangeable traits and beliefs (McCrae and Costa, 1997; McCrae et al., 2000; Smith and Schwartz, 1996). Therefore, the long-term effects of a positive psychology focus will be somewhat limited. In addition to the optimistic intervention approach, a societal change that alters the structures and functions that influence values and personality would be required. Postmodernism as a discussion of the failure of modern society to achieve happiness and the quest for a new societal model can find here some specific insights about axioms of what is supposed to be inherently good: individualism at the core of modern values; bizarre overdevelopment and the hedonic treadmill; the loss of family relationships and social networks as resources. Of course, an irresponsible “hippie” negation of the core importance of material resources, or naïve idealism about traditional communities, is not proposed.
3.9.2. Quality of Raise a Family (RAF) Figure 3.13 displays the model for R AF achievement. The achievement of raising a family is mainly influenced by the goal to R AF (beta = .44), but the
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Figure 3.13 Path model for “raising a family” Note: Model fit: CMIN=13.644 DF=9; CMIN/DF=1.516; P=.136; CFI=.983; RMSEA=.040; RMR=.008; AGFI=.965; PGFI=.318; NFI=.955. Source: WeD Peru.
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underlying role of Resources is somewhat more complex. Resources perception does not seem to affect R AF achievement as a mediator or moderator variable. Actually, quality of family achievement seems to be the variable that negatively affects Resources (beta = ⫺.11): more precisely achievement of R AF is followed by a decrease in Resources. Only when this path is introduced does the model fit the data appropriately [chi2 (9, N = 330) =15.196, p = .086, CFI = .977, RMSEA = .046]. Resources may have an underlying effect on the whole-process, but we can argue that it is not necessarily part of a conscious decision making process. R AF goal is influenced by collectivistic values (beta = .20) and Mosca personality (beta = .23). Mosca personality is related to the individuals’ problem solving capacity in the sample’s social, cultural, and environmental context. The contribution of a Mosca personality to the goal of raising a family makes sense because attracting and maintaining a proper partner for having children is a core evolutionary problem. Collectivism refers to an adaptive strategy based on close support, where networks (particularly family and close friends) play an important role. Therefore raising a family could be directly and positively related to collectivism as a means to include new networks as part of the family and to strengthen existing networks. In addition, collectivism implies some homogeneity in collective behavior that facilitates fulfillment of such development goals as early marriage. Thus, the influence of collectivism on R AF goal is justifiable. Collectivism also influences Resources (beta = .20) supporting the hypothesis that collectivism is a group level strategy for need satisfaction. All personality factors were positively related to resources: Mosca (beta = 18), Buena onda (beta = .14), and SociableWarm (beta = .17). This provides partial support for the idea that personality factors are individual strategies for need satisfaction. If we assume that R AF is the core need, all these individual adaptations should exert a direct or indirect influence on the quality of family. R AF can be considered as one of the most important needs in humans as well as in other species. The classic works by Darwin (1872, 1890) stated the close relation in living creatures between the survival of the fittest and reproduction. Hamilton developed the evolutionary quest into a inclusive fitness principle (Hamilton, 1964) that includes the extended family lineage. This principle is widely accepted in modern evolutionary psychology (for example, see Buss, 2004). As a core motivation, the satisfaction of reproduction could be central to happiness and wellbeing. In fact, when analyzing subjective life satisfaction, we observed that the Andean sample of this study has high satisfaction of the R AF need and dissatisfaction with PLB and with ISB. This pattern is opposed to that of a modern society, and could explain the higher level of happiness reported in Latin America and the Caribbean in comparison to the level of happiness in developed countries (Marks et al., 2006). The model depicted in figure 3.13 can be interpreted from two different perspectives: from the point of view of a small rural community and from the perspective of a poor urban environment. From the first of these, the coherence of the socialization agents could lead to early psychological maturity. The equity of the social system, the collectivistic cultural approach, and the goal standards
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in harmony with resource availability provide the means for raising a family at an early age. In addition, with enough food resources to support a large number of children, a large family can be an advantage in the rural Andes because children become part of the resources for agriculture and cattle production. As puberty arises, the individuals, the culture, and the society, are prepared to raise a new family. No individualized deliberate decision-making process is required to decide to R AF or not; the individuals just set the goal and fulfill it. For example, in the southern Peruvian Andes the marriage process can take less than a month from the moment the partners meet until the wedding ceremony. In carnival times young men and woman dress in traditional ways to indicate their single status. During the first days of the weeklong party, the suitor invites food and drinks to the Sipa and her family.13 Acceptance on the part of the Sipa and her family is an indicator of interest for the suitor. During the last day of the festivities more alcohol and less food is provided. After the party finishes, the Sipa is ambushed and kidnapped by the suitor’s friends on her way home—which usually involves taking a lengthy hike on small mountain paths. The couple is then locked away in a cabin in a remote place, and no details of what happened in the cabin is later required. Then, friends of the groom visit the former Sipa’s parents, and are usually received with some strong aggressive manners. When aggression calms down after several days of visit attempts, the groom visits the former Sipa’s parents and the family starts the rimanakuy 14 ritual that leads to the servinakuy.15 When the couple have their first child they are formally married (Ortiz, 2001). This conception of a proper marriage is starkly different from a modern society idea of marriage. However, the quality of family (raising) model can explain the adaptive function of the Andean conception of marriage. From a poor urban environment perspective we probably have a different process leading to marriage and family. To have a large number of children— that may be advantageous in the rural Andean setting—becomes problematic when people migrate to poor urban areas, especially when food resources are scarce. One way to cope with this limitation is child labor, mainly as street vendors. However, this type of work plays a different role from working the land and with cattle in the Andes. In order to explore this pattern we check the average number of children in our sites. We found significant differences [F(6, 522) = 3.01, p = .007], but these difference did not follow a linear geographical corridor explanation. Nuevo Lugar, the most urban of our sites, is one of the sites with the lowest average number of children, but not different from Descanso, a peri-urban site, [F(195, .366) = .065, p = .799]. On the other hand, Nuevo Lugar has families as large (12 children) as families in Llajta Jock—our most rural site. However, most of these large families in Nuevo Lugar were recent migrants from small traditional communities. When those families are removed from the analysis, Nuevo Lugar’s largest family is substantially reduced (six children).16 In general, there is a trend for a smaller number of children after migration. This provides evidence contrary to the hypothesis of maintenance of rural norms regarding numbers of children after migration. Another related issue is the early age at which women have their first child in poor urban areas.17 Participant observation studies in this research have
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described how pervasive is pregnancy among adolescents in urban marginal sites. This finding is coherent with empirical evidence from poor urban areas in developed countries (for example, Bonell, 2004; Grant et al., 2002). The standard for raising a family among the urban middle class in Peru includes a desired timetable for getting married and—particularly—for having children. The developmental goals prescribe first to finish college and have a stable job before getting married. Afterward, the couple is expected to have some time to “enjoy life” and acquire personal achievements as well as save to meet the expenditures related to raising a family. Similar characteristics are found in developed countries (Grant et al., 2002). From the point of view of a middle-class individual from Lima, to have children so early and without the resources to give them security is plain ignorance. Evidently, an urban middle-class process for raising a family does not seem to be valid in our research area. The Taller de los Niños (children’s workshop) is an NGO that has been doing exemplary work for more than 10 years in San Juan de Lurigancho, one of the poorest districts of Lima. The director (Ramsayer, personal communication) clearly identifies a pattern that predicts teenage pregnancy: a conflict between daughter and parents makes daughter abandon the household, and then the school; then, the daughter becomes pregnant. In developed countries similar results are found. Zaslow and colleagues (1999) found that parent relations are protective factors for adolescent pregnancy. Kissman (1998a) found that school dropout is related to adolescent pregnancy. In evolutionary terms, this can be interpreted as a lowering of the standard that activates the goal for R AF. As the parental models as ideals break down and there is no expectancy to follow education, there is no reason to wait for the core need of life: maternity. Teenage mothers in San Juan de Lurigancho usually explain their decision in terms that “. . . there will be someone who is going to take care of me in the future” (Cifuentes, personal communication). In addition, if the mother has her children younger, the biological chances of survival in a harsh environment and with limited health services are better. Besides the concerns of the urban middle class, and with some trade-offs, early pregnancy may have an adaptive function. The positive effect related to oxytocin production in humans and other mammals that occurs with paternity and especially maternity (Insel, 2000; Lévy et al., 1992; Lubin et al., 2003; Nelson and Panksepp, 1996; Pederson et al., 1995; Peterson et al., 1991) can explain some of the satisfaction of having children. All this together could be explained by the quality of family model, where the decision to R AF may not be related to resources. The goal setting can be followed by a quick achievement and later by a positive satisfaction. After this satisfaction, resources are reduced but they do not mediate the satisfaction path. Marital satisfaction and close interpersonal relations are important research topics in psychology, however, they have received little attention in SWB research. The factors that influence marital satisfaction include personality (Botwin et al., 1997), mate value18 (Shackelford and Buss, 1997c), partner maintenance tactics, partner as a source of irritation and upset, and susceptibility to infidelity (Calderón, 2003). The present investigation identified the core components of quality of life, and highlighted the role of raising a family within
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the SWB model. Future research could integrate SWB research with interpersonal relations, and paternity and maternity research areas.
3.9.4. Quality of ISB Beyond the samples described in this book, we have conducted other studies using samples as diverse as people living in the Amazonian rainforest, rural coastal fishing villages, and in the middle- and upper-class neighborhoods of Lima (Yamamoto, 2006b). When comparing all these samples, we found a need that permeates poor as well as rich samples. In all samples, individuals wanted to secure what they have, but at the same time their motivation for improvement is activated whenever an opportunity arises. This is the meaning of ISB. In the specific context of our corridor samples, the need baseline is defined by 1) lack of a secure job, 2) limited educational access for children, and 3) limited education for adults. In order to satisfy these needs individuals have to migrate to places where 4) a house cannot be acquired through community resources and 5) food and health services are not as easily available as before. These five requirements are the component variables of ISB factor in the specific context of this sample, and can be viewed as synonymous with modern development (Yamamoto, 2007a, 2007b). They also describe the development pattern in Peru in terms of the desire to be part of a modernization process, and correlated with PLB, which is in turn strongly related to migration—another clear national phenomenon. This same pattern can be observed in other developing countries, particularly those with strong international migration. However, this motivation does not necessarily assume that migrants copy or mimic cultural patterns of their new environment. More plausibly, most migrants are looking for satisfaction of baseline needs for a job, food, health, house, and at the same time working toward a better future through education. Therefore, migrants may not be totally assimilated into their destination culture; they may even remain culturally isolated in migrant ghettos. However, they do integrate themselves through the job market and the use of the health and social security systems. Beyond that, diverse and complex cross-cultural adaptive strategies can be observed. Berry and Sam (1997) distinguish between integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization processes. ISB is an important dimension of quality of life, particularly for understanding the complex relations between maintaining a secure base, baseline adaptation, and risk-taking for improvement—the dream of modern development. The Andean dream of modernization seems to also have its dark side, brilliantly noted by Kasser and Ryan (1993) in their study of North American culture. The analysis of subjective life satisfaction relative to this need shows that all our sites showed dissatisfaction relative to the need for ISB. This could be related to the characteristics of the sample, because not one of the sites had achieved the standards of modern development. However, the distance of dissatisfaction remains the same in all sites, despite the fact that some sites were closer to this dream than others. Although further research comparing rich samples needs to be conducted, the preliminary evidence suggests that—coherently with other
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studies—the modern development dream is not related to positive changes in subjective wellbeing (Kasser and Ryan, 1993; Marks et al., 2006; Sheldon and Elliot, 1999). We are not proposing a pure “local first” or indigenous alternative to globalization or modernization; it is clear that modernity and globalization have many positive sides. Rather, we are discussing subjective trade-offs in the quest for better models of society, better intercultural relations as well as opening up lines for fresh enquiry into the interdynamics of objective and subjective wellbeing. The path model depicted in figure 3.14 for ISB goal produced a good fit [chi2 (11, N = 330) = 16.658, p = .118, CFI = .963, RMSEA = .040]. The model indicates that Resources mediates ISB need and achievement, and is—as we expected—the best predictor of ISB achievement (beta = .22). The R AF goal (beta = .16) also has a direct positive influence on ISB achievement. This illustrates the complex interrelations between different quality of life models, and it also describes the additional important information incorporated when an integrative model is considered. R AF goal is influenced in turn by Mosca personality (beta = .25). As discussed in the previous section, R AF achievement was not directly related to resources. However, ISB goal is correlated with R AF goals, with the latter
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Figure 3.14 Path model for “improvement from a secure base” Note: Model fit: CMIN=16.658 DF=11; CMIN/DF=1.514; P=.118; CFI=.963; RMSEA=.040; RMR=.012; AGFI=.964; PGFI=.387; NFI=.904. Source: WeD Peru.
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one having a positive influence on ISB achievement, and this one is in turn correlated to R AF achievement (see figure 3.13). As resources is a mediator on ISB achievement, we suggest that this is an independent factor from R AF, but it is related in terms of integrative wellbeing. The necessity of an integrative model will be analyzed in the next section. Individualistic values influence ISB goal (beta = .14), coherently with the influence of this value on material issues. Mosca personality (beta = .21) and Sociable-Warm personality (beta = .21) also positively influence resources, providing support for the hypothesis that personality factors are individual strategies for need satisfaction, although mediated by resources. This is also consistent with previous research (Diener et al., 2003) that claims personality—particularly extrovert and stable traits—as core predictors of SWB. In this chapter we have presented an alternative factor structure for this sample and the mediating role of resources and goals.
3.9.5. An Integrated SWB Model We achieved an integrated structural model with a good fit [chi2 (34, N = 330) = 45.636, p = .088, CFI = .981, RMSEA = .032]. Figure 3.15 shows the complex relationship between the components in the model. Resources is an important part of the model, though, as discussed before it does not only refer to material factors but also includes interpersonal and structural resources. In addition, available resources were found to be not the only mediator in our wellbeing model but located within a complex series of interactions as figure 3.15 shows. Personality variables are at the base of the model in the sense that no other variables exert an influence on them, but all of them exert a positive influence on resources and other components of the model: Mosca influences R AF need; Buena onda affects PLB achievement; and Sociable-Warm (the factor with the largest influence on other variables) is related to ISB need, PLB need, and collectivistic values. Values are also an important part of the model. Collectivism positively influences all three needs, and also resources. Individualism has a positive influence on ISB need and a negative influence on PLB achievement. The relation between need and need achievement is different for each factor. PLB need has a negative influence on its achievement perception and resources does not mediate between need and achievement. Again, resources does not mediate the positive relation between R AF need and achievement perception, but achieving the need seems to influence the resources negatively. On the other hand, ISB need and achievement are positively mediated by resources. All this evidence suggests that resources mediate between needs and needs achievement only for materialistic modern goals such as ISB. To R AF obviously requires resources, but resources are not mediators in subjective satisfaction. Quality of PLB achievement is positively influenced by resources but is not a mediator between needs and achievement perception. Resources are required for any dimension of quality of life. However, the role exerted is complex and different in each quality of life dimension. Because the assumption of resources mediating between needs and needs achievement is oversimplistic,
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YA M A M O T O E T A L .
all interactions within the model should be considered in wellbeing theory and intervention programs. It is also important to be clear that the resources scale also captures items with instrumental significance only: in other words that did not also have intrinsic value as a goal in their own right. Resources can be independent, dependent, or mediator variables in subjective wellbeing. For example, needs can be mediators between personality and needs achievement; they can also be mediators between values and resources. We should keep in mind that we define resources in a multivariate latent factor definition, not as the classical definition of only material means. There are also interactions between different quality of life dimensions. R AF needs positively influences ISB achievement. R AF achievement leads to an increase in the PLB achievement. To confuse the role that each specific quality of life dimension plays in SWB would undermine the outcomes of intervention programs, and it would lead to a misunderstanding of the complexity of wellbeing. The intercorrelations among values, needs, and personality factors provide evidence of the validity of their hypothetical construction. Needs achievement also shows significant intercorrelations, but only in two out of three cases. This can be explained by the nature of needs achievement as a hypothetical construction that was not extracted with the emic procedure used in other dimensions, but with the emic structure of the goal/need dimension. Nevertheless,
Values –0.31
Collectivism
e8
3
0.2
–0.18
-0.12
e4
Raise a family
e6
0.17
0.15 0.46
Improvement from a secure base
0.19 0.23
0.15
-0.11 Raise a family 0.26
0.11
e1
0.15
Buena onda
Mosca
0.27
e11
e2
Need achievement
0.23 0.36
0.12
0.13
e10
Place to live better 0.11
Resources
0.18
0.15
e7
0.32
0.13
0.12 0.46
Needs
–0.18
0.1
Place to live better
e5
e9
Individualism
0.2
Improvement from a secure base
e3
Sociablewarm
0.39
e12
0.24
Personality
Figure 3.15 Integrated model of subjective wellbeing Note: Model fit: CMIN=45.636 DF=34; CMIN/DF=1.342; P=.088; CFI=.981; RMSEA=.032; RMR=.012; AGFI=.949; PGFI=.426; NFI=.932. Source: WeD Peru.
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the validity of this construct was supported as a derivation from a confirmatory model. Furthermore, because need achievement factors were derived as a dependent construct in the path model, it is not required for them to be correlated. The integrative SWB model presented here did not change the structure of each of the three partial quality of life models, nor their underlying interpretations. But it does add a few additional connections that contribute to its integrative composition. The different personality factors exert a strong and positive influence on resources, suggesting the influence of personality on individual strategies for need satisfaction. Here we can be more precise in identifying the influences of personality as an individual strategy to obtain resources for need satisfaction. This is clearer when it is considered that social networks, social influence, and interpersonal relations are components of resources; and Sociable-Warm and buena gente (flexible, organized, generous, and nonattached to material things) are personality factors. The evidence of the variation in the strength of the influence of personality on resources within each quality of life domain is also consistent with the hypothesis that personality factor differences support the principle of adaptive group heterogeneity. The values in the model describe two opposed dimensions: collectivism and individualism. In the context of the corridor, collectivism is synonymous with values and individualism (selfishness and envy) is its counterbalance.19 Collectivism has a positive influence on all needs in the integrative model, supporting the hypothesis of values as motivators of collective strategies for need satisfaction. Collectivism influence operates through goal setting that orchestrates social behavior: a principle of adaptive group homogeneity. In addition, collectivism also has a positive influence on resources. Within this framework, one-size-fits-all general intervention programs make little sense. These programs are usually inspired by a modernization logic and focus only on material resources, yet they aspire to solve a wide range of social problems while ignoring local values. For example, a program focused on changing attitudes to financial credit or entrepreneurial skills will not be sustainable for our sample, because the logic of what are resources built into these programs does not have a strong connection with local conceptions of resources. It is naïve to assume that a few workshops will change the structure of people’s development goals. Even if such programs succeed, dissatisfaction with PLB will follow along with dissatisfaction with the quality of their ISB. The latter dissatisfaction will remain despite “improvement” from rural to peri-urban to urban contexts. Programs such as those may risk producing modernizing but dissatisfied people. When a program of this nature does not work, is it a matter of resistance to change or is it a matter of people who already know what they want? The integrated model also emphasizes that R AF is a core component for general wellbeing. No resources are required for a proper R AF need setting, and its goal setting directly leads to satisfaction. The achievement of R AF is also related to an increase in PLB achievement. In addition, R AF need leads to a direct increase in ISB achievement; a three band billiard. In the corridor, R AF is the only satisfied achievement. In contrast, in developed countries we have
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hypothesized an inverse relation. Development programs that do not understand the complex relations and trade-offs among these components could involuntarily become the promoters of unhappiness. We propose a reverse development approach or the process of understanding the unhappiness of developed society first, and to learn from alternative development conceptions. Of course, there are lots of problems in our “third-world” sample. We are neither denying that material resources are core components of wellbeing, nor the importance of development and the need to support it. We interpret our evidence in terms of overdevelopment: any excess of economic development may bring dangerous iatrogenic effects that can be as bad as—or maybe even worse than—the absence of development. Notes 1. Correspondence relating to this chapter should be directed to Jorge Yamamoto,
[email protected]. Special recognition is due to thefield researchers: Maribel Arroyo, Lida Carhuayanqui, Martín Jaurapoma. Miguel Obispo, Edwin Paúcar and Percy Reina. José Luis Álvarez and Teófilo Altamirano brought significant support for this chapter. James Copestake assisted with many editorial comments and suggestions. 2. Literally this means to get ahead or improve to an average or above average condition from a below average condition. More colloquially, it also refers to being able to resolve problems. For more detailed discussion see Yamamoto (2006b). 3. A study in rural, peri-urban, and urban sites in Bangladesh and Thailand was conducted using this methodology and measures obtaining similar results, suggesting the generalizability of these findings. The results of this study will be presented in a future paper. 4. Literally to have someone to recommend you (tener quién le recomiende) through a network of friends and family to facilitate job searching, getting material things or securing services. 5. This refers to the ability to ask outside organizations for community or family improvements such as getting electricity or water supply from government institutions. 6. A strong and systematic correlation and covariance between independent indicators “to share” and “to give advice” was found. Therefore, scores of both variables were converted into a single mean score: “to share and to give advice.” 7. Cross-cultural alone is too restrictive, as environmental and societal issues play a significant role alongside culture: hence the term “sociocultural environmental.” Adaptation to sociocultural environmental settings can be regarded as a core objective of psychological processes at the individual and interpersonal level, and of cultural processes at the collective level. Failure to adapt occurs when psychological and cultural levels do not facilitate need satisfaction. 8. The sample was basically adult. 9. These are being extrovert, stable (not neurotic), conscientious, agreeable, and open. 10. This is a resilient positive attitude toward life: permanent good mood, enthusiastic, looking for the positive side of things but not dull in perception; also a good sense of humor, and opposed to neuroticism.
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11. This refers to a person who lacks attachment to material things. 12. In contrast, Mosca is more weakly correlated with both: Mosca-Buena onda (lamda= .47); Mosca-Sociable-Warm (lamda = .41). 13. Sipa is the young single woman who is at the age to get married. Festivities in the Andes are cross-generational—all the family will be present. 14. The groom must prove to be a good husband and father in economical, cultural, and personal terms. 15. This is generally understood to be a trial before marriage; better still marriage remaining open to divorce. 16. Thus, although the number of children in a site escapes a strict linear corridor explanation, some patterns can be found when comparing extreme sites. 17. In rural areas the same pattern is found but the adaptive function of this was previously discussed. 18. The subjective “market value” of the partner compared to the subjective “market value” of oneself. 19. Individualism could not be interpreted as an antivalue. As values are collective axioms for proper integrated and synergetic action, individualism is its opposition. However, it seems that the balance between the concern for the collective and the concern for oneself (individualism) is the dynamic that makes wellbeing work. An imbalance of any of these forces could lead to a break in wellbeing.
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Chapter 4
Economic Welfare, Poverty, and Subjective Wellbeing James Copestake, Monica Guillen-Royo, Wan-Jung Chou, Tim Hinks, and Jackeline Velazco
4.1. Introduction This chapter explores empirically the relationship between indicators of economic wellbeing (principally household income) and subjective wellbeing (SWB). Past research indicates that at low levels of income the relationship between economic and subjective indicators of wellbeing is positive and strong (e.g., Veenhoven, 1991; Diener et al., 1999; Hirata, 2001). However, economic indicators, such as income, usually explain only a low proportion of the interpersonal variation in SWB: a correlation coefficient of 0.45, in their study of slum dwellers in Calcutta, being the highest encountered in the literature by BiswasDiener and Diener (2001). Such research has also mostly been restricted to using standard measurses of global happiness or satisfaction with life (Frey and Stutzer, 2002a; 2002b; Kingdon and Knight, 2006), and this chapter points beyond this toward analysis of the relationship between economic indicators and a eudaimonic view of wellbeing based on satisfaction with achievement of locally defined goals. We start with a brief review of existing literature linking economic indicators and SWB in Peru. Section 4.2 then presents data on household income, expenditure, and head count poverty incidence in each of the seven research sites. Section 4.3 analyzes the relationship between household economic indicators and reported happiness of a subsample of adults belonging to the same households. Section 4.4 tentatively explores the relationship between material poverty and satisfaction with achievement of locally identified wellbeing goals. The source of data used in this chapter, unless otherwise stated, is the WeDPeru income and expenditure (I&E) survey, listed in chapter 1. This was based on three rounds of interviews with heads and one other adult (usually the spouse) of a sample of households using a standard closed questionnaire. As far as possible, the questionnaire was consistent with that used by official household
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surveys in Peru, subject to modifications arising from piloting and from the use of the same instrument by the WeD team in Bangladesh. Households were selected at random from among the 1,004 households interviewed by the same research team a year earlier using the R ANQ, subject to the willingness of members to participate. The first interview took place in June 2004, with recall being required of respondents for a period of one to four months depending on the question. The second and third rounds took place in October 2004 and January 2005 and covered the previous three months.
4.2. Previous Research in Peru The link between economic variables and subjective wellbeing in Peru has already been investigated by a number of researchers. The most comprehensive exploration of the link between the two was by Schuldt (2004). He relies largely on periodic opinion surveys of inhabitants of Metropolitan Lima conducted by the market research company Apoyo as an indicator of SWB. Between 1988 and 2003, these included the question “how would you describe your current family economic situation: good, satisfactory, or bad?” The answer “good” was offered by between 2 percent and 8 percent of respondents. The answer “bad” was far more common: the highest response being 58 percent during the period of economic crisis in 1989. It then declined to a low of 22 percent in 2000 before rebounding sharply again to reach 54 percent at the end of 2003. Schuldt provides a detailed interpretation of these shifts by comparing the data with statistics over the same time period for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, and attitudinal data also collected by Apoyo, including general frustration and trust in the government. In the official report on the 2001 national poverty survey, Herrera explores subjective perceptions of income by analyzing data on what respondents perceived to be the minimum income necessary to live (INEI, 2002). This person-specific “subjective poverty line” (SPL) was strongly positively correlated with monetary estimates of the respondent’s own household per capita income and expenditure: being typically slightly higher than it for poorer people and lower for people above a poverty threshold of 225 Nuevos Soles (S/.) per capita per month.1 Table 4.1 compares the official estimates of per capita household expenditure against this SPL. It shows how perceptions of one’s economic level (whether this is below or above the perceived minimum) are not always linked to the so-called objective indicator. For example, 58 percent (32/55 percent) of “officially poor” people did not see themselves as below their own estimate of the minimum income necessary to live, whereas 27 percent (=12.1/45 percent) of officially nonpoor people did. The mismatch between subjective and survey-based estimates of income is also clear in table 4.2.2 Drawing on an urban panel comprising 2,500 household heads, Herrera et al. (2006) find that only 30 percent of the 10 percent of respondents allocated to a high per capita income category described their economic situation as fine or fairly good. Correspondingly only 26 percent of the 13 percent of respondents allocated to a low per capita income category
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Table 4.1 lines
Poverty head count based on official and subjective poverty
% of total sample Subjective PL Poor Nonpoor Total
Official PL Poor 23.0 32.0 55.0
Nonpoor 12.1 32.9 45.0
Total 35.1 65.9 100
Source: INEI (2002).
Table 4.2 Subjective Wellbeing and income comparisons for an urban sample in Peru % of total sample Response to SWB question Things are fine or fairly good Have to be careful Very difficult situation Total
Estimated per capita income High 3.0 6.6 0.4 10.0
Middle 6.2 60.1 10.8 77.0
Low 0.4 9.1 3.4 13.0
Total 10.0 76.0 14.0 100.0
Source: Herrera et al. (2006:18).
described their economic situation as very difficult. The occurrence of such mismatches even when questions refer specifically to income alerts us to the likelihood of even greater differences when income estimates are compared to broader indicators of SWB, such as responses to global happiness questions. Graham and Pettinato (2002b; 2002a) were able to draw on a separate panel data set comprising income data for 500 nationally representative households for the period 1991 to 2000 as well as data on perceived past income mobility in 2000. Income mobility during these 10 years was found to be quite high: 55 percent of those in the bottom quintile in 1991 moved to a higher quintile by 2000; 48 percent of those in the top quintile slipped downwards; and those in the middle quintile were more likely to slip down (42 percent) or go up (36 percent) than to stay where they were (22 percent). Table 4.3 shows how this mobility data compared with perceived income mobility. What is striking here is the number of households (25.5 percent of the whole sample) whose income was recorded as having clearly risen, yet whose retrospective perception was the contrary: a group the authors call “frustrated achievers.” One explanation they advance for this is that these respondents had higher aspirations. For example, they were far more likely than “non-frustrated achievers” to describe their “personal situation” as worse than others in both their local community and the country as a whole (Graham and Pettinato, 2002b; 2002a). These examples suggest that though estimated monetary income is positively associated with positive feelings about respondents’ economic situation,
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C O P E S TA K E E T A L .
Table 4.3 Measured and perceived income mobility, 1991–2000 of a representative sample of 500 households in Peru % of total sample
Measured per capita household income mobility
Perceived income Rose by more mobility than 30% Positive or very 17.4 positive Indifferent 15.1 Negative or very 25.5 negative Total 58.0
Intermediate 9.7
Fell by more than 30% 2.8
Total 29.9
6.9 13.5
2.5 6.6
24.5 45.6
30.1
11.9
100.0
Source: Graham and Pettinato (2002b), adapted from Table 4.4.
the relationship is far from perfect, and that this is likely to be even more evident when comparing such estimates with more general measures of subjective wellbeing. One explanation for this is the effect of social comparisons (Graham and Felton, 2006; Herrera et al., 2006; Guillen-Royo, 2007).
4.3. Household Expenditure and Poverty by Research Site This section describes the economic level of respondents in the seven WeD research sites using data collected through the WeD I&E survey. Both income and expenditure are commonly used to approximate economic wellbeing and to define household poverty. The main estimates of income were derived from detailed questions about different types of activity and transfers. Expenditure on productive inputs directly associated with particular sources of income was deducted, but no attempt was made to include estimates of either the value of family labor or of labor services provided on a reciprocal basis by and for neighbors. Household expenditure estimates were based on questions about (1) food consumption in the past week, broken down into 25 categories; (2) nonfood consumables in the past month, divided into 13 categories; and (3) household durables and ceremonial expenses over the full recall period. Table 4.4 presents mean monthly equivalent household income by research site. Surprisingly, the highest average per capita income and expenditure was reported for the remote rural site of Llajta Jock. However, the small sample size (11) and its abnormally low average household size cast doubt on whether this figure is representative of the whole community. The next highest figure is for Nuevo Lugar, where income was more even between rounds and substantially higher than reported expenditure: features consistent with its status as a migration destination. The other urban site is poorer, though still richer than the
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Table 4.4
Average household income and expenditure by research site
Soles
Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Alegria Descanso Progreso Nuevo Manta Lugar
Per capita figures (monthly mean household figure over the 10 months) Income
53
211
140
80
53
114
157
Expenditure
72
140
105
101
105
97
111
Mean income per round (monthly equivalent) = A Round 1
427
342
216
287
553
502
762
Round 2
308
349
793
421
563
441
697
Round 3
–43
217
1157
109
447
466
735
Seasonality?
yes
no
yes
yes
no
no
no
Mean expenditure per round (monthly equivalent) = B Round 1
359
263
629
419
507
444
584
Round 2
290
275
495
365
486
418
432
Round 3
324
291
371
325
385
395
504
Seasonality?
no
no
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
Income less expenditure (A–B) Round 1
68
79
–413
–132
46
58
179
Round 2
18
74
298
56
77
24
265
Round 3
–367
–75
786
–216
63
71
231
No. of hhs.
14
11
10
50
49
50
63
Av. hh size
5.2
3.0
5.2
4.1
5.4
4.7
5.3
Notes: Recall periods: Round 1—March to June 2004; Round 2—July to September 2004; Round 3—October to December 2004. The exchange rate fell steadily during the period (from 3.5 to 3.3 averaging S/.3.4=$1).
other highland sites. Per capita I&E was third highest in the jungle site of Selva Manta, but also fluctuated most sharply there between rounds. The remaining three rural/peri-urban sites reported lower per capita incomes, as expected for rural Andean communities. Table 4.4 also shows the result of an ANOVA test of the significance of variation between rounds: “seasonality” indicating that at least one mean differs from the others at a 5 percent or higher level of significance. As expected, income seasonality is directly related to the harvest cycle in the rural areas (see table 2.6). This is decreasing from the first to the third round (October
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C O P E S TA K E E T A L .
to December) in the Andean communities and follows the opposite trend in Selva Manta in the cloud forest: a pattern that helps to explain the common practice of seasonal migration between the two zones. Other sources of income, such as business, are more relevant in the urban communities, particularly during the first part of the year (from March to June). Wage income is strikingly important even in rural areas, where people are employed as laborers in privately owned plots and in coffee and sugarcane plantations. Regarding expenditure, seasonality was largely due to variations in nonfood expenditure, mainly education, which concentrates in the first period (March to June). Around two-thirds of expenditure is on food with the exception of Nuevo Lugar where it accounts for less than 50 percent (Guillen-Royo, 2007). Food consumption follows Engel’s law: when income increases, the proportion spent on food consumption decreases. The data collected on household I&E is useful for relating the economic level of the WeD research sites to the country as a whole. Official estimates of the extreme poverty line (EPL) are based on the money needed in each region to purchase food for a month with a daily calorific value of 2,200 calories per person.3 The poverty line (PL) is adjusted upward to reflect typical nonfood expenditure of households whose expenditure on food is just sufficient to meet this calorific minimum (see table 4.5). Poverty estimates for each site were then calculated by comparing these lines with estimated monthly equivalent I&E for each household after making adjustments to reflect household size. Table 4.6 presents estimates of poverty incidence based on mean monthly equivalent I&E over the 10-month period, using both unweighted and weighted (or “adult equivalent”) estimates. The most striking finding is that the overall incidence of poverty in the sample is very high. The most comparable figure of 90.7 percent (unweighted and income-based) is well above official estimates, for the country as a whole (51.6 percent), for Lima (37.1 percent), Junin (29.2 percent), and even Huancavelica (84.4 percent), which was the highest average figure for any department in the country (INEI, 2004). This difference possibly reflects in part methodological differences, but it also reflects the deliberate strategy of selecting poorer research sites for this study.4 All measures indicate that Llajta Iskay is the poorest community, although the sample is small. Selva Manta has the lowest level of extreme poverty (though again on the basis of a small sample), followed by Nuevo Lugar. Alegria in the Mantaro Valley does not have markedly less extreme poverty than other highland sites, but does appear to have a higher proportion of nonpoor households. It is evident from the variation shown in table 4.4 that seasonality also affects head count poverty estimates, but further analysis (not reproduced here) revealed that variation between rounds was less than that income compared to expenditure-based poverty classifications. Table 4.7 indicates that income estimates placed 10.5 percent of households in a “more poor” category, and 23.3 percent in a “less poor” category than expenditure estimates, with 66.2 percent of households remaining in the same category.
Table 4.5
Official poverty lines for 2005 (Soles per person per month) a
Region
Sites
PL
EPL
Lima metropolitan
Nuevo Lugar
275
122
Junin urban
Progreso
218
117
Junin rural
Descanso, Selva Manta
199
116
Huancavelica rural
Alegria, Llajta Jock, Llajta Iskay
186
114
Note: a The official figures were adjusted upward to reflect small regional price changes up to the middle of the survey period using inflation indices from Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (2007). Source: Adapted from INEI (2004).
Table 4.6
Household poverty estimates (mean over 10 months)
% of households
n
Llajta Iskay Llajta Jock Selva Manta Alegria Descanso Progreso Nuevo Lugar Total
In extreme poverty Weighted
In poverty
Unweighted
Weighted
Unweighted
Inc.
Exp.
Inc.
Exp.
Inc.
Exp.
Inc.
Exp.
14
92.9
78.6
92.9
85.7
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
11
72.7
63.6
72.7
72.7
90.9
90.9
90.9
90.9
10
40.0
50.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
100.0
70.0
100.0
50 49 50 63
76.0 59.2 58.0 42.9
66.0 73.5 68.0 63.5
78.0 67.3 64.0 49.2
74.0 77.6 78.0 69.8
88.0 85.7 92.0 84.1
96.0 89.8 96.0 85.2
92.0 89.8 92.0 90.5
96.0 89.8 96.0 96.8
247
59.9
67.2
64.8
74.1
87.0
94.7
90.7
95.1
Notes: “Inc.” and “Exp.” refer to estimates based on monthly household income and expenditure respectively; “Weighted” refers to income per person in the household, “unweighted” gives an adult equivalent weight of 0.5 and 0.8 to 0–4 and 5–14 year-olds respectively.
Table 4.7
Comparison of income and expenditure-based poverty classifications
% share (for 247 households over three rounds)
Income-based classification Extreme poor
Expenditure-based Extreme poor classification Poor Not poor
Poor
Nonpoor
55.3
15.5
2.6
8.5
8.2
5.2
0.7
1.3
2.7
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C O P E S TA K E E T A L .
To sum up, this section has revealed a high rate of absolute poverty among households living in the seven selected research sites: markedly higher indeed than official statistics for the Departments where they are located and for Peru as a whole. It has also shown the effect of seasonality and of different methods of estimation. The following sections use expenditure data as an indicator of household economic wellbeing. Expenditure (including consumption of own-produced goods) is preferred because the reliability of income estimates is lower where livelihoods are highly diversified and changeable over time (INEI, 2001).
4.4. Household Economic Level and Happiness This section explores the association between expenditure and happiness in the corridor. Following the economics of happiness literature (e.g., Frey and Stutzer, 2002a; 2002b; Layard, 2005) it is to be expected that expenditure and happiness are highly correlated in the research sites as most people are below the poverty line, and for poor people additional income can be used to satisfy basic needs. However, as emphasized in the introduction, this argument does not hold for everyone as there are happy people among the poorest and unhappy among the less poor. Even in materially poor settings, other factors such as social comparison are important. In the WeD research sites, happiness was investigated through the following question: “taking all things together, how would you say things are these days? Would you say that you are: very happy, fairly happy or not too happy?” For purposes of analysis, responses were labeled 2, 1, and 0 respectively. A key assumption associated with use of this question is that everyone understands the gradation of the responses and that there is “ordinal comparability.” This implies that individuals in the same language community have a common understanding of how to translate internal feelings into a number scale (Ferrer-i-Carbonell and Frijters, 2004: 644). Since the information contained comprises ranked categorical answers, an ordered Probit model is used. Data reported here come from the three rounds of the I&E survey, and so is different from that presented from the R ANQ survey in chapter 1. It was gathered from 247 households, with the question mostly answered independently by two people: of the 459 observations, 245 were heads, 199 spouses, and the remaining 15 observations were other relations. In line with other data based on only three categories of response, most individuals (at least 70 percent) chose the middle category as shown in table 4.8. Table 4.9 shows how average happiness scores varied more by site than by round. The most striking paradox revealed by the data is that the unhappiest were in Nuevo Lugar (a destination for migration) despite it also enjoying the second highest level of per capita expenditure.5 An initial analysis of the pooled data from the three rounds (not reproduced here) showed that expenditure and happiness were strongly associated within
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Table 4.8
Distribution of responses to global happiness question by round
Survey Round
No. of responses
Responses (%) Very happy
Fairly happy
Not too happy
First
454
11
70
19
Second
452
5
73
21
Third
449
8
72
20
Source: WeD-Peru income and expenditure survey.
Table 4.9
Average global happiness by research site a
Llajta Iskay Llajta Jock Selva Manta Alegria Descanso Progreso Lugar Nuevo
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Mean
0.92 1.06 1.00 1.12 0.93 1.02 0.67
0.96 1.28 0.90 0.93 0.74 0.98 0.64
0.96 1.24 1.00 1.12 0.88 0.96 0.57
0.95 1.19 0.97 1.06 0.85 0.99 0.63
Note: a Means are calculated by using the following scores: “very happy” = 2; “fairly happy” = 1; “not too happy” = 0. The percentage Scale Maximum (SM) statistic was also calculated following Cummings (1995). It yielded values in the range of 35–50 SM, much lower than the gold standard for developed countries (75+/ – 2.5 percent) and the average values of selected developing countries included in his research.
the sample, and that this was also the case for each and every round, but only after controlling for the effect of living in different sites. Herrera et al. (2006) found that urban households have a more pessimistic view of their future prospects, while Graham and Pettinato (2002b; 2002a) found them to be less likely to be satisfied even when their income grows. Caution is also needed in interpreting the data because of the possibility of reverse causation: that happier people are more successful in their economic activities and less inclined to migrate to richer sites in search of prosperity (Diener et al., 2002; Staw et al., 1994). People’s economic level does not only affect SWB through the functional utility of consumption. For example, expenditure compared to role models (neighbors, close relatives, or even global elites) also needs to be taken into account. Since Veblen (1994), many social scientists have acknowledged the effect of the “conspicuous consumption” of reference groups on the wellbeing of other people. Previous studies in the Peruvian context (Herrera et al., 2006; Guillen-Royo, 2007) suggest that these effects are particularly strong in
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a highly stratified and unequal society such as Peru. Table 4.10 shows the result of an ordered Probit analysis of happiness determinants for the three rounds of the I&E survey, accounting for relevant demographic and perception variables. Household expenditure is introduced in the model through average (by site) and relative expenditure, thus distinguishing between the effect on happiness of the overall income of a possible reference group (average expenditure) and of the relative status of each household within that group (relative expenditure).6 The analysis also includes people’s satisfaction with how income is managed in the household, to try to capture how the effect of household income on individual happiness is influenced by the extent to which the former is or is not managed with the respondent’s particular subjective wellbeing in mind.7 Correlations with demographic variables, including age of respondent, were not robust between rounds. This could be because the subjective effect of seasonal events such as festivals and harvests vary between people according to their age and gender. In much of the economic literature on happiness, a strong finding that emerges within both high- and low-income countries is a U-shaped relationship between age and global happiness (Frey and Stutzer, 2002a; 2002b). The explanation for this finding is that expectations of people change through the life cycle, with older people either reaching their aspirations or lowering them (Warr, 1992; Clark, Oswald, and Warr, 1996). But table 4.8 reveals that only in the first round was age a significant predictor of people’s happiness with the expected U shape (in this case with the low point falling at 56 years). The absence of this finding in later rounds could also be due to agespecific emotional responses to repeat interviewing. Other demographic characteristics of the household included the number of children below the age of five, and between five and fifteen years. Dependency was also measured by the ratio of the number of nonearners in the household to the household size. These measures are significant only for the first round, when higher expenditure on education was also reported at the start of the new school year. Although understood as necessary for children’s future prospects, this extra spending was also seen as a serious extra burden, especially in rural areas, which partially explains the negative sign of the coefficients. The effect of the dependency variable may also change with the seasons depending on when children and the elderly provide most unpaid family labor, for example. Marital status, gender, and position as head of household did not come up as significant in this model. However, when the data for the three rounds was pooled together (not shown), being a woman was found to be negatively related to happiness. This is a common finding in Latin America, explained by lower education opportunities, higher morbidity, and widespread experiences of gender discrimination (Schuldt, 2004). A further investigation of the data revealed that being head of household is highly correlated with marital status for women (r = 0.904), with the majority of nonmarried women also being heads of their household. This helps to explain why these two variables are not significant in any of the three rounds. With respect to multiple effects of expenditure on wellbeing, table 4.10 confirms that social comparison matters for happiness between sites. This is the case
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Table 4.10
Ordered Probit analysis of happiness determinants Round 1
Age Age-squared Average Expenditure (by site) Relative Expenditure (within site) Not satisfied with household Income management Just satisfied with household Income management Married Female Kids of 0–4 Kids of 5–15 Head Dependency Observations Wald chi 2 (16) Pseudo R 2
Round 2
Round 3
B
z-test
B
z-test
B
z-test
–0.111 0.001 –0.003
–3.29 3.13 –3.11
0.017 0.000 –0.004
0.45 –0.54 –3.18
–0.004 0.000 –0.007
–0.11 0.15 –5.72
0.205
2.05
0.510
3.56
0.235
1.60
–0.843
–2.98
–1.371
–4.37
–0.408
–1.12
–0.452
–2.69
–0.155
–0.73
0.032
0.15
0.442 –0.391 –0.293 –0.121 –0.293 0.579 436 64.09 0.10
1.36 –1.18 –2.98 –2.39 –0.86 1.74
–0.508 –0.490 –0.045 –0.035 –0.368 0.103 433 64.17 0.11
–1.61 –1.35 –0.40 –0.63 –1.00 0.28
0.001 –0.499 0.163 –0.025 –0.290 –0.295 430 61.85 0.13
0.00 –1.46 1.49 –0.39 –0.80 –0.86
despite changes in significance between rounds, mainly of the relative expenditure coefficient that is lower in the third round, when the average income in the sites is also at its lowest (except in Selva Manta). Living in a relatively wealthy neighborhood in terms of expenditure (in the sample this corresponds to Nuevo Lugar and Selva Manta) is negatively associated with happiness. This is affecting people in every round and might show how in a country with great inequalities living in wealthier areas with higher exposure to newer and better goods reduces wellbeing, as rising aspirations are not matched by opportunities for social or economic improvement. As suggested earlier, it was expected that relative income would not matter much for poor people relative to satisfaction of their absolute needs. Table 4.10 shows, in contrast, that people’s distance from the average income in the community matters even for a sample of mostly very poor people. This fits with Graham and Felton’s (2006) study of a representative sample in Latin America, where they found that people in the two lowest quintiles together with the richest were the most concerned about their relative economic position. Thus, participants who spend less than the community average are unhappier and the
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ones with a higher expenditure happier. Interestingly, this was not necessarily the case in round three; and one explanation for this is that the reduction in expenditure experienced in that round (linked to a drop in crop income) equalized consumption within the rural and peri-urban communities and diminished concerns about relative position. A strong correlation is found between happiness and satisfaction with household income management in the first and second rounds, as well as in the analysis undertaken by pooling the data from the three rounds together. This fits the hypothesis that happiness depends not only on variation in I&E between households, but also how it is allocated within them. However, this evidence should be taken with caution, because having a negative view of household income management could well be correlating with unhappiness via unobserved personality traits, such as a generally optimistic or positive outlook. This could be tested in future by including additional variables of positive and negative affect in the regression. Overall the most interesting result from this analysis is that social comparison matters even in materially deprived settings. This helps to explain, for instance, why respondents in Nuevo Lugar are significantly less happy despite reporting higher overall levels of expenditure. They live in a wealthier neighborhood, exposed to newer and more sophisticated goods than the rural and materially poorer communities. The next section explores this further by using satisfaction with the latent needs identified in the chapter 3. Although less comparable with previous research, these offer a more detailed set of measures of what is meant by SWB in these sites. Thus, they might clarify the reasons for the paradox encountered between the economic and subjective wellbeing indicators.
4.5. Economic Wellbeing and Life Goal Satisfaction So far the relationship between economic and subjective wellbeing has been investigated using a standard global happiness question. However, other measures capturing wider aspects of people’s perceptions should also be taken into consideration as they add richer information about people’s subjectivities. This section goes beyond standard SWB measures by using locally defined satisfaction with life scales derived from the WeDQoL. The analysis is somewhat heroic for two reasons. First, the initial rounds of the I&E and WeDQoL survey data that are pooled together were conducted more than three months apart. Second, due to differences in sampling methodology and response rates, the overlapping sample size (135 households) is significantly smaller than the sample size for either individual survey, thus reducing statistical degrees of freedom. Given these data limitations, a failure to establish statistical associations would not on its own constitute definitive evidence that they do not actually exist. Conversely, any correlations that are established would suggest quite a robust underlying relationship. To recap from chapter 3, prior analysis of the WeDQoL survey data from Peru derived three latent needs: place to live better (PLB), raise a family (RAF),
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improvement from a secure base (ISB); three corresponding latent need satisfaction indicators; and one indicator of satisfaction with availability of resources necessary to achieve these needs. It is interesting to start with the investigation of how the satisfaction variables correlate with responses to the global happiness question when asked of the same individuals when they were re-interviewed as part of the I&E survey.8 Happiness is related to positive affect and to goal satisfaction, whereas the WeDQoL measures are intended to emphasize the cognitive dimension. On these grounds it could be expected that the two measures would be significantly but lowly correlated, as they capture different aspects of people’s SWB. ANOVA tests identified a statistically significant relationship at a 10 percent or better level of significance between all the satisfaction measures except ISB (see table 4.11). The happiest people in the sample had on average higher satisfaction with resources and with RAF than the unhappiest. These associations were stronger when the analysis was replicated for the subsample of women for resources and with the subsample of men for RAF. For men only there was also a significant link with satisfaction in relation to the PLB need, this being lowest for respondents in the middle of the three happiness categories. This suggests that happiness in the WeD research sites is associated with being satisfied with attaining the goal of PLB, and is linked to RAF for men and satisfaction with resources needed to reach valued goals for women. These results link to Rojas’s (2007) work where he explored the correlations between happiness and satisfaction with life domains (health, consumption, work, family, friendship, personal). He found that all domains were lowly but statistically significantly correlated with happiness: satisfaction with one’s family life, health, and consumption being the ones that showed the highest correlation coefficients (from r = .35 to r = .30). Although he did not derive life domains through an emic approach, his work also highlights the importance of taking into account the different areas that constitute people’s subjective wellbeing when researching its linkages with other indicators. As a second exercise, ANOVA was used to investigate whether the WeDQoL scores varied significantly according to the income poverty category of the respondents’ households.9 Results are reproduced in table 4.12. These show some unexpected links,10 for example two satisfaction measures associated with higher happiness seem to be related to higher poverty. First, people who reported a higher satisfaction in terms of place to live were the ones in extreme poverty. This can be explained by the fact that extreme poverty is more rural, and people in more rural areas are more satisfied with where they live. The result was replicated (but more weakly) when analysis was repeated for rural and semi-urban respondents only, and disappeared for the subsample of urban households only. Second, people in extreme poverty also reported higher satisfaction against the raise a family goal, a finding confirmed by simple correlations between per capita household expenditure and the SWB variables. This suggests a possible trade-off between achieving higher income and being satisfied with family development particularly in urban areas. A Malthusian explanation of this is that people delay having a family in the hope of achieving
Table 4.11 One way ANOVA of subjective wellbeing indicators against global happiness scores (1=very happy; 2=happy; 3=not too happy). GH* Obs. Mean Goal—place to live better
Goal—raise a family
Goal— progress from a secure base Satisfaction with resources
Satisfaction relative to place to live better Satisfaction with raise a family
Satisfaction with progress from a secure base
s.d.
1 2
100
2.51
0.41
3 1
25 30
2.40 2.28
0.36 0.58
2
100
2.22
0.49
3 1
25 30
2.10 2.67
0.52 0.31
2
100
2.70
0.29
3 1
25 30
2.69 2.07
0.29 0.51
2
100
1.87
0.32
3 1
25 30
1.93 2.22
0.52 0.31
2
100
2.12
0.36
3 1
25 30
2.16 2.72
0.39 0.57
2
100
2.62
0.62
3 1
25 30
2.32 2.04
0.66 0.37
2
100
2.01
0.30
3
25
2.04
0.35
Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total Between groups Within groups Total
Sum sq’rs
d.f.
Mean sq’re
F
Sig.
0
2
0.22
1.38
0.25
24
152
0.16
24 0
154 2
0.24
0.90
0.41
40
152
0.26
41 0
154 2
0.01
0.11
0.90
13
152
0.09
13 1
154 2
0.46
2.94
0.06
24
152
0.16
25 0
154 2
0.13
1.07
0.35
19
152
0.12
19 2
154 2
1.20
3.15
0.05
58
152
0.38
60 0
154 2
0.02
0.19
0.83
16
152
0.11
16
154
Table 4.12 One way ANOVA of subjective wellbeing indicators against household income poverty category (1=extreme poor; 2=poor; 3=nonpoor) GH* Obs. Mean Goal—place to live better
Goal—raise a family
Goal— progress from a secure base Satisfaction with resources
Satisfaction relative to place to live better Satisfaction with raise a family
Satisfaction with progress from a secure base
1
132
2.51
2
59
2.51
3 1
10 132
2.57 2.13
2
59
2.19
3 1
10 132
2.05 2.72
2
59
2.67
3 1
10 132
2.67 1.89
2
59
1.91
3 1
10 132
1.87 2.17
2
59
2.02
3 1
10 132
2.10 2.53
2
59
2.50
3 1
10 132
1.95 1.98
2
59
2.01
3
10
1.94
s.d.
Sum sq’rs
d.f.
Mean sq’re
F
Sig.
0.39 Between groups 0.43 Within groups 0.45 Total 0.56 Between groups 0.48 Within groups 0.45 Total 0.28 Between groups 0.31 Within groups 0.26 Total 0.36 Between groups 0.44 Within groups 0.20 Total 0.36 Between groups 0.33 Within groups 0.35 Total 0.67 Between groups 0.69 Within groups 0.83 Total 0.33 Between groups 0.31 Within groups 0.39 Total
0.03
2
31.70
198
0.16
31.73 0.24
200 2
0.12 0.42 0.65
56.08
198
0.28
0.01 0.09 0.92
56.32 200 0.12 2
0.06 0.76 0.47
16.29
0.08
198
16.42 200 0.02 2
0.01 0.05 0.95
28.16
0.14
198
28.17 200 0.91 2
0.46 3.75 0.03
24.09 198
0.12
25.00 200 3.14 2
1.57 3.35 0.04
92.60 198
0.47
95.74 0.06
200 2
0.03 0.26 0.77
20.98
198
0.11
21.04 200
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greater income and security beforehand. Conversely, people may achieve satisfaction in raising a family but at the expense of experiencing greater material poverty. These correlations also provide some evidence of goal formation: higher per capita expenditure being significantly and positively correlated with the importance of PLB and negatively with RAF. Analysis of the urban subsample also identified some linkages in the expected direction, with significant differences in mean satisfaction against the goal of ISB. Mean satisfaction was lowest for respondents from households in the extreme poor category.11 Furthermore, a significant positive link was established between poverty status and resources perception. The latter is particularly interesting as the regression analysis had shown how higher expenditure was linked to happiness, controlling for sites, but was negatively affected by the choice of reference group and by having a lower status. People satisfied with the amount of resources in urban areas are in the nonpoor category and have a higher status than their counterparts. This analysis shows that using measures of SWB related to goals explicitly valued by the sample population reveals its relationship to economic indicators to be more complex and subtle than might otherwise be evident. Extremely poor people are better off in terms of their living environment since most of them are rural, whereas in urban shantytowns the poorer have a higher satisfaction in terms of personal progress with security. Thus, poverty is not always related to lower wellbeing. More specifically it is possible to identify people who are relatively poor but enjoy higher subjective wellbeing in relation to their environment, community, and family life. Such analysis is certainly intriguing enough to warrant further investigation.
4.6. Conclusions This chapter has presented a detailed account of the economic status of people living in the research sites and has linked it with two different approaches to measuring subjective wellbeing: global happiness and indicators derived from locally identified life goals. Evidence that most people in the sample are below the national poverty line suggests that there should be a strong correlation between economic and subjective measures of wellbeing, as people would be expected to use any extra money to increase the satisfaction of their basic physiological needs. However, early studies in Peru highlighted the possibility of mismatches between subjective and estimated poverty, as well as the significance of social comparisons. The findings here confirm that relative as well as absolute income and expenditure are important. For example, the move from a lower-income rural area to a higher-income urban area, such as the Lima shantytown, has an adverse effect on happiness because it results in lower relative income. The study of happiness determinants was complemented by an initial exploration of the linkages between the WeDQoL measures and economic variables. This identified positive links between income variables and perceived adequacy of resources, as well as progress with security in urban sites. However, it
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revealed negative effects of income on satisfaction relative to the goal of living in a better place and raising a family, with people in higher material poverty experiencing significantly higher average goal satisfaction. This illustrates the scope for more subtle empirical analysis of how someone who is materially poor can enjoy higher SWB. The study suggests that living in a relatively poor and isolated community enables greater fulfillment of nonmaterial life goals such as raising a family and living in a better place. Further analysis of how economic variables relate to multiple indicators of SWB based on use of the WeDQoL would be useful both to test the preliminary findings here and to identify additional ones, particularly concerning goal formation. With a larger sample it would also be possible to investigate through regression analysis whether the strength of the relationships varied for richer and poorer households. This chapter also highlights the importance of distinguishing how SWB is influenced at different social levels, each nested inside each other, with it being useful to distinguish between localities, including differences in average income; households within localities, including differences in relative household income; and individuals within household, including differences in control over use of household resources. Finally, the subjective wellbeing data helps provides insights into the difficult trade-offs involved in migration to more urban areas.
Notes 1. On June 30, 2001, 225 Peruvian Nuevo Sol equaled 64.16 U.S. dollars rising to 74.43 in September 2007. (Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, 2007). 2. The question was “in view of your household’s income, do you consider that: 1—you live well; 2—things are fairly good; 3—things are alright, but you have to be careful; 4—you live with difficulty.” 3. The precise calorific value is slightly higher in urban areas than in rural areas (INEI, 2002:35). 4. One possible methodological difference is in identification of prices for valuation of food produced for own consumption. It is likely that local prices used to value this source of income were lower than the regional averages used to calculate the official poverty line, meaning that people were able to consume more food than their poverty line status implies. 5. This pattern diverges significantly from that derived from the R ANQ, presented in table 1.10. In that case, Alegria beat Llajta Jock to first place, and Progreso was on average less happy than Nuevo Lugar. These differences can be attributed to differences in sample composition and the time period between the two surveys. 6. Average expenditure refers to the arithmetic mean of total household expenditure by site for each round. The relative term is calculated by taking the household expenditure relative to average expenditure for each site, for each round (Di Tella and MacCulloch, 2003).
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7. Using an estimate of individual rather than household income would not circumvent this problem, due to interdependence of welfare within households. Ravallion and Lokshin (2001) suggest that the use of either household income or expenditure is a better predictor of life satisfaction than individual income. 8. Matching data was available for 155 individuals, including 76 women. 9. Both sets of data were available for a total of 202 individuals belonging to 135 households. Poverty categories used were based on income data, but results using the expenditure data were very similar. ANOVA of the seven SWB variables for men and women in this sample did not reveal any significant differences. For this reason cross-tabulation with poverty data was not carried out by gender. 10. Reported results are significant at the 10 percent level or better. 11. It was also lower for six respondents in the nonpoor category than for those from only poor households. Though the sample is very small, these respondents fit with the category of “frustrated achievers” identified by Graham and Felton (2002).
Chapter 5
Wellbeing and Migration Rebecca Lockley with Teófilo Altamirano and James Copestake1
5.1. Introduction From the outset of the WeD research, we were acutely aware of the importance of migration to the lives of people in our research area, particularly the shared experience and folklore of movement from highland villages to Lima and other urban areas. This is reflected in contemporary music in compositions such as Soy Provinciano (“I’m from the provinces”), the popular chicha song by Chacalón that vividly describes the search for a new life “in the hope of progress” in the city “where everything is money and there is evil” (Suarez, 1995). Selection of research sites along a loosely defined corridor deliberately sought to encompass a range of migration sources and destinations within the country, along what Redfield (1947) described as the “folk-urban” continuum. We were aware of extensive ethnographic research already conducted into rural to urban migration in particular, and its emphasis on both economic and sociocultural aspects of migrants’ experience. Analysis of the reproduction of poverty through social exclusion in Peru by members of the research team complemented this work by emphasizing the sociocultural as well as economic obstacles faced by migrants seeking improved education and employment for themselves and for their offspring (Altamirano et al., 1996; Copestake, 2003). We were interested in exploring how a broad wellbeing “lens” might add to the analysis of migration from specific disciplinary perspectives. Conversely, both as an observable action and as the basis for informed reflection on the relative merits of living in different places, migration promised to be an empirically grounded way of learning more about how people thought about wellbeing.2 Turning these initial thoughts into a clear, precise, and coherent conceptual framework as the basis for practical empirical research was far from straightforward. First, whilst not belittling the archetypal rural to urban migration experience, we recognized the distinctiveness of a far wider range of migration patterns: • rural to mining centers (and return), albeit less than in the past as the mines have become more capital-intensive;
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• urban to urban, including the use of cities in the highlands as a staging post for movement down to Lima; • urban to rural, including planned return to villages of refugees after the violence of the Sendero conflict; • rural to rural, both within ecological zones and between them, particularly from highland to jungle; • international, to both cities (e.g., Wright-Revolledo, 2007; Altamirano, 2006b) and to rural areas (Altamirano, 2005).3 We also recognized the need to distinguish between permanent, temporary, seasonal, and circulatory migration, as well as to reflect on how all these relate to short-term spatial movement or mobility. Second, the wellbeing effects of migration are experienced by individuals not only in real historical time, with many people migrating more than once, but also in metaphysical time: as dreams and aspirations before moving; and as memory, reflection, personal stories, and myth-making afterward (Altamirano, 2006a). Third, migration affects the wellbeing not only of those who move, but also of close relatives and others left behind, and of those already living in chosen destinations. This suggests the need for a higher level of analysis of collective wellbeing effects to complement those on individuals. Fourth, in seeking to understand individual motives and wellbeing outcomes for migration, there is the perennial problem of how far to impose our own prior categories as researchers on the experience of others. Doing so makes data more tractable but risks obscuring or distorting the meaning and wellbeing effects of migration as understood by migrants themselves. Bringing these four points together, one could ask, how far is migration to be viewed as an act of individual utility maximization, not least in seeking to escape material poverty; or how far is it to be viewed as a contributor to the reproduction, destruction, and contestation of cultural traditions? How necessary is it to decide this in advance: to apply an already formed theory of wellbeing to migration? Or how far is it possible to draw upon migrants’ own experiences to inform our understanding of wellbeing? In response to these questions, two distinct components of the migration strand of our research can be distinguished. Section 5.2 reports on the first: an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the nature and extent of migration within the research area. Here we rely on data collected using the R ANQ and other closed questions, supplemented by knowledge acquired through informal and key informant discussions. Sections 5.3 and 5.4 are then concerned more with how migrants and their relatives have interpreted their experiences of migration. This relied on in-depth interviews, using open-ended questions.4 It focuses particularly on how migration affects subjective wellbeing via its effect on family relationships. We argue that an emphasis on the importance of migration as pursuit of income and livelihood security in the literature risks neglecting this aspect. These sections also reflect on the relationship between migration and wellbeing in the light of data collected using the WeDQoL as described in chapter 3. More specifically, we ask what additional insights this approach provides when compared with the findings generated through more
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orthodox questionnaire-based and ethnographic methods. This leads to an analysis of migration in the region as the outcome of competing and contested intra- as well as interpersonal tensions and trade-offs, particularly between the pursuit of individual self-improvement, fulfillment of family relationships, and finding an improved living environment. Before proceeding with the above, the remainder of this section presents a brief overview of why internal migration has emerged as a key theme in contemporary Peru (Anderson et al., 2006). Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Peru experienced a massive rural-urban exodus (Paerregaard, 1997). In response to deepening rural poverty and increasing political centralization, many came to Lima in search of a better life. In 1940, 35.5 percent of the population was urban and 64.5 percent rural; whereas by 1993 the situation had reversed, with 70.4 percent urban and 29.6 percent rural population (INEI, 1995). Between 1940 and 1993, the coastal population in relation to the total population increased from 24 percent to 52.2 percent, while that of the highlands fell from 63 percent to 35.8 percent, and of the jungle from 13 percent to 12 percent (INEI, 1995). The concentration of the population in Lima is such that today nearly one-third of Peruvians live in the capital. Between 1980 and 1995, political violence and conflict between the Peruvian military and Sendero Luminoso (the Shining Path movement) compounded migration with a period of forced migration or displacement. In the 1990s, stabilization of rural areas and growing urban poverty prompted at least some of those displaced by the violence to organize collective returns (Stepputat and Sorensen, 2001), but more remained and are “invisible migrants, often confused with those who travel to the city in search of a better economic life” (Altamirano, 2003:58). A more recent process highlighted by the INEI (1995) is that of la selvatización—the growth of the rural and urban population in the jungle (selva), linked in part to the illegal production of coca. Internal migration remains a phenomenon on the increase, especially for the poorest (DFID/WB, 2003). High levels of mobility and migration have led to the development of complex interactions and interdependence between rural and urban areas (Altamirano, 1984, 1988; Golte and Adams, 1987; Martinez, 1980; Paerregaard, 1997, 2003; Roberts, 1974; Skar, 1994; Sorensen, 2002; Sorensen and Stepputat, 2003). These interconnections between places are exemplified by terms such as “multiple residence practices,” “mobile livelihoods” (Sorensen, 2002; Alber, 1999), and “temporary dormitory” (Long and Roberts, 1984, with reference to Huancayo). As a result of circular migration, a growing proportion of the rural population can be described as “rural urbanites” (Paerregaard, 2003); the term rurbano/a reflects the idea of a person who is not entirely rural, nor completely urban: a strategy of life combining the rural with the urban (DFID/WB, 2003). These studies all emphasize that mobility and migration are central to the lives and livelihoods of rich and poor alike: a necessary and inevitable norm (Paerregaard, 1997; 2003; Sorensen, 2002, Sorensen and Stepputat, 2003). As such, categorizing people as migrants, nonmigrants, or different types of migrant is difficult. For example, in her study of Huayopampa, Alber (1999) abandons any attempt to differentiate between
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permanently resident and nonresident households. Similarly, Paerregaard (2003) refers to “migrants” and “villagers” not as two distinct demographic groups, but rather as stages in the lives of Tapeños.
5.2. Migration and Mobility to and from Study Sites The patterns of migration and mobility across the study sites support the argument that migration is very common: it was difficult to find a household that was completely unaffected by migration, whether their own or that of close relatives. In this section, we build up a comprehensive picture of migration and movement using data from the R ANQ on place of birth, household members away, remittances, and trips outside the community. This overview highlights the way different forms of movement—from day trips to permanent migration— combine to connect different households to the wider world.5 The same data is then combined with that from other sources to comment further on overall differences between the sites. Table 5.1 predictably reveals that all household heads and their partners in the two urban sites were born elsewhere: Progreso is made up entirely of incomers (mostly from rural areas in Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Apurimac), whereas the settlers in Nuevo Lugar are mostly from Lima itself and from other urban areas, especially from central highlands. Likewise, it is no great surprise to find that a high proportion of heads and partners in the two peri-urban district centers (Alegria and Descanso) were born there, the same being true for Llajta Iskay. In contrast, Llajta Jock and Selva Manta were more equally split between native residents and incomers. A striking finding is that most of the incomers in Selva Manta are from urban areas, reflecting a very high connectivity with relatives living in the nearest towns. Another small but interesting form of “reverse” migration (not revealed by the table) comprised elderly and often more educated people moving away from cities to rural areas, often close to where they were born. Table 5.2 provides data on remittances during the previous year between selected households and family members who did not belong to them.6 Receipt of transfers is much less common in the three sites with the highest proportion of immigrants (Nuevo Lugar, Progreso, and Selva Manta). It is most common in the three sites in Huancavelica, all of which have experienced high rates of out-migration over the last few decades. What is more surprising is that a higher proportion of households living in rural sites (particularly Llajta Jock) made transfer payments. This can be attributed in part to the relative poverty of the selected urban sites, particularly Progreso. But it is also possible that urban households were more reluctant to mention such transfers. Table 5.3 provides information on members of households who were away at the time of interview. The absence of a member was least common in Nuevo Lugar (2 percent of households), and in the two district centers of Alegria (8 percent) and Descanso (9 percent). The higher figure for Progreso (12 percent) indicates the strength of continued links with rural areas, with many of those absent being engaged in trading or farm work. Absence was highest in the two most isolated annexes of Selva
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Table 5.1
Place of birth of head of household and spouse/partner
%
Llajta Iskay 102
Llajta Jock 70
Selva Descanso Alegria Manta 72 351 360
Total number of people Born in this place 96.1 58.6 54.2 Not born in this 3.9 41.4 45.8 place Where born (for those not born in this place) Rural areas Same district (1) 37.9 0.0 Same province 0.0 13.8 0.0 Same dept. 0.0 17.2 0.0 Other 17.2 6.1 Total (1) 86.2 6.1 Urban areas Same district (1) 0.0 0.0 Same province 0.0 0.0 6.1 Same department 0.0 3.4 27.3 Major city same 0.0 0.0 36.4 dept. Major city other (1) 0.0 15.2 dept. Capital city (1) 3.4 0.0 Other urban area 0.0 6.9 9.1 Total (3) 13.8 93.9
Progreso Nuevo Lugar 371 486
76.4 23.6
88.3 11.7
0 100
0 100
8.4 30.1 10.8 26.5 75.9
14.3 16.7 7.1 16.7 54.8
0.0 10.2 4.6 65.0 79.8
0.0 0.0 3.9 9.5 13.6
0.0 10.8 3.6 0.0
2.4 0.0 7.1 2.4
4.3 13.5 <0.1 0.0
0.0 0.0 2.3 0.0
0.0
21.4
0.0
61.7
2.4 7.2 24.1
2.4 9.5 45.2
1.1 0.08 20.2
14 8.4 86.4
Note: figures in brackets are absolute numbers rather than percentages. Source: R ANQ.
Table 5.2
Households providing or making transfers from/to relatives in last year
Llajta Llajta Selva Alegria Descanso Progreso Nuevo Iskay Jock Manta Lugar Total no. of households 55 44 40 200 200 200 265 Receiving a transfer (%)
33
57
13
35
21
10
7
Making a transfer (%)
16
73
23
26
9
3
6
Manta (23 percent) and Llajta Iskay (33 percent) from which travel to the nearest town and back again in the same day is most difficult. It was the absent person who was most commonly in an urban location and not the household head or spouse. However, responses to this question need to be interpreted with some caution as they are specific to the time of interview (around October)
Table 5.3 Demographic characteristics of household members who were away at the time of interview Llajta Llajta Selva Alegria Descanso Progeso Nuevo Iskay Jock Manta Lugar % with members 33 14 23 8 9 12 2 away Gender (%) Male 63 59 30 35 80 63 60 Female 37 41 70 65 20 37 40 Age (%) 20 yrs. and 44 53 40 32 20 22 40 under 21–30 yrs. 48 18 50 30 15 19 0 31–50 yrs. 8 18 5 24 50 22 60 51 yrs. and 0 11 5 0 15 37 0 above Unknown 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 Relation (%) Head of 4 29 0 11 50 33 40 household Spouse or 0 12 10 0 5 11 20 partner of head Child or 96 59 90 89 40 41 0 grandchild Other relative 0 0 0 0 5 14 40 Marital status (%) Married or 18 29 10 38 75 63 80 cohabiting Single 81 65 90 62 20 30 20 Separated or 0 6 0 0 5 7 0 widowed Where (%) Rural area 0 0 0 5 20 70 80 Urban area same 7 35 60 0 0 7 0 dept. Capital city 37 0 40 46 45 15 20 Other urban 56 0 0 35 20 7 0 Unknown 0 65 0 11 5 0 0 What doing (%) Domestic work 7 0 25 5 10 4 20 Education/ 22 29 30 35 5 15 0 study Farm work 0 0 7 10 37 5 20 Continued
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Table 5.3
Continued
Other manual work Wedding Professional work Seeking work Skilled work Trading Unknown or other
Llajta Iskay
Llajta Jock
Selva Alegria Descanso Progeso Manta
Nuevo Lugar
4
0
5
11
35
7
0
0 0
0 0
0 5
8 3
0 0
4 7
0 0
4 7 30 19
0 6 0 65
5 5 15 0
0 22 5 11
0 45 0 0
0 0 15 11
0 60 0 0
when highland areas are busy with planting. For this reason, they do not reflect important seasonal migration from highland to lowland rural areas, particularly to harvest coca leaves, sugarcane, and coffee; these movements tend to be most common in the long school vacation (from late December through to February) and again after June, when harvesting crops in the highlands finishes. Nor do they reflect temporary migration of children during school vacations to cities, especially Lima, to work or to help relatives living there. The final piece of evidence from the R ANQ data concerns visits by household members that required them to stay away from the community for more than one night during the previous year. Table 5.4 shows a majority of households in all sites reported that at least one person made such a trip, with the proportion doing so being highest in rural areas. Indeed, in the light of the secondary literature reviewed in the previous section, it is surprising to discover just how many individuals had not made a single overnight trip away in the past year. Not a single person made such a visit in 40 percent of the households in the two urban and the two peri-urban sites. Even in other households, the trips were mostly made by just one or two household members, and only a minority of individuals made more than three such trips. Amid all the discussion of seasonal migration and movement, it would be interesting to explore further the reasons for variation in intrahousehold mobility. Reflecting on the data in all these tables, we can conclude that while the urban sites are markedly different there is less diversity between the other five sites than might have been expected given their contrasting geographical locations. Some of the most striking differences are also between Llajta Jock and Llajta Iskay, which, apart from having ease of access to the weekly market and other services at Alegria, seem superficially to be most alike.7 A second general point is that the importance of the historical migration from highland rural sites to urban areas should not obscure the significance of migration links with
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jungle areas. While destinations and activities change, the livelihood security arising from being linked to the contrasting economic and ecological systems at different latitudes remains (Murra, 1972). A third point is that while experience of migration is almost universal, degrees of mobility between households (still more individuals) remain very variable, with a significant immobile minority, particularly in the urban sites. All these observations serve as a warning against sweeping generalizations and suggest that a high degree of path dependence in migration arises from both family- and site-specific influences on people’s lives.
5.3. Motives for Migration and Wellbeing Outcomes It was beyond the scope of research to carry out a full survey either of the factors influencing migration decisions or of resulting wellbeing outcomes. Instead two rounds of exploratory and open-ended research were conducted to gain greater insight into diverse experiences of the process of migration—a migrant being defined as a person who moves away from his/her place of usual residence to another place, crossing at least the boundary of a district and establishing a new residence, whether temporarily or permanently. This section reports briefly on findings from the first round and on how data from both rounds relate to the latent needs identified and analyzed in chapter 3. In so doing, it adopts an ethnographic approach, seeking to impute meaning into migration only from the qualitative data obtained. A contrasting approach is offered by Altamirano (2006b), who adopts a more interpretive approach, drawing on his experience of studying migration in the area over several decades to distinguish between objective, social/cultural and individual/domestic factors (further divided according to whether they are internal or external forces) for both explaining migration and analyzing its impact in both place of origin and destination.
5.3.1. Exploratory In-depth Interviews 8 In the first round, the six field researchers were asked to interview four migrants (two men and two women) from different households covered by the R ANQ in the site where they were living, using a pretested semistructured interview schedule. They completed and transcribed onto computer disks a total of 22 interviews in the time available, and this data was then analyzed using NVivo. Its central goal was to identify dominant themes in respondents’ explanations of (a) why they migrated and (b) their perception of the consequences. The migrants interviewed were mostly well established: all but three having lived in their current place of residence for at least six years, but only four for more than fifteen years. Interviews focused on their last move, although ten had moved twice, five had moved three times, and one six times. Most male respondents were household heads (9/10), and most female respondents were spouses of the household heads (9/12) or were heads of household (2/12). Five were aged less than 30, three more than 50, but most were of an intermediate age (14/22).
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Table 5.4 Visits outside the community (involving staying away more than one night) Llajta Llajta Selva Alegria Descanso Iskay Jock Manta Total no. of households Not a single trip (%) At least one trip (%) Mean travelers per hh*
55
Progreso
Nuevo Lugar
44
40
200
200
200
265
9.1
22.7
20.0
30.0
40.5
43.0
46.4
90.9
77.3
80.0
70.0
59.5
57.0
53.6
1.2
2.0
1.2
1.6
1.1
2.0
1.3
46.4 17.4 8.7 27.5
24.3 35.1 16.2 24.3
19.6 18.7 19.2 42.5
35.1 20.1 20.9 23.9
28.3 25.3 11.2 35.2
51.9 17.7 16.6 13.3
Trips per traveler (%) One Two Three Four
9.7 29.0 30.6 30.6
Longest length of stay away (%) Less than a week One week to one month More than one month
85 6
65 23
41 57
91 5
38 44
37 54
31 61
8
12
2
4
18
9
8
Note: * For those households that made at least one night halt outside the community. Source: R ANQ.
Starting with the reason for moving, the analysis suggested scope for distinguishing between three groups of migrants according to their main motivation.9 (1) Forced migration arose due to political violence, as well as due to family conflicts and domestic violence. These migrants were hoping above all to find tranquilidad (peace, tranquility) away from the problem that forced them to move. They often moved with relatively few resources, for example, just the money for the bus fare and the clothes they were wearing. All were heavily reliant on receiving help and support, mainly from relatives already living where they moved to. (2) To settle and establish. In these cases, migration was more planned. Expectations included: to have one’s own house, to have work, to form a family (partner and children), to study (respondent or children), to have chacra (land) to sow, to have animals, and (in urban areas) to own a plot for a house. In the majority of cases, either the wife or husband of the interviewee was from the community they moved to and many moved to inherit land from a parent. In
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other cases, relatives already living in the community provided support. Greater investment in resources was made before moving, for example, making prior visits to the community to secure work or accommodation; saving money; taking belongings such as clothes, bed, cooker, furniture, household appliances, and some supplies. (3) To improve. These migrants had more ambitious goals. In addition to acquiring possessions they wanted to improve themselves, to have more money than their fellow paisanos, to be professionals or to enable their children to become professionals through education. An already established connection with the destination community, particularly relatives, was again important. Migrants invested in resources before moving, saving money, buying chacra, finding a house to live in, taking clothes and belongings with them. They also emphasized the importance of personality and of being prepared psychologically to live in a new place. The majority of the migrants interviewed had lived in the destination community for several years, enabling them to construct a relatively stable personal narrative of the long-term consequences of the move. Analysis of this data suggested that on the continuum from negative to positive personal evaluations, it was possible to distinguish three clusters that, although far from complete or perfect, captured much of the variation in responses: struggling to get by, or lacking; getting by or having enough; and doing well or improving. These are discussed in more detail below. (1) Lacking. These migrants were struggling to access the material and relational resources they needed in order to pursue their lives. At best, they had only casual employment; they did not have their own house but lived in rented or donated accommodation. They had no money, or what they had was not sufficient to cover their expenses and so they could not save. They also reported not having received the help anticipated from relatives, or having experienced problems and conflicts within these relationships. (2) Getting by. One of the most important outcomes mentioned was to have a house of their own (casa propia). Most of these respondents had also obtained other necessary resources: animals, some agricultural land to sow, belongings, and work. The desire to find a partner, have children, and form a family was also frequently mentioned, as was to be studying, to have finished studying, or to have children who are studying. Relationally, the presence of informal support networks in the community was important, in terms of exchange of help, doing favors, and friendship, as was help and support through family relationships. (3) Improving. Those improving reported that they were accumulating material resources: more money, more chacras to sow, improved agricultural production, and more animals to sell. The respondent or spouse had stable work and a good economic situation. The importance of having children studying was mentioned as well. These migrants said they were mejorando (improving) or avanzando (advancing). Relatives had been an important source of help, but these and other relationships within the community were also described as a source of
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Table 5.5 Migration motives and outcomes cross-tabulated Initial motivation
Forced Settle/establish Improve a lot
Perceived outcome Lacking
Having
Improving
4 2 0
3 7 1
0 3 1
Source: 22 in-depth interviews with migrants selected from the R ANQ survey sample.
frustration and pressure (especially in rural and peri-urban areas): too much conformismo (not wanting to progress, being resigned to their situation, not planning or seeking more for the future) and resistance to progress. This pressure was expressed through envy and gossip within the community. Table 5.5 cross-tabulates the two typologies described above. Although the sample is very small and the typology tentative, a clear correlation can be detected between motive and outcome—evident in the two empty outlier cells of the matrix (from necessity to improving, and from improve a lot to lacking). The table also suggests that a simple but powerful contributory factor to life satisfaction of migrants is the extent to which they continue to experience a mismatch between hopes of migration and the realities. This connects with the argument put forward in chapter 4 that low subjective wellbeing among many Peruvians (especially in Lima) arises not only from low basic need satisfaction, absolute poverty, unemployment, and other observable measures of wellbeing, but also from high social aspirations.
5.3.2. Migration and Latent Needs The exploratory analysis reported in the previous section lent additional support to the idea of a “gap theory” of subjective wellbeing: initial motivation and perceived outcomes mapping onto goals and goal satisfaction variables analyzed in chapter 3. However, rather than classifying migrants according to their main motivation, the subsequent WeDQoL analysis identified shared latent needs of the wider population. Some correspondence is apparent: Place to live better (PLB) maps particularly onto forced migration; Raise a family (RAF) onto migration to settle/establish; and improvement from a secure base (ISB) onto migration to improve or get ahead. But the latent needs add significantly to the richness of the analysis, as illustrated below. Starting with improvement from a secure base, the WeDQoL analysis associated this with securing paid work, owning a house, affording children’s education, having food security and health, and acquiring the status of a professional.
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Box 5.1 illustrates the relevance of each of these goals to migration motivation, using specific quotations from migrants who were interviewed. This latent need can be most clearly linked with positive motivation for migration to urban areas, particularly Lima. Many other studies in Peru emphasize a similar set of goals, including Lobo (1982), Anderson et al. (2006), Skar (1994), and Paerregaard (2003). Other words and phrases used by them to describe this goal include “betterment” and superación, “improving life conditions,” “securing the future,” and “upward social mobility.” Some of these motives were also referred to by respondents who had moved to rural areas, particularly in search of more secure employment: • “Here there’s work in the chacra, people always have money, you always get money and people come to find work, when you’re an agricultural laborer (peon)” (Male migrant to Alegria, 44 years old). Box 5.1 Improvement from a secure base as a motive for rural-urban migration: illustrative quotations. • Work. “There’s always work, although not daily but there’s always some little jobs, . . . the situation is bad for everyone . . . but there’s a ‘way in’ when you live in the city, in the pueblo you can only wait for the harvest, after that there’s nothing more . . . there’s no work, in contrast, in the city you search for other little jobs and you find them” (Migrant to Progreso, male, 40 years old, after a six-month period of attempting to return to live in his village in Huancavelica where he still has family, land, and a house). • Housing.”I’m well, I have my own little house, although it’s rustic but it’s my own” (Male migrant, 50 years old, lived in Nuevo Lugar 11 years, from peri-urban area sierra). • Children’s education. “My children force me to migrate so that they can improve, studying. We’ll go to Lima or to Huancayo with all of my family” (Male, 50 years old, born in La Victoria, Lima, but moved to Llajta Jock from rural selva due to terrorism, he has five children aged between 3 and 18 years). • Housing and children’s education linked. “I’m going to leave from here, to the city, basically for my children’s education. I’ve just finished buying a piece of land in San Ramon. . . . Now I’m going to start building my house there, above all for my children’s education, to educate my children as far as they want” (Female migrant, 35 years old, moved from Juaja, Junin, to Selva Manta for marriage, she has four children from 5 months to 14 years). • Becoming a professional. “My goal was to be professional . . . I was wanting to go to study in Ica . . . I always wanted to be a lawyer” (however, due to lack of financial resources and family obligations he was unable to study, same person as in the quote below). • Acquiring professional status and children’s education linked. “I am going to keep working in order to make my children professionals, by doing this I’ll fulfill one of my goals . . . now I have to support them” (Male migrant, 44 years old, has lived in Alegria for 9 years, moved from Pilchaca, Huancavelica, due to the terrorism, lack of opportunities, and community pressure because he was progressing. His mother- and father-in-law live in Alegria but his wife stayed in Pilchaca. He moved alone with two of his sons, now 11 and 15 years of age, the other son of 23 years is living and studying in Huancayo). Source: First and second round migration interviews
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• “I found agricultural work in the fields and helping with building, I managed to gather money, to save” (Male migrant to Descanso, 19 years old, moved from Vilca, Huancavelica). Whatever the destination, this motivation coincides with the development economics literature on migration as pursuit of higher income, tempered by the probability of securing better employment and by risk aversion. The second latent need, Place to live better, was linked to three specific WeDQoL questions: tranquility without violence or delinquency, nice and clean neighborhood, and moving forward. The experience of migrants interviewed again helps expand on the meaning. Many migrants in Progreso and Nuevo Lugar fled terrorism, domestic violence, and family conflicts. But for many others, it is the rural areas that provide a better environment and thus a reason for not migrating to the city. • “The produce (crops) that we get from the land, there’s a little of everything here in the community. At least we have herbs and green products that we consume for free. The time of harvest, like the potato, I like that a lot. To have my animals although I only have a few. To have a little of everything— meat, eggs, milk” (Male, 68 years old, lives with his wife and children in Llajta Iskay). • “The city and countryside are different, here in Alegria you have food from the land: potatoes, peas; you can eat well, and in the city there’s none of this” (Male, 48 years old, born and lives in Alegria with his mother of 85 years, all five brothers and sisters are away in either Lima or Huancayo). • “I don’t like Lima, I would be ‘closed/shut in’ there, I wouldn’t have anywhere to take a walk, anywhere to go. Here in Alegria we go out to the fields, we’re with the animals . . . here I can see green hills. . . . Alegria is very pretty, you can go for walks here and not stay all day inside the house” (Female, 53 years of age, born and lives in Alegria, her 6 children between the ages of 18–33 years are all living away in Lima and Satipo). • “The best thing here is the environment, there’s no pollution here like in the city” (Female, 45 years old, born and lives in Descanso with her husband and three children aged 11 to 25 years). Ecological variations relating to coast, highland, and jungle regions, and the cultural significance of these, also influenced migration decisions. The first two quotes illustrate returning to the highlands from the jungle, and the third from the coast. • “I didn’t adapt there, it was so hot; there were flies and snakes” (Female, 41 years old, migrated from Llajta Jock to rural area, selva, with her husband and children. They went to visit her mother- and father-in-law who were living
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there and to work. They stayed for one year and then returned and stayed in Llajta Jock). “It was my first experience of travelling and it was bad, it wasn’t the same as here (Llajta Iskay), I suffered a lot. I could only stand it for six months, I don’t leave now, I don’t want to leave, never again, I’m going to die here in my community” (Male, 68 years old, migrated from Llajta Iskay to the selva when young to work in the coffee harvest but he did not adapt). • “I didn’t settle [in Lima] because of the climate, it was very humid, I felt ill (malo) because of the heat in Lima” (Female, 26 years old, migrated to Lima for three years to study and work. She returned to Progreso where she lives with her partner, daughter, and her in-laws (mother- and father-in-law, brothers-in-law). The final factor in PLB is moving forward. At first sight, it seems to fit better with ISB, but it reflects individual aspirations less than a sense of how far that moving forward is permitted in different social contexts: a better place to live being also about freedom from obligations to friends and neighbors, as well as from the hostility and jealousy generated by personal growth. Raise a family, the third latent need, introduces an important life-cycle dimension to the decision to migrate. Many migrants moved primarily as a result of marriage or to establish an independent home and family with their partner; others put off having their own family in the hope of improving their economic situation first. Relational aspects of migration featured so prominently in the qualitative data that they merit more detailed discussion (see next section). Before doing so, however, the discussion of the latent needs can be concluded by emphasizing how they can be used to explore gender- and age-specific trade-offs entailed in mobility and migration. For many the biggest dilemma arising from migration in search of a better livelihood was not delaying starting a family but being forced to live in a less tranquil place. This serves as a reminder that life-long subjective wellbeing is not just a stream of unconnected goal/outcome “gap” experiences but is also woven into an unfolding personal narrative along with personal and shared memories of past opportunities and disappointments, as well as changing values, identities, and even aspects of personality.
5.4. Migration and Family Relationships: Negotiating Independence and Interdependence Much of the discussion so far in this chapter has reaffirmed the importance of mobility and migration to securing a livelihood and meeting basic physical needs. However, a striking feature of the narrative data collected was how much people talked about the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, particularly family relations. While this can be linked to the Raise a family latent need derived from WeDQoL data, the two components of this goal (find a partner or spouse, have children) by themselves provided an inadequate basis for organizing this data. Many respondents (relatives of migrants as well as migrants themselves) spoke at length about the separation of children from their family, whether temporarily or more permanently. While mentioning fathers, spouses,
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siblings, grandparents, and others, the greatest proportion of the narrative dwelt on the relationship between children and mothers. This finding corroborates emphasis on the primacy of this relationship in development psychology, particularly attachment theory. In his review of the psychology of happiness, Haidt (2006) highlights its importance not only in setting norms for other interpersonal relationships but also in framing the wider life process of balancing dependence (and belonging) with independence (and autonomy) in the pursuit of some normative equilibrium and emergent level of interdependence. Regardless of the degree of choice exercised by those moving and staying, migration can be viewed theoretically as a form of adversity or trauma that may result either in posttraumatic personal growth (and improvement in wellbeing) or posttraumatic stress (and a perhaps irreversible reduction in wellbeing). Picking up on the work of McAdams, Haidt also emphasizes the import of subjective wellbeing of life stories and their coherence relative to other aspects of personality and identity. Migration can be seen as both opportunity and potential threat to such stories and their coherence for both those who stay (archetypically the mother) and those who leave (the child). This section draws on our qualitative data to explore migration as a means of seeking and achieving independence. It then discusses how interdependence is negotiated and contested.
5.4.1. Migration as the Pursuit of Independence The qualitative evidence of migration as a process of achieving greater independence (exercising autonomy, also choosing exit over loyalty) can be analyzed in three parts: getting an education, gaining new experience as a young and single person, and starting one’s own family and household.
5.4.1.1. Getting an Education A key generational change that has occurred is that fewer parents see their children’s lives as being in rural areas and devoted to agriculture, they want their sons and daughters to gain an education. The goal is more commonly for children to become professionals, to progress, and to be better than themselves: • “Like any father, what I haven’t been able to be, my children have to be. If one of my children became a lawyer, I would feel good” (Male, 44 years old, migrated from rural Huancavelica to Alegria for his children to study and is planning to migrate again to Huancayo for his children to study). • “The main thing is for my children, for them to study and be something better than us, because, if we’d have stayed in Conayca the only thing they could have been is agricultural workers, in contrast in Huancayo there’s many facilities to be able to study up to superior” (Male migrant, 40 years old, to Progreso from Conayca, Huancavelica).
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When these parents were young, it was not the norm to leave the community— people tended to stay in the community, marry, and have children there. • “Since I was a child, I was thinking of staying all my life here in Alegria, then I met my wife, the children were born and I had to work hard to be able to support them. . . . The possibility to leave from Alegria never came to my mind because I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know where to arrive in the city and it was never of interest to me to live in other places. In that period there wasn’t any need to leave from Alegria, we had everything here, we didn’t lack anything” (Male, 59 years old, talking about the reasons why he stayed in the community). • “When I was very young I didn’t think about going . . . before the mothers didn’t let their young children go and they married at 18 years of age and stayed forever in Alegria” (Female, 72 years old, lives with her sister of 78 years in Alegria, all of her five children are living away in Lima, Satipo, except a son who is in Spain).10 Migration of children for education can happen at an early age (as young as six years), and in some cases the whole family unit relocates to the town/city for this purpose. More commonly, it is too difficult to do this (leaving behind land, house, animals, and relatives and lacking resources to go) and the child goes to the city alone and stays with other relatives (usually other siblings, or aunt/uncle), helping out in the relatives’ house whilst studying (see Anderson et al., 2006). One mother encouraged her son to leave Pichanaki (in the jungle), where they were living together, to go to Descanso to live with his uncle. She said that he had to study in order to sobresalir and “prepare himself” for the future. Another mother in Llajta Iskay said she wanted her daughter to go to Lima “to study and become a professional so that she can look after herself.” This goal seems so important that it outweighs almost all other costs in terms of subjective wellbeing to both the child and the parents: • “Although she tells us she suffers a lot, she has to be there in Lima for her own good” (Father, 67 years old, lives in Llajta Iskay, about youngest daughter who migrated to Lima to study). • “For her own good she had to stay there even though she didn’t want to” (Mother, 51 years old, lives in Llajta Iskay, about daughter of 14 years who migrated to Lima to study, work, and help her older brother). • “At the start I was melancholic but his trip was necessary so that he could carry on with his secondary studies” (Father, 66 years old, about son who has been in Lima for 2 years).
5.4.1.2. Being Young and Single, Gaining Experience Migration was also viewed as a “rite of passage”: something that one has to go through, not only to gain experience—part of a learning process—and “grow up,” but to also escape from family conflicts and pressures. For example, Maria
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left her home town (urban sierra) and went alone to Lima, where she lived and worked for three years: • “My parents and my future husband made me angry and resentful, so I grabbed my things and I went to Lima . . . . I worked in the strawberry harvest for three years, later my future husband came to look for me in Lima, above all for a reconciliation, he convinced me and brought me to Huancayo.” She explains that during her time in Lima: • “I learnt to live together with other people, friends. I also learnt many things about life, in other words, on the one hand it was very good to have left and to have had experience” (Maria, 34 years old, now living in Progreso). A son who migrated from Llajta Iskay to Lima for three years explains: • “My parents . . . they wanted me to go to the city because here in the community there’s no progress, above all for me to learn some things from being in the city” (Male, 27 years old, migrated to work, learn new skills, and help his family). Parents talked about children’s migration in terms of becoming more responsible and mature, especially for sons: • “Now he’s changed, he’s more responsible . . . the city has made him change, the best has been his change of attitude which helps him to behave with greater responsibility” (Father, Descanso, commenting on son’s migration to Lima). • “He’s working now with a lot of maturity” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, about son, 22 years old, studying and working in Lima).
5.4.1.3. Forming own Family and Household Migration is also linked to a planned attempt to become more independent (independizarse), establishing one’s own base and identity. • “I was living in Chosica and working in Lima. I wanted to become independent, to have a family . . . I came with my husband, we started building a house” (Female migrant to Nuevo Lugar). • “Now we have our own roof” (Male migrant from urban sierra to Nuevo Lugar). • “To have and raise a family and to stay here. A piece of land to build a new house and another to be able to sow” (Male migrant, 38 years old, talking about his expectations of moving to Alegria, his wife’s village). There are links here to assertion of gender roles: men providing for their own dependents, securing work, and being a provider worthy of respect. Fuller (2000:98), for example, emphasizes that “work for Peruvian men means having dignity, being capable, and being responsible . . . To be responsible means being
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able to sustain oneself and, especially, one’s family.” The following illustrations are about reasons for and expectations of migration: • “I was wanting to have my own piece of land, in order to offer something to my wife and my children” (Male, 27 years old, migrated to Nuevo Lugar 6 years ago, lives with wife and three young children). • “I wanted to build a house in order to be able to live and to have a family . . . to build a house with my own strength/effort” (Male, 28 years old, lives in Alegria with his wife, son, 4 years old, and his father- and sister-in-law). • “A job—so that I can support myself and my partner [conviviente]” (Male migrant to Alegria). • “To establish myself and strengthen my household . . . . To have enough to eat, to survive with the family” (Male, 41 years old, born in Satipo, migrated to Descanso). Parents emphasized the importance of children no longer being dependent on them: • “She’s got together with a good man, a hard worker . . . . My son is working, he’s acquiring his things (his bed, furniture), thinking about his future” (Mother, 57 years old, Llajta Iskay, talking about her youngest daughter, 20 years old, who lives in Huancayo, and her son, 25 years old, living in Lima). • “It’s better, she’s earning her own money” (Father, 66 years old, Llajta Jock, about daughter, 28 years old, in urban area sierra, for 3 years, domestic worker). • “I was happy because she was going to work, when she was by my side, it’s worry, all the money comes from the father, now she lives her life by herself, working” (Father, 55 years old, about daughter of 33 years who has lived in Lima for 20 years, went to finish secondary school). • “Whilst my children didn’t go, I was very worried about how to support them. . . . Often I felt guilty for having had so many children” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, about his migrant children in Lima).
5.4.2. Negotiating Interdependence Even the self-conscious pursuit of independence is generally embedded within some deeper form of interdependence: the wellbeing outcome of migration reflecting the changing tension or balance between personal autonomy and relatedness (Ryan and Deci, 2001b).11 In this section, we focus on how interdependence is discussed and negotiated between kin, agreeing with Finch and Mason (1993:37)12 that “striving for a proper balance between dependence and independence is a crucial factor in shaping kin relationships over a long period of time.” What is particularly interesting about migration is that although habitus (norms and rules of obligation and duty governing how different parties should behave) exist, they are fluid, evolving, and negotiable. It cannot be assumed that migration invariably results in increased fragmentation and alienation from
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kin relationships. More specifically we are interested in how much loyalty and sense of duty toward parents remains with children; how far they are able to forget and to reinvent themselves; how new rights and responsibilities are negotiated. Research into this issue is still not complete, but from initial analysis two important themes emerged that are worth highlighting. These are emotional interdependence (especially between mother and children) and the role played by gifts and remittances in negotiating interdependence.
5.4.2.1. Emotional Interdependence In contrast to the emphasis in the migration literature on material effects (see Kothari, 2002), it was striking how much of the open-ended interviews were taken up to express feelings about the effects of migration on family relationships: the pain of being apart, absence, sadness, feelings of emptiness and loss. Both sons and daughters also referred far more to mothers than to their fathers.13 When talking about the migration of a family member, people often commented: “above all my mother cries a lot” or “above all my wife was very sad,” suggesting the “naturalness” of this feeling of mothers toward their children: • “above all my mother [was sad], even now she’s very sad, I think like any mother, right?” (Sister, 18 years old, Llajta Iskay, talking about brother’s migration to Lima 4 years ago). • “I was crying daily, saying why did my daughter go? I lost my appetite, my house was empty” (Mother, 43 years old, Alegria, about migrant daughter in Lima for 3 years). • “Sadness, I was sad because he didn’t return, when my son was here I was at peace, when he went it seemed like I lacked something, that I didn’t have anything, it seemed like my house was empty” (Mother, 41 years old, Llajta Jock, her oldest son, 17 years old, migrated to Lima one year ago). Mothers talked about being anxious and worried about the migrant child, about the stress of not knowing how their children are: • “I cried when my son went, up to now I’m always thinking if he’s good or not, if he has problems, if he’s ill” (Mother, 65 years old, Llajta Jock, her son has been away for 22 years in urban sierra). Emotional distress can also lead to or be associated with illness:14 • “When my daughter left, my wife cried a lot, she was always sad, she almost became ill with the sadness” (Father, 59 years old, Alegria, his oldest daughter migrated 18 years ago to a village in Huancayo province). • “My mother became ill with nerves due to worry, she didn’t know where I was” (Male, 38 years old, initially moved due to family problems, he first went to San Ramon where he met his wife, they then moved to Selva Manta, his wife’s pueblo).
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Crying, mentioned by the majority of respondents, can have a deeper meaning: tears “are meant to draw back those who are absent from the village . . . crying has the power to bring something back to its source” (Skar, 1994:78); crying “seems to be an unspoken part of the message of return” (235). • “I had a lot of sadness to leave my mother, I was saying ‘how am I going to go and leave my mother?’ . . . I was sad, crying for my mother . . . people told me that my mother kept on being sad, crying, [saying] ‘where did my daughter go to?’ ” (Female, 41 years old, Llajta Jock, talking about her migration experience to rural selva for one year). This continuing emotional attachment and closeness—the concern, care, and worry—seems to reinforce interdependence. Showing and expressing emotion seems to strengthen the meaning of these relationships, especially the continuing significance of mothers in their children’s life. Fathers also mentioned feelings of sadness but were more inclined to emphasize economic and material issues: the expression of affection and emotion being associated with weakness (Anderson et al., 2006). A contrasting emotion was also pride. • “It’s a joy, my son’s fulfilling a dream that any father expects of his children, today he works as a mechanic. I’m proud of my son because he’s progressing” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, about oldest son who migrated to Lima 22 years ago). • “It only affected me when he left for his trip, but now I feel much better, and I’m proud of my children . . . they have their own small business [grocery stall] where they work daily and with a lot of effort” (Father, 53 years old, Llajta Iskay, about migrant son in urban sierra for 20 years).
5.4.2.2. Remittances: Parent to Child Remittances are an important mechanism for maintaining and negotiating interdependence. The two-way flow of remittances means that it is not just migrant children who send money and goods to parents. Parents continue helping children, mainly by sending not only agricultural goods but also money, especially to younger children who are trying to establish themselves in the city. This is often linked with ensuring they have enough food to eat: • “It’s important in order to ‘balance’ his food” (Father, Llajta Iskay, sends agricultural produce to son, 26 years old, in Lima). • “It’s necessary that they have food to eat” (Mother, 53 years old, Alegria, all six children, aged between 18 to 33 years, are away in Lima, Satipo—selva, and in rural sierra). • “It’s so that they can eat better” (Mother, 49 years old, Descanso, two sons, 18 and 24 years old, are in Lima studying and working, she sends them agricultural products every month).
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But there is also a tacit symbolic dimension to such support.15 • “He misses these products a lot” (Father, Llajta Iskay, about son, 22 years old, in Lima). • “It’s a custom to give them produce from the chacra, at least so that my children can taste them. . . . The children always miss the food from the chacra, and when they taste it, even though it’s only a little, I feel happy” (Mother, Alegria). This symbolic dimension is also linked to the expression of personal affection (cariño) and love (amor). • “This shows them that they are always present, that we don’t forget them” (Mother, Descanso). • “What I give is out of love for my son . . . to show my love” (Mother in Llajta Iskay, son, 27 years old, living in Ayacucho for 7 years, she sends agricultural produce once a year). • “It’s as a father’s affection. . . . It’s to show my affection” (Father, Llajta Iskay, sons in Lima). Underlying this is a sense of the importance to parents, fathers in particular, of continuing to feel that they provide for and look after their children. Parents see this as intrinsic to being a mother or being a father: stemming from a mixture of loyalty, obligation, and emotional need (Anderson et al., 2006). • “It’s a duty, it’s my responsibility as father” (Father, Alegria, sending money and agricultural produce to son in Huancayo). • “To keep supporting my children, with my produce from the chacra and economically if they desire. . . . I only expect myself to do that” (Father, Llajta Iskay, sons in Lima). • “To support my children economically, because they still depend on us, their parents” (Mother, 46 years old, Llajta Iskay, four migrant children in Huancayo and Lima, ages 17 to 27 years). It is particularly important to give material support to single adult children, especially if they are studying, and to support daughters. • “She still needs my help, at least so that she can continue studying, also I do it because she’s single, she doesn’t have a partner yet” (Father, Llajta Iskay, sending agricultural products and money to daughter in Lima). • “I give him 100 or 150 soles, sometimes just what I have—50 or 80 soles. It’s important because he needs it, also he’s my youngest child and lives alone in the city . . . he needs my help a lot” (Father, Llajta Iskay, about his 20-year-old son in Lima).
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• “I help her like any father, it’s a father’s duty to help a daughter” (Father, 59 years old, Alegria, about his oldest daughter, 32 years old, migrated to rural sierra for 14 years). Parents emphasize that they help and support their children because they are family, the fact that they are related seems central to understanding why they help each other (Finch and Mason, 1993): • “Because he’s my son and as a mother it always pleases me to help [ayudar], when it is needed” (Mother, 57 years old, Llajta Iskay, about son, 32 years old, living in rural sierra for 10 years). • “It’s necessary to help him, because he’s my son” (Father, Llajta Iskay, about his 38-year-old son, in Lima for 23 years). • “I do it because she’s my daughter” (Father, Llajta Iskay, daughter, 28 years old, in Lima for 18 years). For children, the help received is important in terms of their personal needs— material and emotional: • “Money, fruit [from selva] or whatever I need, the main thing is money. It’s so that I can keep on studying, because I don’t work, my mum’s support is necessary and the only support I have” (Male, 24 years old, living in Descanso, receives support from mother in Pichanaki, Chachamayo). Receiving advice and guidance: • “My mother gives me advice to live well” (Female, 26 years old, lived in Llajta Jock for 7 years). A young woman in Nuevo Lugar referred to how advice (consejos) from her mother makes her feel that: • “she’s always thinking about me and my children. . . . I’m very close to her, we have a lot of trust. I feel like there’s somebody that tells me to keep moving forward. . . . We have a close relationship” (Female, 35 years old, lived in Nuevo Lugar for 15 years). Despite the advent of mobile phones and the Internet, respondents emphasized the importance of physical proximity through visits in order to be able to exchange goods or to send parcels (encomiendas).
5.4.2.3. Remittances: Child to Parent *Children also provided gifts to parents, especially essential groceries (viveres/abarrotes) such as rice, sugar, noodles; washing powder, soap, detergents; clothes, shoes, as well as a small cash “tip” (mi propina; un dinerito extra).
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• “Sometimes my daughter leaves me money for my expenses when she comes to visit me” (Mother in Alegria, about her 18-year-old daughter, domestic worker, Lima). For some parents these gifts were essential, something particularly mentioned by fathers and female heads of household (divorced or widowed): • “I have very little and with my children’s help, who are in Lima, I’m moving forward” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, five children living away). • “One time I needed money for my fertilizers and he sent it to me, he saved me from hardship” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, about help from son, 26 years old, in Lima). • “But it’s good that she went, now she sends me money, food, although it’s only a little but now we have something” (Father, 66 years old, Llajta Jock, about daughter, 28 years old, domestic worker in urban area, sierra). • “Before, when my husband was here, I suffered—working a lot in the chacra, with my children, I had to clean, to cook, I didn’t have a house. Now I’m good, my children send me [things], I don’t work, only looking after my animals. I have a house with electricity and water . . . they give me everything that I need” (Mother and widow, 65 years old, in Llajta Jock, six children living away). • “They send a little money to me every month or every two months. . . . Before they travelled I had more of a burden, I didn’t have much income, the economy wasn’t good; I had too many expenses but now that they are away, they support me sending money” (Female head of household, 49 years old, Descanso, two of her sons have been living in Lima for 3 years). • “It’s very important because now I don’t lack anything in the house, we have groceries and everything and now I don’t go to the market to shop, only to buy some vegetables” (Mother, 53 years old, Alegria, about help received from her six children living in Lima, Satipo and rural Huancayo). Especially significant were instances of daughters continuing to help and contribute to parents after leaving the household: • “She’s my daughter and she tries to help with anything, she’s my oldest daughter and I value what she does” (Mother, 41 years old, Descanso, about daughter in Oroya, Junin, sends groceries three times a month). Receiving material gifts and being economically “better off” helped to offset the pain of their children’s absence: • “Before maybe I was better when having all my children together, it’s to say in the emotional aspect I felt at peace and happy. But also now, I’m happy because I’m achieving my goals and I’m much better than before my children
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went. [Why?] Because I have support from my children, economically, to sow in large quantities and I get bigger earnings” (Mother, 46 years old, Llajta Iskay, four of her eight children living away in Huancayo and Lima). There is a strong emotional significance to receiving money and goods from children, it made parents feel remembered, valued, and loved, and it helped them “feel the presence” of their children. • “She always remembers me, my daughter loves me and so she helps me” (Widow and mother, 72 years old, Alegria, about receiving groceries from her daughter, 35 years old, in Lima). • “He does it to show the love and affection that he has for me” (Mother, 57 years old, Llajta Iskay, about son who sends food necessities, clothes, money). • “It’s as if my daughter was with us” (Mother, 46 years old, Descanso, talking about when she receives money from her daughter, 31 years old, in Argentina for 7 years, domestic worker). • “It’s his affection towards me . . . it’s like an affection, nothing more” (Father, 67 years old, Llajta Iskay, about receiving groceries from two sons in Lima). • “It’s important because they [children] have me, their father, present—they always remember me” (Father, 61 years old, Descanso, about money he receives from children in Lima). On the other hand, not all parents and children are in contact, maintaining interdependence through flows of remittances. A minority of parents also expressed negative emotions about the lack of contact and support, and being forgotten, more often referring to sons than to daughters. These stories are the more interesting for being less common, but also left a sense of there being much left unsaid: perhaps past family conflict or the shame of not having been more successful: • “. . . sad, I’ve suffered. . . . I missed her a lot, she’s my youngest daughter . . . she’s sad for me—she always telephones me, not like my son, he doesn’t remember me” (Father, 48 years old, Alegria). • “. . . my wife was crying because he disappeared for six years, she thought that he’d died. . . . We don’t know how he is now, maybe these days he might be sad” (Father, 73 years old, Alegria, referring to his son who left to live in the selva [Satipo] thirty years earlier). • “I left wanting to go to Lima, I had a brother there, he was going to send my fare for the train and it didn’t arrive. . . . I waited for three days on the streets of Huancayo and there I met with a contractor who needed people for the coffee harvest in the selva, so I said—it’s better that I go to the selva. . . . It was like that, that I arrived in the selva and I stayed for three years, my family thought that I’d died. . . . My parents thought I’d passed away, I didn’t return for three years, they said that they looked for me but nobody knew where I was, I wanted to communicate with them but there was no way of doing that,
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and one day I decided to return, my mother was shocked when she saw me, she asked me if it was really me” (Father, Llajta Jock, explaining his own migration experience). • “My father was sad. . . . I was single when I came (to Llajta Jock) and I returned with two children . . . my parents didn’t know that I was in Llajta Jock, somebody told my father that I was selling bread on the Izcuchaca train and he came to look for me but didn’t find me” (Female, 40 years old, Llajta Jock, about migration from Lima to Llajta Jock). • “I left my house because we didn’t have anything, we were poor and I wanted to work, like this I left only for a few days but I stayed for six years away from the house, my family thought that the terrorists had killed me, and they gave up hope when they didn’t have any news of me.” This last respondent eventually found work and married. Only then did he decide to return to Selva Manta because he was missing his family. He explains: “When I arrived in Selva Manta my family couldn’t believe it when they saw me, there was so much emotion to see me alive. They thought I’d died, they’d looked for me but didn’t find me, they were very sad because they couldn’t even have my body to bury me, and all of this devastated them” (Male, 31 years old, moved from Selva Manta to urban area, coast, and later returned).
5.4.2.4. Reciprocity Finch and Mason (1993) argue that reciprocity underlies the dynamics of kin relationships. Reciprocity is about the “way in which people exchange goods and services as part of an ongoing and two-way process. Receiving a gift creates the expectation that a counter-gift will be given at the appropriate time” (34). In Peru reciprocity is embedded in social relations of kinship (parentesco) and God-parenthood: the basis for a high level of trust (confianza) in a society with low levels of more generalized trust (Degregori, 2000). For Lobo (1982), in a study of social organization in a squatter settlement in Lima, “reciprocity is fundamental to social relationships . . . it is the glue which cements social relationships” (146). It lies behind the giving and receiving of food, setting up an underlying sense of obligation and “anticipation of an acknowledgement by reciprocation” (Skar, 1994:57). Reciprocity between separated children and parents provides a mechanism through which it is reproduced or habituated. It especially reflects a sense of duty toward mothers. • “It’s as an exchange . . . she sends me whatever thing, and I send to her as well” (Father, Llajta Iskay, about daughter in Lima). • “I have to give back to her (mother), little by little, all that she has done for me” (Son, 44 years old, Alegria, sending sugar, rice, fruits, and coca, to his mother).
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• “When I take these things I feel good with myself, I feel happy, because at least I bring a little help (ayuda) to my mother” (Son, Alegria, to mother in rural selva). • “She (mother) supports me when I need it, everything has to be rewarded or paid back” (Daughter, 35 years old, Nuevo Lugar, about her mother in town north of Lima). • “Because she’s my mother, and as a way of thanking her, as gratitude for all that she does for me” (Son, 24 years old, Descanso, sends agricultural produce to mother in Pichanaki, selva). Interestingly though, many parents seem to emphasize that help and support from their children is not forced and not even expected: it is up to their children whether they do so or not. This is particularly the case when they are still young, studying, or starting to have their own family. • “It’s of her own free will that she helps me” (Mother, Alegria, about daughter in Lima). • “. . . I’m not expecting his help, he does it at any time” (Father, Llajta Iskay, about son in Lima sending groceries). • “We don’t expect anything from her (daughter), because she has her family and what her husband earns we expect them to save so that they can build a house, and we don’t put pressure on her to send us money or something” (Mother, Descanso). These quotations indicate room for negotiation depending on the child’s situation suggesting that reciprocity is open and flexible.16 In some cases there does seem to be an underlying, often unspoken, tacit parental expectation that in the future their help will be reciprocated, especially that children will look after them when they are elderly. This emerges only after time but uncertainty and ambiguity remains. This is particularly seen in discussions over whether, and if so when, parents might move to join their children, with parents being concerned about being a burden to their children and doubting whether children would have the means to care for them. • “My children in Lima, they wanted to take us there, but I opposed believing that I would be one more burden for my children” (Father, Llajta Iskay, five migrant children). • “My children insisted on taking me together with my husband, my husband as well, he didn’t agree that we should move to where my children are [and why didn’t he agree?] because he believed that we would be an additional burden for my children. It’s more that I don’t think that our children could look after us, help us when we’re elderly” (Mother, 57 years old, Llajta Iskay). • “It wouldn’t be the same to live with the children, because it would be a lot of expense [for them]. If I go now to live with my children . . . first they would
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be happy to have me at their side, but later they would get tired of having me there, of helping me, the sons and daughters-in-laws, they’re different, they wouldn’t put up with me” (Mother, Alegria). But parents do not necessarily want to join migrant children, particularly due to their cultural attachment to their home village or town, or their preference between siblings may be different: • “Even though my children want to take me to La Oroya, I don’t want to go. . . . I’m going to die here in my house. . . . When they take me [there] I don’t know it, I get lost, and also I don’t adapt to being there, there’s no chacra, there’s lots of traffic. . . . I’m shut in their house, they cook with gas, not firewood . . . I have to wait with patience for my children, for them to bring me to Huancayo, I don’t know; I have to wait for them” (Female head of household, 65 years old, Llajta Jock).
5.4.2.5. Migration and Relationships between Siblings These last quotations introduce the issue of the relationships, rights and responsibilities between siblings. Lobo (1982) emphasizes the importance to wellbeing of a sense of duty on the part of siblings to act in unity: “It is the bond between siblings that is seen as fundamental to one’s emotional and material wellbeing” (120). A sense of family duty and responsibility between siblings was evident in the interviews: • “The help is important because it’s about sharing what they have and supporting each other and maintaining the family unity” (Married brother with young children, Descanso, receiving help from his brother and sister—groceries, clothes and toys). • “I send produce from the chacra or when she comes to visit I give her potatoes and beans, it’s my duty as brother to support her always” (Male, 44 years old, Alegria, about helping his sister). • “It’s important because it’s a family’s duty to give help—to lend a hand” (Brother helping sister). • “He [brother] helps my son who studies in Lima with food, it helps me a lot and I’m grateful to my brother, he’s like a father to my son” (Mother, 33 years old, Selva Manta, her brother lives in La Victoria, Lima).17 Flows of support from older to younger siblings were also emphasized, supporting Lobo’s (1982:128) observation that the eldest child has “unique responsibilities and prerogatives.” • “At least he’s found a job, now he helps me economically, for his younger brothers and sisters’ education” (Mother, Progreso, about her older migrant son).
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• [He sends] “a few clothes for my younger daughters, a little money—30 or 50 soles, sometimes 100 soles . . . he’s the only son that has a job and I need his help . . . so that his younger sisters can keep studying” (Father, Llajta Iskay, talking about migrant son in Lima). • “She’s my younger sister and I appreciate her a lot, I feel good helping her” (Female migrant to Nuevo Lugar, about helping sister in Trujillo by lending money). Joint responsibility between siblings for mothers is particularly important, although it is more often the single sibling who returns to support elderly parents.18 A migrant son who returned to Llajta Iskay to look after his elderly parents explained: “as I’m single, I didn’t have anyone to stop me from returning and helping my parents.” A further example is Maximo who lives in Alegria with his mother (85 years old), he is 48 years old, single and the oldest child. His four sisters and one brother (aged 39 to 46) all migrated away from the village: two to Huancayo and three to Lima. He explains “I was the oldest son and I had to look after my mother . . . I had a very strong reason to stay . . . my mother, because who would have looked after her if I wasn’t there, she was alone, what could she have done alone?” However, interdependence has been difficult to obtain for Maximo; whilst he has stayed to care for their mother, he has been abandoned and deserted by his siblings.”Paulina has forgotten us, she only thinks about herself . . . Eusebia, she’s also forgotten us, now she doesn’t even come to visit my mother. Yola, only once a year she remembers her mother. Such has been life: I remember when we were close as children, together with my mother, but since they’ve grown up, each one seeks their own destiny”. When his mother visits Huancayo they give her rice, sugar and oil; and occasionally the daughters in Lima give some money to their mother and clothes, and send medicines when their mother is unwell. He emphasizes that it is one’s duty to the family to give help. He also feels pressure to send remittances to his siblings, but lacks the resources to do so: “sometimes I think, they will feel offended when I don’t send them something, it’s very far and costs a lot to send. Eusebia will be offended with me, and Yola—what will she say when I don’t send them anything.” Maximo still dreams of joining his siblings by leaving Alegria. “If there’s a way, I’m going to my sister in Huancayo and I’ll keep going, fighting for life. I know that my sister could have me at her side but on the other hand, they may not put up with me and they’d throw me out, then I’d be alone.” Even though he’s been caring for his mother, he feels he cannot depend on his siblings to support him. Another respondent ended up in a similar situation: returning to his birth place to look after his elderly mother when his father died. “When I was in Comas, Lima, I used to think a lot about my mother, because she was widowed and as a widow she didn’t have any support in the house, the chacra, with the animals, because my other brothers and sisters already had their own families and they couldn’t look after her. I was single, and for this reason I had to return to Alegria to support my mother, because as a man I had to do something for her . . . . My mother called me, she asked that I returned and helped her in the chacra and with the animals . . . when knowing that she was needing my help, I left everything there in Lima—my business . . . because
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my mother brought me up, she fed me, looked after me, and for this reason I had to help her.” Since his mother died he has stayed in Alegria but feels alienated from his siblings “they were always arguing and didn’t help with anything for my mother, at least they could have helped with the sowing but they didn’t.”
5.5. Conclusions This chapter has reviewed quantitative and qualitative data on migration into and out of the seven WeD research sites. The quantitative data highlighted the diversity of migration within the region: how the long-term trend of urbanization hides a far more complicated story of mobility and continued interaction between city, town and countryside, as well as coastal, highland and jungle areas. In seeking new and holistic insights into the motivation behind this mobility the qualitative data comprised as far as possible what respondents themselves thought and felt about their own migration experiences. It was also analyzed using post-hoc methods that sought to avoid using prior typologies of influences on migration. Resource limitations also precluded more ambitious attempts to test the statistical association between different migration experiences and wellbeing indicators. Of course, no analysis is entirely free from the predilections and prior categorizations of the researcher. In this case both earlier work on social exclusion and the wellbeing framework prompted us to explore not only material but also social and cultural dimensions of migration, and to emphasize the important role of interpersonal relationships. However, the extent to which respondents dwelt on emotional dimensions of their experience and how it affected family relations came as a surprise. This leads to a first main conclusion, that migration between these sites is not just a movement of individual laborers driven by real wage differentials or the outcome of carefully calibrated household livelihood strategies: it is also part of a process of seeking independence from and negotiating interdependence with relatives. These unfolding relationships are important in themselves. Not being alone is important to most people’s wellbeing, and we concur with Lobo (1982:73–74) when she reported: “the sentiment is often expressed that an individual with many kin is fortunate, secure, and in many respects wealthy, whereas one who has few kin considers himself unfortunate and poor. . . . Solitude is never particularly sought after, while the necessity for steady contact with people is felt to be vital.” However, an understanding of the relational dimensions of migration should not be regarded as a useful supplement to a separate understanding of its physical and economic dimensions. Rather, material, emotional, and relational effects of migration are embedded in and profoundly molded by each other. For example, the last section highlighted how the flow of remittances and their effect on wellbeing can only be understood in the context of ongoing negotiations between family members. The balancing of emotional and material effects of migration on kinship relations is in turn influenced by cultural norms of reciprocity, sharing and mutual interdependence. Again this cultural dimension is tightly bound up with the material and relational aspects rather than existing in some separate domain of wellbeing. In the majority of cases we have emphasized the benign role that these affective and collective values have
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on wellbeing. However, we have also acknowledged that affective relationships can also be damaging and constricting of individual autonomy: as in extreme cases where migration was a flight from family violence, or a form of child trafficking into bonded domestic labor for relatives. A better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of family mediated mutual support is particularly important, given the limited reach of state social provision and commercialized social insurance services, particularly as they affect children and the elderly. Notes 1. Section 5.2 draws on work by Altamirano as well as Lockley, while the whole paper was extensively edited by Copestake. Data was collected by Maribel Arroyo, Lida Carhuallanqui, Martín Jaurapoma, Miguel Obispo, Percy Reina and Edwin Paúcar. Jorge Yamamoto and Ana Rosa Feijoo also assisted in planning and supervision of the field work. 2. Both physical movement and remittance behaviour can be regarded as revealed preferences, albeit subject to what Rao and Walton (2004) refer to as “preference constraints”. Meanwhile peoples’ views about the trade-offs entailed in living in different places can be regarded as relatively well informed stated preferences. 3. Altamirano (2006a) discusses each of these types of migration in more detail. He also points out additional popular classifications of migrants often used in a derogatory way: maqta refers more to young male migrants with indigenous roots, while chola refers to people who occupy an intermediate cultural position between rural indigenous and urban Westernised mestizo. 4. This incorporates insights from Lockley (2005b and 2005a). Altamirano (2006b) and Wright-Revolledo (2007) also extended the ethnographic part of the research beyond the borders of Peru by interviewing migrants from Central Peru in the United States and Europe. By the end of 1998 it is estimated that over one million Peruvians (4.5 percent of national population) were living abroad (AquinoRodriguez, 2000; Altamirano, 2006b). However, it is beyond the scope of this chapter to present findings from these studies, despite the growing importance of remittance income flowing back to the region from international migrants. 5. It was beyond the scope of the chapter to include a discussion of the use of different forms of media. 6. The R ANQ definition of the household was a group of people normally living together, excluding family members or relatives permanently living in other locations, but including those who had temporarily left the household but were expected to come back. 7. Llajta Jock has a higher proportion of incomers (mostly through marriage and from nearby villages), whereas a very high proportion of residents in Llajta Iskay were born there. Both communities have experienced a high incidence of longterm migration away, mostly in the first instance to Huancayo city or Lima. But ongoing links with migrants seem to be stronger in Llajta Jock (where 57 percent received and 73 percent made transfers) than in Llajta Iskay (where the corresponding figures are only 33 percent and 16 percent). In contrast, people from Llajta Jock made fewer overnight trips—probably in part because they can attend secondary school, the weekly market and other activities in the district town of Alegria without having to incur the expense of staying overnight. Short-term migration, mostly made by young, unmarried people rather than heads of household or their spouses, was more common from Llajta Iskay.
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8. Lockley (2005a; 2005b; and 2006) reports more fully on this part of the study. 9. These categories of motivation can be seen as part of a continuum, as well as interlinked and evolving over time. For example, a migrant who moved initially to settle and establish, could with time experience increased expectations, linked also to improved understanding of their situation and possibly leading them to move again. 10. Compare this with Osterling (1980), who also emphasises young people’s desire to achieve a career, to become professionals; Bebbington et al. (2007) also emphasise how many parents no longer expect nor want their children to be campesinos, and also describe families organising resources, activities and time to provide their children with better educational opportunities. Lobo (1982) emphasises how adults view children’s education as a very desirable and necessary goal, while Brougere (1992) reports that few parents desire for children to carry on in farming and want them to enter university and have a better future. 11. In the context of rural Bolivia, Punch (2002) finds that interdependent family relations underlie youth transitions and relations between young people and adults. 12. Also Gillies et al. (2001:42) note that growing up, becoming independent with emerging personal autonomy is mediated through inter-dependent family relationships. 13. This corroborates the argument in Anderson et al. (2006) that mothers are particularly prominent in decisions that mark critical moments in their children’s life trajectories. 14 Skar (1994:88) also notes that in Quechua shock refers to a state of imbalance or disorientation, adding that “views of health and wellbeing take fear and shock as serious causes of illness.” 15 This again corroborates Skar (1994), who observes a very specific connection between food and land “receiving these goods, you eat again of your lands and in substance can become one again with that distant place” (58); food that urban kin receive from rural kin are, she says, “small symbolic remembrances of their homelands” (77). Skar explains the importance of the food being sent being appropriate to place: highland produce being sent to coast or jungle; tropical fruits from the jungle back to the village; money, clothing, radios being sent from Lima (57). This was also echoed in the interviews. The role of food as an expression of love is discussed in Anderson et al. (2006). 16 This again corroborates Finch and Mason, who argue that mutual aid between kin relations cannot be explained simply by the idea that people follow well understood rules of obligation or duty toward their relatives (57). Also Finch (1989) argues that one-way flows of support in families are often tolerated and even expected. 17. Lobo (1982:114) emphasises the role of uncles and aunts in shanty towns: “parents’ siblings are often expected to step into the parental role during the absence of a parent.” There can be a negative side to this, for example, Anderson et al. (2006) compare el sistema de las tias with the Colonial system of bonded labour (enganchadores). 18. Radcliffe (1986:39) notes the responsibility of older and married brothers and sisters lies toward their own spouse and children. Single siblings, on the other hand, are recalled to the community regardless of their location if a parent dies or is ill.
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Chapter 6
Wellbeing and Institutions José Luis Álvarez with James Copestake*
6.1. Introduction The main objective of this chapter is to explore empirically the relationship between wellbeing and institutions. This first section explores the concepts employed, the Peru context, and the methodology used. Section 6.2 builds on chapter 3 by developing an analysis of the relationship between life goals and institutions. Section 6.3 continues this analysis by identifying institutions in each research site behind provision of resources that respondents perceived to be most important to their wellbeing. Section 6.4 then focuses more narrowly on wellbeing and the institution of the faena, this being the word used in Peru for the people working collectively for a specific community purpose. Section 6.5 concludes, illustrating important points with reference to the life history of one particular respondent. The term institution is used here to refer to an accepted mode of behavior protected by culture (Powelson, 1997:6). In contrast to an organization, an institution exists only when a form of social interaction is repeated so often that it is widely viewed as a norm that, if flouted, provokes outrage. Social researchers have been preoccupied with finding general explanations of institutions as providers of specific functions for a long time: economists have explored the extent to which they represent rational and cost-effective solutions to delivery of valued services, and how they overcome the problems (and costs) of establishing group membership along with monitoring and enforcement of membership rights and responsibilities; political scientists are interested in the way they reinforce power and inequality through patriarchy and clientelism; ecologists view the way they contribute to environmental sustainability. However, it is difficult to find literature, particularly in Peru, that explicitly links institutions and social structures with participants’ own or emic views of wellbeing. This chapter focuses on how the way people perceive wellbeing relates to institutions along the Central Peru corridor described in chapters 1 and 2. In so doing it seeks better explanations of how institutions and livelihoods evolve in the light of Peruvian experience. In addition it explores a more specific hypothesis: that
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institutions reflect local visions of wellbeing, which can be defined relative to their goals, perceived needs, resources, and values. More specifically, I consider how institutions contribute to the achievement of their goals, both directly and by contributing to the production of valued resources
6.1.1. Key Concepts and Historical Context Positive psychology offers two complementary perspectives on wellbeing. One regards human beings as primarily seekers of happiness and avoiders of unhappiness. This hedonic perspective is closely linked to the assumptions of economics as well as the institutions of capitalism to the extent that they are oriented toward the urges of people as individual workers and consumers. A second approach, the eudemonic, emphasizes more the nature of human beings as searchers of meaning (actions consistent with their values) through fulfillment of cherished goals. I agree with Ryan and Deci (2001a) that the two approaches are not separate since some goals are hedonic, while goal fulfillment is often very enjoyable. But since not all goals are hedonic and not all fulfillments come without pain the distinction between the two is also important. Although anthropology has a strong affinity with a eudemonic perspective, it has paid surprisingly little attention to the study of wellbeing and happiness in the context of different cultures (Thin, 2005). Institutions are defined here to include not only collective action such as faena and fiesta but also include norms governing what services are performed by family, community networks, market, and the state. The aim is to contribute to understanding institutions from an emic or insider perspective. To this end institutions are viewed not only as means for producing material services but also as performing a symbolic function in reproducing shared values, and as laden with culture and meaning. Naturally, institutions also have a social function in sustaining interpersonal networks. The central idea is that the relationship among these different elements produces wellbeing or illbeing. The assumption behind this is that there are meta goals or felt needs underlying more immediate goals of life, which are promoted by culture, which if met lead to emotions of satisfaction. Satisfaction is therefore generated at both the individual and collective level. Access to resources (material and subjective) is needed for goal achievement and satisfaction. Values are not only guiding principles of behavior but also can be viewed as adaptation strategies. Social networks and behaving in accordance with values within them is also part of the wellbeing process (Yamamoto et al., 2004a–f). In proposing a holistic approach to the analysis of institutions as implicated in the reproduction of wellbeing, we acknowledge the contributions of many social scientists. For Marx (2000:104) institutions were part of the superstructure of society, derived from an economic base and resulting class structure. Weber (1930; 1962) emphasized how religion, state and bureaucracy exert their own influence, while Polanyi (1944:63) explored both how pure capitalism privileges institutions of the market over all others, and how society reacts to this. Berger and Luckmann (1967), founders of constructivist analysis,
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view institutionalization as the result of a process of “habitualization,” while Giddens (1986) elaborates on the interaction of structure and agency through processes of signification, legitimation, and domination. Bourdieu (1998) adds to the literature by introducing the idea of “habitus” in an attempt to eliminate the false dichotomy between a social physics of objective structures and a social phenomenology of subjective knowledge. More recent literature has focused particularly on the relationship between institutions, social capital and trust (e.g., Putnam, 1993; Levi, 1998; Mishler and Rose, 2001; Brooks and Cheng, 2001; Rothstein, 2003; Baltatescu, 2006). In seeking to add to this literature through a more explicit treatment of how participation in institutions relates to people’s own perception of their wellbeing, we emphasize that institutions are likely to be geographically, historically, and culturally distinct. Hence, the starting point for understanding them must be an empirical process of identifying what people most value or aspire to in their lives. Wellbeing or life satisfaction can then be defined as a high level of consistency with these values and achievement of these aspirations. It is likely to motivate people’s actions and in so doing to play an important role in defining the way social institutions work. In this way, we maintain which institutions are a space where goals, resources and values are made concrete, and crystallize in happy and unhappy events. We will do this by combining four levels: what people are “having,” “doing,” “thinking,” and “feeling” because to study these aspects separately places limitations on understanding this phenomena as a whole. We maintain that wellbeing is a whole experience. At the same time, it is clear from the above that empirical insight into individual perceptions of wellbeing will be limited if not also located in a wider analysis of its context. This has already partially been provided for this study by chapters 1 and 2. However, it is worth elaborating on the ongoing historical tension between Pre-Colombian and Western institutional norms. The sixteenthcentury Inca system comprised a state that used reciprocity and redistribution in a complex negotiation and manipulation of different ethnic groups. The basic local unit of society was the ayllu, which formed an endogamous nucleus of kinship groups who possessed collectively a specific territory. Grazing land in the ayllu was held in common, whereas arable land was parceled out to families in proportion to their size. Since self-sufficiency was the ideal of Andean society, family units claimed parcels of land in different ecological niches in the rugged Andean terrain. In this way, they achieved what Murra (1989) called “vertical complementarity”: the ability to produce a wide variety of crops at different altitudes for household consumption. The Inca state imposed a political and military apparatus on all of these ethnic groups, while relying on the indirect rule of a hierarchy of kurakas, who declared their loyalty to the Inca and ruled in his name. In this sense, ethnic groups maintained their distinctiveness and self-awareness within a larger imperial system. They regularly performed mita or service for public works, such as roads and buildings, or for military purposes that enabled the development of the state. But in return for these services, the Inca allocated land and redistributed part of the tribute received in the form of food and cloth to the communities, often in the form of welfare. Tribute was stored in centrally located warehouses to be dispensed during
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periods of shortages caused by famine, war, or natural disaster. In the absence of a market economy, Inca redistribution of tribute served as the primary means of exchange. The principles of reciprocity and redistribution, then, formed the organizing ideas that governed all relations in the Inca Empire from community to state (Murra, 1989; Rostorowsky, 1988). These facts are relevant because anthropologists have revealed the persistence of institutions such as community, as well as values such as reciprocity and exchange today explicitly relating to this heritage (Mayer, 2002). These institutions were of course subsequently incorporated into a global system (Wallerstein, 1974; 2004). Spanish colonial rule resulted in new and dominant forms of racism and exclusion (Manrique, 1993). Native communities (ayllus) were concentrated into colonial settlements called reducciones to facilitate administration and the conversion to Christianity. The Inca mita system was shifted from performing public works or military service to supplying compulsory labor for the mines and other key sectors of the economy and state. Gradually, the land tenure system became polarized: one sector consisting of large haciendas, worked by native peasant serfs in a variety of labor arrangements and governed by their new overlords according to hybrid Andean forms of Iberian paternalism; the other made up of remnants of the essentially subsistence-based indigenous communities that persisted and endured (Macera, 1978). Independence from Spain and incorporation into global capitalism resulted mainly in changes at the elite level of power: Creoles replaced the Spanish leaders, but indigenous people continued to be excluded from society (Bonilla, 2001). As leaders struggled to choose between republicanism and monarchy, Western models maintained their hold over debate (Connif in Knippers, 2005). In the twentieth century, the rise of U.S. capital changed Latin America’s relationship with world capitalism. Mariategui and Haya de la Torre explain how feudal and capitalist systems coexisted together in Peru (Mariategui, 2002; Haya de la Torre, 1936) while Long (and Roberts, 1984; Long, 2001) highlights the heterogeneity of regional responses. People incorporated the institutions of the market economy in their own way, mixing different traditions, values, and norms with capitalist values. Chapter 2 described how a less traumatic colonial experience enabled inhabitants of the Mantaro Valley to incorporate elements of modernity without losing the essence of their traditions. Arguedas (1986) and Romero (2004) among others have explored the resulting mestizo culture: drawing on the ethnography of music and dance as evidence. Another aspect of differentiated response was the desborde popular (popular overflow) to informal urban settlements. Again, external influences transformed people’s perceptions, but without eliminating Andean traditions completely (Altamirano, 1986; Golte, 2001; Matos Mar, 2004). De Soto (2001) suggests that the people in the city have acquired a liberal ethic and are forging another “path” to capitalism. They have not been fully incorporated into the state and global Western development, but they aspire strongly to this model. In contrast Figueroa (2003) suggests that economic, social, and cultural exclusion remain resilient features of capitalism in Peru.
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6.1.2. Methodology for an Empirical Approach The empirical data for this chapter comes from the same seven research sites in Central Peru already described in earlier chapters. It was collected in five separate ways. The first relied on the ECB (entrevista de componentes de bienestar or “components of wellbeing interview”). This comprised semi-structured interviews focusing on subjective components of wellbeing: goals, perceived resources, values, and institutions of social support. It had bilingual versions (Quechua and Spanish) based on the questions listed in table 6.1. The second source of data was the RANQ (resources and needs questionnaire) completed for 1,000 households. This relied on closed questions to identify material, social, natural, and cultural resources at the household level as well as indicators of need satisfaction. The third source was the Peru WeDQoL: a set of psychometric scales whose design was based closely on findings from the ECB, as described in chapter 3. The fourth source comprised participant observation on the part of six field workers—all recent graduates of anthropology, supervised by myself. Living in the sites, the field team interacted with the community, speaking their own language and participating in different daily activities. They collected life histories, kept a register of critical events and conducted open interviews with key informants. Using these methods, we constructed an inventory of community institutions (practices of collective action) in each site. This involved making a chart of each institution identified that described their formal objectives and actual outcomes as observed and perceived by key informants. The fifth and final source of data was also ethnographic. Each field researcher identified one particular faena
Table 6.1
Checklist of questions for semi-structured interviews
1. Goals. Let’s suppose that I would like to move to live here. What things do I need to be happy? What things are necessary to be happy? 2. Resources. How do I get those things? (Ask for each goal mentioned by the respondent.) 3. Emotions (individual level). How do you feel in relation to . . . ? (Ask this for each goal mentioned by the respondent.) 4. Emotions (collective). How do people of this community feel about . . . ? (Ask this for each goal mentioned by the respondent.) 5. Values. Who are the people that you most admire in this community? (Alternative question for non-formal comprehension: Who are the best persons in this community? What are the things that you admire in this person?) (Ask for each person mentioned.) 6. Social networks. Where do you find support when needed? 7. Happiest life episodes. What were the happiest moments of your life? 8. Unhappiest life episodes. What were the unhappiest moments of your life? Source: ECB, for more details see Yamamoto (2006).
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and collected as much information about it as they could. Data collection was organized using a checklist of questions drawn up by the field team.1
6.2. Wellbeing and the Institutional Matrix in Each Site As described in chapter 3, a comprehensive list of life goals was derived from the ECB and turned into a checklist of questions for the WeDQoL. Principal component analysis was then used to identify meta goals behind responses to the following question: “Let’s suppose that I would like to move to live here. What things do I need to be happy? What things are necessary to be happy?” (Yamamoto, 2006b). Different factor solutions were also confronted with the qualitative experience of the field team, who played the leading role in naming each factor. The following three factor solution, explaining 35 percent of variation in responses was finally selected. 1. “Place to live better” derived from three more specific goals: “clean and nice neighborhood,” “peacefulness neither delinquency nor violence,” and “to progress or move forward.” 2. “Raise a family” is derived from two goals: “marriage/partner” and “children.” 3. “Improvement from a secure base” has five aspects: “work with salary,” “house/ furnishings,” “education for children,” “health,” and “to be professional.” This section cross-tabulates these goals against the inventory of community institutions in each site. The inventory for each site is too long to reproduce, but is summarized in table 6.2 that simplifies by indicating only the broad type of institution involved in each: “X” signifying some involvement, and “XXX” dominant involvement, and—indicates no involvement. The first category (agriculture, environment, and natural resources) covers a particularly heterogeneous set of activities, ranging from farmers’ associations in rural sites to ad hoc neighborhood groups in urban areas formed to secure land title or house improvements. Business development refers primarily to trade associations and microfinance groups. Culture is diverse, with church congregations and festival committees being the most common. Education and health is dominated by central government, whereas nutrition programs and local administration (defined broadly to include law and order) are areas in which central and local government collaborate strongly, while NGOs concentrate mostly on social action initiatives. Finally, ad hoc neighborhood committees and groups are important in securing and maintaining different utilities, whether provided by government, users groups, or private companies. The final column summarizes the extent to which this institutional landscape was uniform across the seven sites.
6.2.1. Institutions and the Goal of a “Place to Live Better” This dimension of goals on the Peruvian corridor is expressed at different levels of institutions. These show different practices of collective action. The goal
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Table 6.2
A summary of community institutions by purpose
Field 1. Agriculture, environment, and NR 2. Business development.a 3. Culture 4. Education 5. Health 6. Nutrition 7. Security and admin 8. Social action 9. Utilities
CBO led XXX
NGO led X
Council led —
Central government. led X
Uniformity
XXX
X
—
—
Medium
XXX — — X X — XX
X X X X
X X —
— XXX XXX
XXX —
X X
Medium High High High Medium Low Medium
XXX XXX — X
Low
Notes: CBO = Community based (= unregulated and/or membership based) organization, including neighborhood and communal farmers’ associations; NGO = Nongovernmental (nonprofit) organization; Council = district/municipal council. “Uniformity” refers to the extent to which the same activities are present in all seven sites. a Note also commercial (i.e., market) involvement here and in provision of utilities. Source: Data collected directly by WeD Peru.
“neighborhood clean and beautiful” lies behind “faenas” (self-help joint labor activities) in all sites. This illustrates the importance of this practice for poor people within Andean tradition. It happens through neighbors’ associations in an urban context as well as in villages. In addition, municipality and state institutions support people to achieve these goals: paying the salary of technicians or supplying machinery, for example. In the same way, the goal “tranquility without violence” uses collective and communal practice to resolve conflict. In the case of Llajta Iskay, a communal prison was built to punish delinquency. Descanso and Selva Manta have “rondas campesinas” (self-defense groups) through which peasant groups receive arms and military training for defense. These started in the political violence period. Also, the police and neighborhood associations are important in some places. The following table (table 6.3) will illustrate this evidence extensively. Finally, “to move ahead” goal is pursued in the context of family and community. In sum, these goals are connected with collective action practices as well as involving other external institutions.2
6.2.2. Institutions and the Goal to “Raise a Family” “Raising a family” is another important goal cited in the corridor. It has two dimensions: “marriage/partner” and “children.” Both connect with family, community institutions, and religious institutions in rural locations. They also connect with
Table 6.3
Link from components of “place to live better” to institutions Nice and clean neighborhood
Tranquility without vio- To progress (salir lence and adelante) delinquency
Llajta Iskay Faena; community Llajta Jock Faena; community Selva Manta Faena; community; municipality Alegria Faena; community; municipality Descanso Faena; community; municipality Progreso Faena; community; neighborhood associations
Community (prison) Community Rondas campensinas
Community; family Community; family Community; family
Community; police
Community; family
Rondas campensinas
Community; family
Neighborhood associations
Neighbors; family
Nuevo Lugar Community; neighborhood associations; municipality
Neighborhood associations; neighborhood watch; police
Neighbors; family
Source: Data collected directly by WeD Peru.
Table 6.4 Link from components of “raise a family” to institutions Marriage
Children
Fiesta
Llajta Iskay
Family; community
Family; community
Llajta Jock
Family; community
Family; community
Selva Manta
Alegria
Family; religious asso- Family; religious ciations; town relation- associations; town ships relationships Family; community Family; community
Community; religious associations Community; religious associations Family; municipality associations
Descanso
Family; neighbors
Family; neighbors
Progreso
Family; neighbors; migrant associations
Family; neighbors; migrant associations
Nuevo Lugar Family; neighbors; migrant associations
Family; neighbors; migrant associations
Source: Data collected directly by WeD Peru.
Community; religious associations Community; religious and neighborhood associations Religious; neighborhood and migrant associations Religious; neighborhood and migrant associations
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institutions of family, neighbors, and migrant associations in urban sites. The goals link strongly with cultural institutions, such as rituals and festivities, celebrating the cycle of life, constructed in Andean culture through centuries of practice and syncretism of traditional religion with Catholicism. An example of one such ritual, in the “huanca” cultural area is the wedding, known locally as “La palpa.” Families organize the fiesta well in advance as it is a competition of gifts. The wedding provides an opportunity for families of the wife and husband to demonstrate their economic power through the purchase of extravagant gifts. Extended families, friends, and spiritual families (“padrinos,” “compadres”) give to the newly weds furniture, artefacts, and agricultural products. There exists competition between the families of the bride and groom, in the showering of gifts that confers future benefits on the new family. It is also a big fiesta, lasting several days. The ECB instrument was used to investigate the following question: What were the happiest moments of your life? (See table 6.1). The responses illustrate that weddings, births, and fiestas are important happy events, cultural institutions constructed in relation to people’s goals, making them moments in which the essence of an institution has crystallized, to provide a space where goals of life emerge. The following table (table 6.4) illustrates how goals such as marriage, children, and fiesta are connected with similar institutions along the Peruvian corridor.
6.2.3. Institutions and the Goal of “Improvement from a Secure Base” This goal includes the following components: work with salary, housing, education for children, health and nutrition, and being a professional. These are predominantly linked to the role of the market, and to a lesser extent the state, which has programs for supporting people’s goals, which may vary depending on the government of the day. However, local institutions also have considerable importance as mediators, because state programs are far from sufficient and the market is of course not a perfect provider. For instance, the goal “work with salary” is mediated by social relationships inside rural communities. In urban sites, neighbors’ associations mediated the goal to achieve “house.” In sum, market provision and local institutions often have a mediatory role, resulting in the existence of complex and multiple mechanisms and relationships. An example of this is that in rural areas, the goal of achieving “work with salary” is mediated by social relationships within the communities, whereas at urban sites, the goal of achieving housing can be affected by neighborhood associations. The following table (table 6.5) illustrates such relationships. These institutional matrices show how each goal is supported in each site. Each life goal has a different set of connections to institutions. Also, the evidence illustrates, and it becomes evident that one institution may serve several goals and that institutions are fundamental to the possibility of goal realization. In summary, social, cultural, and local institutions are crucial to the achievement of goals for wellbeing in the Andean Peruvian corridor.
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Table 6.5 Link from components of “improvement from a secure base” to institutions
Llajta Iskay Llajta Jock Selva Manta Alegria
Descanso
Progreso
Nuevo Lugar
Work with Salary Community; migration; market Community; market Landowner; market Community; migration; market Community; migration; market Migration; market Market
House Family; community
Education for Children State
Family; State community Family State
Health and Nutrition State; family
To Be a Professional Family; state
State; family State; family State; family
Family; state Family; state
Family
State
Family; state
Family
State
State; family
Family; state
Family; State association; market
State; family
Family; state
Family; State association; municipality
State; family
Family; state
Source: Data collected directly by WeD Peru.
6.3. Perception of Resources and Institutions In addition to the three goal factors, the WeDQoL asked respondents to indicate the importance to them of a list of resources (again derived from the ECB) that were not necessarily important in themselves, but important means to achieving other goals. Principal component analysis (described in chapter 3) indicated a robust single factor solution derived from seven questions. Results express a list of resources from an emic perspective. These items were “to get loans,” “to save,” “to rent or lease land,” “to get help,” “to get inheritance,” “to contact and negotiate with government.” Migration was already discussed in the previous chapter. In this section, I connect the other items with a mixture of ethnographic and R ANQ data to explore variation in the institutions across the seven sites for obtaining resources perceived to be important. To get loans. R ANQ survey asks people: “if you need to borrow money, where do you go? If your spouse(s) need to borrow money where do they go?” Overall most loans are sourced inside the community, mostly from friends and neighbors, and without the need for a contract or written documents. But there is variation. In the rural annexes nearly all loans were from within the community, the long-standing schoolteacher in Llajta Jock being an important provider, for
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example. But in Descanso, 15 percent of loans came from the town bank branch, NGOs, and merchants. More formal sources were even more important in Nuevo Lugar (37% of loans), though less so in Progreso (10%). Saving. Nearly all households accumulated savings at some stage in the year. Saving is often in livestock or crops, and many people also use informal juntas (rotating savings and credit associations) and community banks (in Descanso, Nuevo Lugar, and Progreso). Responses to the R ANQ revealed that the proportion of households with bank accounts varied widely: 0 in Llajta Jock; 2 percent in Llajta Iskay and Progreso; 4.2 percent in Nuevo Lugar; 5.1 percent in Alegria; 10 percent in Rondayacu and nearly 20 percent in Descanso. To rent or lease land. Secure access to land is important both for agriculture and for dwelling places. Communal ownership of land through peasant associations is strongest in the more isolated rural sites, but private access to land is more important for most farmers and sharecropping is common. In urban areas, chapter 2 highlighted the importance attached to gaining secure title to a plot, but also how this goal was pursued through collective action, for example in Nuevo Lugar where allocation of a 90 meter square plot (unidad comunal de vivienda or UCV) is common. A family must construct a house and manage some basic services, belong to the zonal committee and participate in “faenas” and other local activities. Property can subsequently be sold or transferred, but only with the approval of the community leaders or if necessary the communal assembly, although a totally free market for land has emerged in some areas.3 To get help. The R ANQ asked people specifically about ways of looking for a job. Nearly all households had experience of outside work and they used a wide array of strategies for seeking it. In Alegria, Descanso, Selva Manta, and Nuevo Lugar links are forged more at the household level and often have a significant cultural dimension: those asked being referred to as compadres, padrinos, and ahijados. In contrast, in Llajta Iskay and Llajta Jock, where people have a close knowledge of each other, individual relationships are more important than those forged between households. This was also true in Progreso, but for a very different reason. Here violence and the erosion of trust between people meant that work in the local markets was sought and secured more on an atomistic face-to-face basis. To get an inheritance. We will present the Descanso inheritance system, as it again illustrates how local institutions influence and are influenced by wellbeing perspectives. In this case, the first son has the preference. He receives assets from parents even before they die, for example on marriage. Wives, daughters, and younger sons get very little and this produces conflicts inside the family and can be a major factor behind migration. The older sons resist change on the grounds that land is scarce and must be passed on between generations intact. The farming system also gives the first son additional rights and responsibilities. He must work in the community in “faenas” and receives land and animals from the community. When his father has an accident or disease, he must replace him in community
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labor. Obviously, there are cases when a first son renounces his rights: when he is a migrant or professional and does not need the family assets. Contacts within government. R ANQ survey asks people if “any close relative of this household ever held a recognized government position?” Fewer than 20 percent reported that they had, with little variation between sites except for Nuevo Lugar where the proportion was far lower. For most households, access and quality of government services to programs such as food aid, health, and education are negotiated through community level leaders and brokers, or directly with relevant officials. Consequently, despite the low levels of reported contacts within government, such contacts are a major aspiration for the majority.
6.4. Case Studies of Collective Action, Faenas, and Wellbeing 6.4.1. Relevant Theory The literature on collective action can be traced back to the work of Durkheim who distinguished between “organic solidarity” as a natural form of relations among people in traditional societies, and “mechanic solidarity” as a dominant contractual form of relations in modern societies. Marx, through use of the term “class consciousness” and Weber with reference to the ideal type “collective behavior” also reflected on this issue (Marshall, 1998). Anthropologists were inspired particularly by Mauss (1967) and his study of gift giving and reciprocity. In contrast, for economists it was Olson (1965) who opened up the study, by investigating collective action as the outcome of rational individual decisions of homo economicus.4 Relevant questions arising from this literature include that of what happens when social actors are influenced by moral interest (Elster, 1985) or by pleasure in the action itself and not necessarily just in the results (Hirschman, 1982). Granovetter responded by suggesting the existence of “thresholds of collective action,” or different levels of intensity of collective action in proportion to the level of interest. For instance, when the interest is mobilized for moral principles the threshold is null (Granovetter, 1983). With reference to the Amazon, Pizzorno (1981) explores the important case of the defense of cultural identity in a changing context. Roberts and Porters (2006) explores how collective action has evolved in Latin American cities, concluding that the repertoire of collective action has adapted to reflect more localized and territorial issues. Hupper (2005) brings together a set of studies that reaffirm the importance of collective action to wellbeing in developed countries. She quotes Keyes and Haidt, who argue that social wellbeing entails “feeling that we are contributing to society and engaging in pro-social behavior, and believing that society is capable of developing positively” (Keyes and Haidt, 2003, quoted in Hupper, 2005). Deneulin and Townsend (2006) develop this theme by asserting the importance of “common goods” that can only be enjoyed through participation in the act of joint production.5 Mayer (2002) relates some of this literature to the contemporary Andean context. Reciprocal domestic and interpersonal labor exchange remains
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common (ayni), along with minka, which occurs when a household head seeks the help of neighbors for construction of houses, tree felling, planting and harvesting activities at different times of the year. Within this analysis reciprocity and collective action have complementary functions and are bound together. But it remains hard to explain their resilience in the face of the incursion of the market. One explanation is that inputs such as paid labor cannot be valued solely in terms of commoditized value so long as such institutions also “reproduce certain social arrangements regarded as essential for the well-being of the group or community as a whole” (Long, 2001:109). The Peasant Community Law recognizes that collective action and the common good cannot easily be unbundled by officially acknowledging the role of collective action not only as an economic institution but also as a cultural instrument in preserving historical memory and Andean identity. In an urban context Altamirano (1984; 1988) highlights the continuity between rural collective action and the role played by regional associations of migrants as a social and cultural resource in the struggle for land authorization, civil rights, and local services. In contrast, De Soto (2001) suggests that collective action is likely to decline with modernization and development. These studies reveal how institutions of collective action evolve and depend on historical processes: emphasizing their resilience is not to deny the importance of the incursion that institutions of market and state make into people’s lives and livelihoods (Matos Mar, 2004). Rather we emphasize the need for openness to their continued influence in ongoing empirical analysis of the relation between institutions and wellbeing.
6.4.2. Case Studies This section examines how wellbeing is reproduced in everyday life through the institution of the faena. Background information on each of the seven case studies (one from each research site) is provided in tabular form in Table 6.6(a). These case studies illustrate how goals, resources, values and happiness events mix with and relate to social institutions. We study these everyday practices because institutions are constructed through the process of “habitualization” (Berger and Luckmann, 1967). We can find this practice at different levels and in different contexts. We explore the dimensions of an event such as faenas as “privileged points of penetration into other social and cultural universes” (Handelman, 1990: 9). Selected ethnographic data for each faena reveals its internal structure and what it means to participants. Our ethnographies cover the main objective of these, if they have a traditional ritual or not; the social abctors involved, hopes, interests, time, punishment, tools, food, and impact on wellbeing. In this logic, we understand how wellbeing or illbeing is produced. Following this, we will present the matrix that captures the summary of these ethnographies in all sites of the corridor. It illustrates how collective action involves all of these aspects of life in the context of rural societies. The practice is used in production, exchange of service, and consumption and also when people celebrate festivities. The integration of collective action is the norm: in
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Table 6.6(a) Characteristics of selected faenas Site
Main Purpose
Llajta Iskay Demonstration plot of barley
Ritual Main Social or Not? Actor Yes Communal association
Time to Plan Duration (Days) (Days) 7 1
Llajta Jock Building the wall of a pre-school
Yes
Parent teacher association
20
1
Selva Manta Clearing field roads of weeds Alegria Potato planting competition
No
Municipality and landowners Communal association
20
1
7
1
Communal association Water users’ committee Parent teacher association
14
1
Quarterly event
1
7
1
Yes
Descanso
Tree felling
No
Progreso
Cleaning water supply channel Construction of the wall of the school
No
Nuevo Lugar
No
rituals, language, symbols, networks, and social order, as is its evolution over time and in relation to context. The analysis here draws on findings from the ECB in particular to explain how faenas reproduce values, resources, goals, and happy events.6 We selected the institution of faenas because it is a common and multidimensional practice of collective action incorporated flexibly into everyday life; it is an important practice in the research sites as well as a mechanism for cultural cohesion more widely in Peru. Faenas are also connected to past events, serving as part of the historical tradition of Andean culture; they incorporate a set of values and serve as a “reservoir of meaning” (Handelman, 1990:56; Connerton, 1989:2).
6.4.2.1. Llajta Iskay: A Community Crop of Barley According to the ECB, the most important institutions of Llajta Iskay are family, community, government and authority. The selected faena took place as a result of the intervention by the government agency National Program of Management of Water Resources and Soils Conservation (PRONAMACHS) in a way that sought to involve family and community also. Its goal was to improve communal agriculture and nutrition through better barley production. The faena coincided with important goals and resources identified by individuals through the ECB, including: “community,” “job,” “relationships,” “sowing crops.” It also provided a space where people articulated important values identified through the ECB: “good person,” “help,” “worker,” “cheerful,” “make fiestas,” “being organized,” and “prosperous.” In Llajta Iskay, the faena required a minimum of 10 days of planning. It started early in the morning and when the task began, the head of the community (called the uma) and the
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commoners screamed: “huq umalla” (meaning “only one head”), “huq makilla” (“only one hand”), “huq songa” (“only one heart”). The people worked very hard with much discipline, great emotion, jokes and laughter. This faena also provided an opportunity for playing of music and for dances. There were spaces of time for rest where women offered coca leaves and food, and people discussed community issues and exchanged gossip (chismes—itself an important mechanism of social control). Many important decisions relating to communal life emerge from such events. The people of Llajta Iskay are improving nutrition, agriculture, land, and participation in community life. Furthermore, like fiestas, this is a happy event that people could look forward to and remember positively. It is also an event within which people can maintain and strengthen family networks, spiritual bonds with compadres and padrinos, and wider relationships inside and outside of the community that are important throughout the year.
6.4.2.2. Llajta Jock: Construction of School Boundary Wall This event again involved collaboration between important institutions identified through the ECB: family, community, and an NGO (Caritas). It began when a schoolteacher asked the community leader for support in construction of a wall around the village school. After some days of deliberation, they decided to organize the task with labor provided by the children’s fathers. As is the norm, households headed by widows or single mothers were not required to participate. The president of the community also approached Caritas to request food for lunch, promising that women of the community would cook. The traditional structure of the faena was repeated: they took chaccha (coca) when they started the job and organized different activities in relation to participants’ experience in construction. Three women also attended the faena on the first day, and this prompted very intense discussion over whether they should pay the quota or fine that is normally charged when the husband of a family does not attend. The norm was clear: husbands belonging to the communal association must assist, but some members argued that this rule need not apply to a faena that did not concern agricultural labor. The schoolteacher intervened arguing that in this situation the norm is not necessary because the task is for the children, rather than being a strictly communal association activity. The faena was only needed because of the failure of the state to provide resources for building the wall, Llajta Jock being such a distant place. This intervention reveals the teacher’s authority over the people, as well as the importance of values cited in the ECB: “not fight,” “receive advice,” “be a good person.” Goals such as “work,” “to be commoners” were also revealed by the faena and linked to the “raise a family” meta goal. The result was good. When they finished the task further plans were made for the construction of a new classroom.
6.4.2.3. Selva Manta: Clearing Field Roads Selva Manta is a jungle area with abundant weeds that make it difficult to pass along farm tracks to carry out agricultural activities. The village does
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not reflect traditional Andean practices because people mostly work for large landowners (hacendados). They are also governed more by an evangelistic ethic. However, come winter they nevertheless organize faenas to clear all the weeds blocking access roads to the fields. In this case, groups of neighbors initiate the task by asking the municipality for help in supplying a grader to support this work. The representative from the municipality also helps to coordinate the neighbors, decides on the day and informs all inhabitants. The landowner is the mayor of the municipality, and most people have either a genetic or symbolic family relationship with him. Being compadres, ahijados, or padrinos underpins a patron-client relationship that confers on him power to give them jobs. They start the faena very early. The representative from the municipality explains the task for the day that must be completed. They bring food and tools. Only the men are allowed to participate, and if they fail to attend, they must pay a quota that is the equivalent of one day’s wage. The ECB goals that people achieve include: “good environment,” as well as happy events such as “good agricultural production” and “good prices for products.” The faena also reproduces values such as being a “good person,” “offering help to others” and bringing about “peace and tranquility.” The latter is especially valued by local people given that this place suffered heavily during political violence in the 1980s.
6.4.2.4. Alegria: An Agricultural Competition to Raise Money for a Fiesta This “faena” mixes different elements of everyday life, being simultaneously an agricultural activity, a competition, and a fiesta. The immediate objective was chacmeo, or the preparation of soil for cultivation of potatoes. It also served the following individual goals recorded through the ECB: “sowing crops,” “food,” “to participate in the community,” “not to fight,” and “to care for the land.” At the same time the faena is part of religious festivities, a competition for younger members of the communal farmers association, and a means of spreading information about authorities’ activities and political campaigns. It began when the president of the community informed the members of the communal farmers association through the local radio. The communal association’s leader and spokesperson (the varayoc) invited other organisations to donate prizes for the competition: the justice of peace offered the first prize of 80 Soles in cash; the second prize was a sack of sugar donated by the municipality. The NGO Caritas donated provisions to prepare a pachamanca: traditional food to mark the significance of the day. The faena starts with each neighborhood in the town (barrio) encouraging the younger and most efficient communeros to compete. They arrive to prepare the soil very early in the morning. But all communeros including widows, single mothers, and the old must participate on this special day, arriving to help later. The varayocs control the two groups. Everyone sows potatoes to show respect to the religious saint that the land belongs to: the harvest will support religious festivities: including costs of hiring an orchestra, buying food and alcohol. During rest breaks women offer coca leaves, liquor, and some
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food. During lunch, the leaders also inform participants of different government plans. This is an opportunity for participation, criticism and discussion, with much joking also. On this occasion the governor is also campaigning, offering gifts of agricultural tools because he hopes to become the district mayor. In the afternoon a local orchestra arrives and the judges of the competition select the winners. Normally, there is conflict over the decision: all the more intense for the more valuable prizes. All barrios aspire for first place, making the deliberation sometimes very difficult. Peace returns when older communeros invoke the religious motive underlying the task and festivities. The faena reproduces the following values of the people as revealed by the ECB: “work very hard,” “do things for community,” “to help.” Also it represents an important event in emotional terms for the community: a collective event that helps people to organize themselves in relation to the annual calendar. As with the case study from Llajta Iskay, it is also an event that reproduces social relationships.
6.4.2.5. Descanso: Cutting Timber Descanso has substantial forests of eucalyptus trees, constituting one of the main assets of the communal farmers association, and when the association needs money for different activities through the year it can sell timber. The general assembly has a meeting to decide when it must pay for different items. The leaders of the community call commoners with bugles and big drums. Different barrios are represented at the assembly and deliberations occur over community and family needs, action and tasks. The faena described here was just one outcome of such a meeting. Communeros were required to provide labor for cutting timber in order to pay for the expenses for the community. The leaders first negotiate a contract and price for its sale. The tree felling starts at 0800 hours in the morning and the majority of communeros attend. Leaders have a list and check attendance. Those who are absent have to pay fines. The statutes indicate that children and people over 50 years old cannot be sent. The communeros also bring tools for the day. The jobs are organized according to different areas and experience. Those with experience as carpenters and builders plan the day’s task. There is also a competition. Those who finish the task first get a prize of soda water and aguardiente (liquor made from sugar cane). During the faena the communeros exchange items with each other and gossip about everyday life, and in the rest periods they consume coca, fruits, cigarettes and bread. Also, lunch is a very significant time when leaders inform others about community activities. When the day ends, the communeros are very happy with the task because the profits are for the community. This case study demonstrates how the “business” (of harvesting and selling the trees) is viewed simultaneously as value, goal, resource, and a happy community event.
6.4.2.6. Progreso: Cleaning the Drinking Water System This shantytown has only been in existence for a short time and many basic services are still absent. The water committee is an important institution, providing drinking water to many residents with enormous effort (see chapter 2).
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The individual goals it serves are “water,” “live in good health,” and “nutrition.” Members have a rural background but have adopted some urban values and modes of behavior. The state program National fund for compensation and social development (FONCODES) has supported capital costs of developing the drinking water system, but members of the water committee contribute voluntary labor through faenas every three months for maintenance of the water channel. They divide into four different groups and walk for 45 minutes to the starting place, getting there by 0800 hours. The representative of the municipality is the leader, and checks the attendance of all users. The work continues until midday after which everyone returns to their home because they do not bring food. That is one of the main differences from rural faenas, but participants nevertheless use the occasion to exchange jokes and tell stories. The neighbors attending can be up to fifty years old and must be men: if they do not attend then the water committee cuts the water service as a punishment. Important values reproduced include: “to help,” “to secure assets for the community” and “to be hardworking.”
6.4.2.7. Nuevo Lugar: Construction of a School Boundary Wall Faenas in Nuevo Lugar mostly take place in the service sector to make up for absence of provision by state or the private sector. They generally do not include rituals, and individual family values dominate the social sphere. However, the case study reveals how collective action can link values, goals, resources, and happiness events even in an urban setting: the specific goals being served being “to raise a family,” “and educate children.” “To be professional” and “to accumulate assets” are important underlying values, while “education of children” is not only valued and seen as a resource, but also the most common “happiest event” in the area. Participating in the faena to construct a wall around the secondary school is also a resource for “leaving the community.” The faena was designated for one Sunday every month. On the day in which the field investigator participated the group were cleaning the area to organize a pollada on the following day. This is a collective practice whereby one association or family cooks chicken and other food, as well as selling beer, to raise profits for some public goal or in response to an emergency need for cash, such as a funeral or need to pay medical expenses. The faena was organized by the parents association (“APAFA”). It started at 0800 in the morning and the quota for not attending was 10 Soles. Everybody was required to bring with them tools for the work. On arrival they were allocated tasks according to gender, age, and specialist skills. Some people complained about their participation, particularly the amount of time it occupied. But while working together they talked about jobs, the political situation, media, television programs, transport problems, and issues with neighbors. In the period of rest they drink Coca cola and lemonade, but no alcohol. Either they brought food for lunch, or their wives brought it for them later. The majority wanted to finish the task early so as to be able to rest and watch television, because it was a Sunday and normally this is the day that people rest
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after working very hard during the rest of the week. Nevertheless they attend because they think that it is important for their children to study in a good environment and they have a plan to continue the faena in order to construct a sports field.
6.4.3. Synthesis In this section we note similarities and differences between the selected case studies, with a view to highlighting how the institution of faenas contributes in different ways to wellbeing.7 Table 6.6(a) illustrates how the institution was adapted to serve different material goals in different contexts. Although generally more ritualized in the Andean rural sites this distinction is not perfect. Likewise it is worth noting that faenas were initiated by parent-teacher associations in both the smallest rural and the largest urban site. In other words, it is too simplistic to assume more embedded communal forms with rural areas and more disembedded individualized versions with urban areas. Table 6.6(b) highlights adaptive flexibility of faenas, in terms of who participates and provides inputs, but also significant continuity with respect to a norm of penalizing nonparticipation. The last column also furnishes the researchers’ assessment of the extent to which each faena achieved its main purpose. With a larger sample it would be possible to subject observable details of faena organization and outcomes to more rigorous functionalist analysis, thereby contributing to an expanding empirical literature in institutional economics on determinants of the effectiveness of group mediated action. Here we are instead concerned to emphasize the wider range of effects of faenas on social and symbolic as well as material dimensions of wellbeing. These are highlighted in table 6.6(c) that shows how each event acts as a way of linking social values and goals identified using the ECB with social relationships, resources and happiness. These linkages are very diverse. For example, in Llajta Iskay communal crop production was intended in part to reproduce community solidarity and shared instruction in technical aspects of barley production, whereas in Alegria it was also a way of not only raising money but also encouraging individual competition. Building on the distinction drawn by Deneulin and Townsend (2006) there are also striking differences in the extent to which the faenas contributed instrumentally to production of “public goods” which were then consumed individually (e.g., water, better education, access to fields) or to “common goods” enjoyed only through participation (e.g., fiestas, generation of funds to sustain communal self-organization).
6.4.4. Epifania Meza, President of “Rondas Campesinas” from Descanso The data consolidated in the previous section refers to single events in each site and this limits the scope for analysis of how institutions, in this case faena, have evolved over time. To compensate for this we present in this section the
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Table 6.6(b) Continued Participation
Punishment for Supply of Nonparticipation Tools
Food
Llajta Iskay Llajta Jock
Communeros (18–60) All parents
Community jail Communeros Community and NGO Fine of 10 soles Parents Government (PRONAA)
Selva Manta
All men in the locality
Fine of 15 soles Municipality Each person (one daily wage)
Alegria
Communeros Fine of 10 soles and neighbors
Communeros Communal association
Descanso Communeros and some laborers Progreso Water users
Fine of 20 soles Communeros Buy with (one daily wage) money from fines No water Users At home
Nuevo Lugar
Fine of 10 soles
Parents
Parents
Buy fried chicken
Outcome Perception Bad: small harvest Good: better place for children Good: improved access to fields Good: most demonstrated competence Bad: they hoped for more Good: water access highly valued Quite good: seeking more state support
life history of one woman to illustrate the role of individual agency in the evolution of institutions.8 Epifania Meza participated in numerous institutions through the practice of collective action. She was born in September 1949 in the community of Descanso. Her father was a farmer with only primary school education. “He walked without shoes, only using yanquee” (traditional leather shoes). He always said to her “we must care for our own land.” Her mother was illiterate and sold food in the town market. When she was younger she left home to work in Lima without the permission of her parents. She wanted “to learn about the city.” In Lima she worked for three years (from 14 to 17) with her family patron (head). When she became “a little tired” she came back to Descanso again. After that, she went with her sister to the mining centre of Morococha that belonged at the time to an American company. She married a worker from this company after fifteen days of being in love. He was a watchman and leader of the labor union and they organized a strike against the company. She explained: “the wives must take care of their husbands from the attacks of the police, because the strike was illegal.” The wives of the watchmen organized a
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Table 6.6(c)
Continued Values
Llajta Help; make Iskay: fiesta; be sow a organized community field of barley. Llajta Jock: Good person; construct a not fight; preschool give advice; boundary to share wall Selva Manta: Peace and field road tranquility; maintenance to help; to give work
Goals
Social Actors
Resources
Animals; agriculture; community; food
Family; government; community; authority
Community; sow crops
House; family; be a good communero,
Family; neighbors; community; NGO
Work direct; community
Family; land; Neighborhood Landowner; good associations; contacts environment landowner
Alegria: Work hard; do Build potato plant- things for the community ing competi- community; tion Descanso: Responsible; to Business tree cutting have goods Progreso: cleaning of water channel
Nuevo Lugar: construct a school boundary wall
Community; government
Community
Happiest Events Fiesta; authority; work
Study/ learning
Good agricultural output and prices Fiestas; agriculture
Neighborhood Business; Business associations work in community Assets for the Water; good Neighborhood Neighborhood Assets community relations with associations; associations; neighbors; water sacrifice; healthy committee support; environment; institutions health; food Be professional; Basic services; Neighbors; NeighborFamily help; study family; friends hood life; children organization children’s education
Source: Case studies cross-analyzed with qualitative data collected through the ECB.
“women’s committee” in defense of their husbands. As a consequence of this strike, the watchmen organization secured better rights. She added: “Wives played an important role.” The workers obtained stability and security. But she divorced her husband because he had affairs with other women: “he enjoyed a happy life—girls and drinking alcohol. He was a failure.”
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She then moved to Concepción in the Mantaro Valley with her children. There, she became involved with a school organization as a leader of the parents association. They fought with a director of the school because “he was a corrupt man” and managed to force him to leave. The new director was a good man because he worked in coordination with the parents’ association and together they bought land for the construction of the school. She decided to go back to Descanso after her father died and her children studied in the school there. She accepted the presidency of the school association because “If in Concepción I did something why not in my own town.” They constructed the school with enormous effort and received support from parents, families, and the local government. They bought lands and diverse property. Initially, the children studied in the office of the local municipality. After that, she was elected president of the water committee. She coordinated with the government and achieved the installation of domestic water for half of the community. From 1980 she started to participate in a mother’s club as a member because she needed food for her children. There she got to know a nurse who said to her “Epigenia, you are an energetic woman—we need land for the medical post. Why don’t you organize an association to achieve this goal?” She achieved this with support from diverse institutions, including the Women’s Association of the Mantaro Valley (called Yachaqmama). It was formed by women leaders from different towns around the region who had meetings in Huancayo. Reflecting on her experience she maintains: “we are poor but through poverty we learn to do things well, for we will not be discriminated against anymore. We must self educate for progress, if not we will never escape our situation.” Later she visited Nicaragua as a leader of the National Confederation of Women Farmers of Peru. There was an international meeting marking 500 years of indigenous resistance, where she got to know Rigoberta Menchu, winner of the Nobel peace prize. She told Rigoberta about her experience in organizations. This was at the time of the terrorism. She recalls “the violence was very hard, we could not sleep safely. We had to sleep outside at home. People were murdered, and we didn’t have authorities, and so we organized rondas campesinas.” She was elected president. “I did not forget that men had been too afraid to be elected leaders. They said we will protect you. You won’t be killed because you are a woman.” But her secretary of economy, Ricardina Romero, was killed by the Sendero Luminoso. Later she went to Lima for a national parade as the first rondera. “When we paraded in the avenue I stopped and gave the president of the Republic, Fujimori, a memorandum with a list of needs of my town. The police were nervous but after only a few seconds I returned to my line.” Now, she continues with this office. “Even when there is no internal war, the organization achieves goals of development and progress, for instance; to make illiterate people learn, to educate society.” In the most recent municipality elections she was elected as a registrar (regidor) and given responsibility for health, parks and transport. “It was very hard because we must learn to manage the budget and that is very difficult.” She organized the municipal transport. “We fought with the private company. It provided a bad service.” Simultaneously, she is a member of communal farmers association where “the life is traditional. The
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people work together between laughs and jokes. We are more women than men but in the decisions men win. I cry because we need more participation. The community is not like the city, sometimes women are excluded.” She assists in trainings, sometimes neglecting her family. But she does not regret this because they learn very fast: “our children must be better than us.” This life history illustrates the formation of values, goals and perceptions of resources. It reveals how the experience of wellbeing is transformed, reproduced and constructed through time. It also furnishes fourteen instances of how one woman participated in different forms of collective action in order to convert values and goals into resources and wellbeing. WeDQoL goals reflected in her testimony include the following: peacefulness (neither delinquency nor violence); to progress; clean and nice neighborhood; marriage; children; education for children; health and nutrition; work with salary; and to be professional. Resources include: get help and migration. Values include: to be professional; to give help to people; to be responsible and to work hard. In summary, there are values and goals of life that provide incentives to mobilize resources and generate emotions of satisfaction and fulfillment. Institutions provide a space where people achieve these. They are embedded in culture and have multiple dimensions (material, social, symbolic). The combination of elements as much as each one on its own contributes to wellbeing or illbeing.
6.5. Conclusions We considered at the beginning how different theories are able to explain the purpose and evolution of institutions. It would appear that discipline specific theories are limited in explaining the relationship between institutions and wellbeing. We have demonstrated that wellbeing is generated through the relationships between goals, resources, and values inside institutions. Studying events such as faenas and fiestas, these relationships can be explored and demonstrated. Life goals are important to understanding institutions, and other theories need to be reinterpreted in this light. Institutions emerge and relate to wellbeing goals and resource perception. The happiest moments are the privileged events expressed by these relationships. In this way, wellbeing is a whole experience expressed in the connection of goals, resources and values where institutions are a space for their achievement. These points have been demonstrated through case studies of the relationship between collective action and wellbeing. Reflecting back on the literature, I conclude that the thesis of Polanyi (about the separation of institutions in the early phases of capitalism) most closely resonates with these experiences in Peru. This is because the institutions operate as a whole rather than acting independently. That is clear in the rural context where people have experience with diverse institutions as part of their everyday life. Furthermore, in the city, the associations are involved in markets and provide space or scope for achievement of other goals such as that of education or health. Along with this institutionalization comes the process of habitualization described by Berger and Luckmann.
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Appendix to Chapter 6. Field Notes on Two Festivals9 Introduction Initial research in Peru as part of the WeD project highlighted that festivities were one of the most important elements of self-perceived happiness, particularly in rural areas. The jalapato (“win the duck”) is the most important festival in the calendar of Llajta Jock. Participant observation, combined with ethnographic information, enables us to understand this event. The event is also compared with the Santiago [St. James] festival in Cajas Chico in Huancayo city. This report first describes the two festivals in turn, and then analyses their significance.
Santiago in Cajas Chico This old neighborhood of Huancayo brings together prosperous and old livestock-producing families known to maintain their Huanca identity and customs. The Santiago festival invokes Taita Shanti (the apostle St. James) to protect the wellbeing and fertility of livestock. Herdsmen also participate. The festival is important to preserving rural identity of the community. The neighborhood currently comprises a mixture of prosperous and poor households. We were invited courtesy of the Arroyo Tovar family, though Maribel, one of the WeD Peru investigators. The image of St. James is to be found in the church of lower Chongos (blunt knife). Some days before the festival the Arroyo Tovar family went there to take mass, to give thanks for events during the past year, and ask for a better year to follow. During the mass they pray in front of candles held upright by cord made of hairs from a cow’s tail. On the eve of the festival there is a wake to Coca Kintoy. This starts at 2100 hours. A vase displays the flowers of St. James, along with a special type of straw. On top of these are displayed belts of wool of different and intense colors, along with the national colors. They will be used the next day as collars for the livestock. An abundance of fresh coca leaves, wuajay cholo (aguardiente, literally “that which brings tears to the peasant”), Inca cigars, and other traditional products are also displayed. Beside the table sits the patron (owner of the animals), priests, his wife, children, and other family. The only dance and song is the shacatan accompanied by the violin and a tinya (a kind of tambourine). The patron distributes the coca leaves for the coca kintoy, which consists of a search for coca leaves without any blemish—a token of good luck. In the meantime the coca is chewed and the wuajay cholo is shared. The wake comes to an end when the candles are extinguished. Between four and five on the morning of the main day of the festival the patron lights a bundle of straw that has come from the cowshed to scare off evil spirits. This is the luciluci or dawn of the festival. Fortified by the notorious wuajay cholo the patron, herdsmen, and family dance, pausing to rest a little only to take a delicious breakfast. During the breakfast, invited guests arrive and their hosts express their affection for them with the first of the day’s
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many draughts. The host serves wuajay cholo and offers it to the guest of honor, who finishes it quickly and shakes the glass toward the ground. With the same glass the next customer is served, the process being repeated with all the invited guests. This process lasts the whole day, each guest being served several times. The concept of Andean collectivism makes it inconceivable that each individual should have their own glass—to drink is an important collective act. It is unthinkable to ask for your own glass. Moreover, it is an offence to reject a draught. The wuajay cholo is interspersed with draughts of chicha (maize beer) with a smoother taste and lower alcohol content. It is served in the same way, except that the host serves it from a bucket rather than from a bottle. Beer is also part of the harsh menu. The host leaves each group one or more 620 ml bottles—the number being an expression of appreciation—up to a maximum of a crate of a dozen bottles. The invited is always in a circle of friends. He/she receives a bottle and a glass, serves himself/ herself and then passes the bottle to the person beside him, generally to the right. He/she finishes the glass, shakes it forcefully to remove any drops that remain, and then passes the glass to the person with the bottle. This person now serves himself and passes the bottle to the next, and so on round the group. Normally, before the alcohol is finished one or another member of the circle will introduce more. The closer you are to the guests of honor the better. A band plays traditional music through the day—in this case typical Santiago Huayla tunes from the Mantaro valley. Like all of its kind it has its own proper dance, whose beauty and complexity puts foreign dances to shame. More close friends and family arrive. Some make some contribution. This is generally drink or food for the new year. These gestures are rewarded with a specific piece of music from the band. Meanwhile breakfast is served. This may be a tripe soup, chicken consommé or pork, but always tasty and in extravagant quantity. And this is only the beginning. Lunchtime is when the central part of the fiesta takes place. It is organized by another family. The festival in Cajas Chico is organized by family circles. Hence there are several fiestas during the same days. The most wealthy families organize the lunch, which goes on until late in the night or even until dawn, others the breakfast and others provide moral support to their neighbors. In this way the festival lasts several days and constitutes a competition over who can organize it best, but a competition where the object is to show affection, share, to lavish hospitality on both friend and family, and strengthen social bonds. Its not just a pleasure to participate in Santiago. When the link is close it becomes an obligation. Moreover, for special invitees who receive a formal invitation, it is practically imperative that they attend. Nevertheless, there is a complex code of special attention, specific to the hierarchical character of Andean culture. The movement from the breakfast site to the lunch site takes the form of a procession. The hosts go first, followed by the guests of honor, family and friends. Women are adorned in beautiful and expensive traditional dress: a Huanca hat; a llicilla (a special poncho/blanket for Santiago) above a blouse . . . . The men wear a hat, but the rest of their dress is Western. At the end of the procession comes the band. People dance in pairs or threes depending on the proportion of men and women present, moving forward and backward
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to the rhythm of the music, as if they are enjoying the procession so much they don’t ever want to arrive. People swagger and shout, overcome with emotion at peak moments in the dancing. When the procession from another fiesta also appears in the street, the sense of Andean competition is unmistakable: dancing and singing with ever greater gusto to indicate who is enjoying themselves most, who has more invited guests and whose are the most distinguished. At last, each procession moves off in its own direction. The traffic is interrupted, but the drivers are too caught up in the scene to object. At last this intense activity—all at 3,200 meters—arrives at its destination. Participants now form circles and continue dancing, between more rounds of drinks. Now the dancing, alcohol and enjoyment rise to an even greater frenzy. Lunch is served just in time to enable people to remain on their feet, despite the alcohol. It is a gastronomic feast, such as only an ancient culture dedicated to luxury can offer. What the Andes lacks in a culture of wine it more than makes up with aguardiente, chicha, and beer. The dancing continues and now comes the climax of the fiesta—the harranza (branding) of animals. The hosts give their animals a mixture of liquors and coca leaves chosen from the Coca Kintoy. The animals also enjoy the alcohol. Ribbons are placed around the collars of the married (already breeding) animals. Then it is the turn of the solitary animals—and humans. They are given drinks and adorned with ribbons, including the national colors. Then pairs embrace and are covered in a blanket. This consummates their marriage, and they are decorated with special garlands. This is a ritual offering to the productivity and fertility of the animals. Once this branding is over the procession moves on to a third and final place. Here the ritual of dancing, conversation, brotherhood, and especially alcohol— much alcohol—continues to dominate. Through this people experience intense levels of happiness, as if such happiness could not be contained within their bodies. More beer is offered by those present as a unit of value of their affection, expressed by the crate-load (each of a dozen bottles). At the end of the day (late in the night) 250 participants can consume as many as 90 crates. Of this about half will have been out of the budget (and affection) of the hosts. On the next day, breakfast is served in another house, then lunch and Santiago in another. The same happens on the next day, continuing the ritual so that no one is left “picking their teeth.” The hosts save all year for the festival. They do without luxuries all year in order to spend on the festival. On the other hand, during the rest of the year they will be invited to other festivals, and in this collective manner be able to party periodically through shared expenditure. In spite of its urban location, the festival remains the axis of the community’s identity and quality of life.
The Jalapato in Llajta Jock The arrival of the band around midday marks the beginning of the celebration. As in Santiago, it is made up of around a dozen wind instruments (including saxophone and clarinets) plus a harp and a violin. The quality of the band is an indicator of the success of the fiesta and a big part of the budget. The festivities
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have been organized in a traditional pattern. One person has been given overall responsibility, and to this end will have literally been saving for the whole year. This year a young comunero (member of the village peasant association) of 24 took on responsibility for being master of ceremonies, along with his partner. However, she gave up the burden, arguing that it was a waste of money. The young patron also wanted to give up, but his family “motivated” (?!) him to see it through, for fear of the criticisms that would otherwise result. His mother took on the role of matron and various comuneros committed to help him with food, drink, ribbons—each according to their means. A little before the arrival of the band, the aguardiente was already circulating—this time probably somewhat fortified with methylated spirits. The comuneros slowly assemble. The procession, this time, takes a turn around the centre of the whole village of 44 households. The patrons lead, then their family and close friends, then general participants and finally the band. They make their way to the house of the patron to take a stew/broth prepared for everyone present. The lunch, as with the traditional dress, is similar to those of Santiago, as already described: likewise the band, the dancing, the aguardiente, chicha, beer, and the warmth and generosity of the hosts. Perhaps here the peasants are more reticent. The hosts distribute ribbons to the guests of honor as a memento of the fiesta. After lunch, and after dinner, drinking and dancing the duck arrives, adorned with ribbon, clothes, and adornments. It is also offered a drink. At the same time a pole arrives, adorned with plaited ribbons. The guests pull on the ribbons and then turn to the poor duck. The food is not as sophisticated as it was in Cajas Chico. But nevertheless there is sharing in abundance and magnificent flavor. The chicha is delicious—though the same can’t necessarily be said of the aguardiente. The procession now moves to the centre of the village, with the master of ceremonies at its head carrying the duck and followed by the decorated pole. First, they stop at the house of a comunera who lives in Switzerland. She greets them affectionately as long-lost relatives. Here they follow the path of crates of beer, drinking them faster and faster to the rhythm of the Huaylas and Santiago. For the moment, the majority of those present are immigrants who live in the cities and have returned to Llajta Jock for the fiesta. They wear traditional costume and enjoy the music to the point of ecstasy, along with customs that they cannot find in the cities, at least in such an authentic and traditional form. It is interesting that despite being adapted to city life, the fiesta remains a landmark in their year; perhaps it serves as an “emotional regulator” not only for the hard and monotonous life in the Andes, but also for the stress and exclusion of the urban life of the immigrant. Once or twice a year they return to their home village to share hard-won gains from the city, where they are not excluded but honored (it being a paradox of migration that the village itself is excluded). They find their food, their music, their dance, their old friends, their values and culture. The doors are open, but subtle codes also control who joins in the lunch, and in which house, according to a complex Andean hierarchy. The procession continues toward the centre of the village. It follows strict twists and turns before finally coming to a halt in front of the ancient chapel.
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Here more and more comuneros assemble. Many local residents are the last to arrive, a form of self-exclusion borne of a sense of not being at the centre of the community of returning émigrés from the village.10 Between dancing and liquor the moment arrives when the patron and matron deliver the duck, symbol of the fiesta, to the communal authorities. At the centre of the table the president of the comuneros is accompanied by the deputy governor and deputy mayor. Their formal speeches, and that of the master of ceremonies, emphasizing the importance of customs, and of progress, are a civil sermon to reinforce the values of the community. Music and alcohol continue to drown the festival. The duck also drinks excessively. It is blindfolded with a ribbon and placed under a specially constructed arch. The participants dance around it in pairs, pulling on the ribbons, with the dance master ensuring, with the use of a whip that it is done in order—first women, then men, but without enough ribbons for everyone to join in. Then comes the reading of the last will and testimony of the duck (see box). This is written by relatives of the master of ceremonies and is a parody of daily life in the community, drawing attention to various delicate themes, reinforcing values and emphasizing the positive. For example the duck bestows a large brain to the schoolteacher, to continue to teach the children of the village well. More music, dancing, and liquor follows. The duck, even more drunk than your anthropologist, is hung by the feet and raised up under the arch, some three and a half meters tall. Participants continue to dance around it to the rhythm of the orchestra. Youngsters jump up to try to touch its neck. But it is too high. In years gone by it was horsemen who would to grab the duck at the gallop. People carry on dancing round until the authorities lower the rope from which the duck is hanging. A person below the arch jumps. In this case we are talking of a mature three-year-old duck. Even though the person holds onto its neck to the point at which his feet rise into the air, the head of the duck does not separate from the body. The task gets more and more out of hand, with two, three, up to five youngsters holding onto the neck—competing to be master of ceremonies for next year and so repeat the cycle. The deputy governor uses his whip to control the brawling comuneros, so that they continue in more orderly fashion. People criticize the chaos, but the youngsters are blinded by their pursuit of the head. After interminable minutes one of the participants ends up with the head. He will be the master of ceremonies for the following year and will work all year for the event.
Discussion The importance of the fiesta as a central event in the self-perception of happiness can be redefined in terms of its intensity, sharing, catharsis, reaffirmation of values, shared identity and reinvigoration. We find evidence in the direction of our earlier hypothesis (Yamamoto et al., 2004a–f): the fiesta is a system for redistributing wealth, a costly but central symbolic event for Andean society. The patrons of the fiesta live austerely for a whole year, saving in order to “throw the whole house out of the window,” on the festival day. It is an Andean
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“By this testimony I hereby confirm that, on the 29[th] day of July of the year 2004, being Judge of Peace of this locality, Santa Rosa de Llajta Jock . . . occupation farmer, approximately 199 years old, to declare all my good assets for distribution, my faculties being in good order. Therefore, I have four wives, untold children[,] and stupid grandchildren. My four wives 1. To S, I leave a plot of land in the area known as Huasa pampa of ten square kilometers, in order that she can have a good spot for a fiesta and all my children and grandchildren can dance in tranquility. 2. To J, I leave another plot in the area of Huayllura where she can breed more fine cows and feed my children and grandchildren who return from the various parts of our country. 3. To E, I leave my land in Ccollpa that he can sow many vegetables, which I leave with much worry, because I have left various children unrecognized. 4. To M, I leave my physical body, for I now feel worn out and tired mostly because of her.” Excerpt from Last will and testimony of the duck, written by relatives of the master of ceremonies of Jalapato festivities in Llajta Jock, 2004.
equivalent of the Japanese philosophy of Sakura Hana, concerning the beauty of the intense and ephemeral. The enormous effort is nevertheless a bargain. In good years, a few times each decade, its possible to organize a fiesta and acquire prestige and social success. In modern Western society, the struggle for social acceptance is endless, mediated by an interminable elasticity of goals, reproducing neuroticism and harsh envy. In Llajta Jock, the youth fight for the head of the duck and the right to be chief of ceremonies next year. It’s a fundamental part of prestige and identity, that doesn’t focus on individual accumulation for interpersonal competition. The fiesta concerns prestige and identity centered in accumulation for the nuclear family, to share with extended family, friends, and neighbors. It is not capitalism under the premise of free competition, focused on concentration of wealth oriented toward the value of personal accumulation. Neither is it a form of communism that blocks part of human nature: its quest to compete and to be different. Andean society promotes permanent competition, and freedoms in production. But its goals and feelings are diametrically opposed to capitalist axioms, including the indispensability of permitting individual accumulation without redistribution to others, or worse still structures that result in the rich getting richer and the poor poorer, as occurs within the global economy. It would be so indecent to extract profit from personal accumulation, against the interests of neighbors, that it would not be sustainable. A global banker would probably end up in prison in an Andean community; or at least be expelled from it. Nobody dies of hunger, but neither are the lazy helped. The community offers support to help people start adult life and in moments of misfortune. But this is no welfare state; it is a tough state that does not tolerate complacency, robbery, lying (following the pre-Colombian
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tradition of ama llulla, ama kella, ama suya—three basic laws attributed to the Inca God Tawantinsuyo: do not be a thief, a liar, nor lazy). It is a system of natural decency that accepts competition as human nature, but then shares with everyone, enjoying the social prestige of doing so. A tough comparative analysis along the Peruvian corridor would be to identify at what point society loses this natural decency. It is possible that this theme can be linked to population size, kin, and family networks. Buss (2000) mentions various factors, from the perspective of evolutionary psychology, that characterize happy people. Among others he cites strong family links and living in small communities. In Huancayo it’s impossible to invite the whole city, so redistribution systems take place among family and friends. The fiesta is more selective. But there are also people who have lost this tradition, and the links that go with it. If the fiesta is a central element of the quality of life, these people and families have lost an important part of this in the process of migration and modernization. Like all processes of acculturation it is not a conscious loss—one that is felt but not precisely understood. This is a hypothesis to explore in future research. Equally, the fiesta is a cohesive part of family and friendship. Modernization may weaken family ties in an urban context, where there is no festival-based form of redistribution. In sum, we have sketched out one possible explanation of modern happiness in contrast to the happiness of small traditional Andean societies. The comparison between these two festivals highlights a gap in the design of the WeD sample. It’s difficult to understand quality of life in the context of poverty without understanding it in the urban non-poor context. Indeed this focus could hide a degree of paternalism, where the axiom that poverty is unhappiness, while wealth is happiness, is disingenuously taken as a given. It would be very interesting to include an urban sample of a different type, including traditional and modern across socioeconomic categories. Be it among the traditional urban rich, or remote rural communities, the fiesta maintains its vital character for quality of life. Modifications reflect different characteristics of the environment. In Llajta Jock they drink cheap aguardiente, in Cajas Chico one of quality. The food can be more or less sophisticated, as with the band. In Llajta Jock the whole community helps. In Cajas Chico it is family, friends and neighbors. Here it is the rich families who act as host each year. In Llajta Jock the responsibility is rotated. But the intensity of enjoyment, of sharing, of exorcising accumulated demons does not change with these details. We have emphasized the cathartic character of the fiesta, and found evidence in support of this. The intensity, lowering of restraints and excess is a permanent character. It’s like a mental “reseteo” (reset button on the computer) as preparation for the coming months. In addition, we find people reminiscing about the fiesta, enjoying memories of the happiest moments. As the next one approaches people relish the thought of it; thus the regulatory effect on emotions is elongated over time. This can be confirmed by longitudinal studies. The traditional and intergenerational character of the fiesta contrasts with the generation-specific and fashion-conscious style of modern partying. Perhaps if we look for some comparison with the intensity of the experience we find it in
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the modern rave or discotheque. But these kinds of fiestas tend to be transient in time, and restricted to the young. In Llajta Jock we have seen ninety-yearold women dancing together with adults and children—something that is hard to imagine at a rave. Everyone knows the dance, everyone enjoys themselves hugely. In the urban Lima context, the wedding feast is also intergenerational. But weddings are not sufficiently regular to have a regulatory emotional effect on quality of life. More importantly, they are a discriminatory celebration, for only a small and select group of invited family and friends. New Year celebrations are regular, but not based on such strong networks, and they lack the element of identity and sharing. In addition the Andean fiesta, by lasting several days can have saturating effect, avoiding the sense of let-down with celebrations that pass quickly, such as New Year. In contrast, the disco can be an event from Thursday to Saturday every week. But paradoxically, this can generate a degree of saturation, borne of over-rapid repetition that undermines the positive value of the event. These processes of emotional regulation offer a fascinating field for experimental research and subsequent application in order to improve quality of life, both in rural and urban areas, rich or otherwise. It’s important to take forward these processes to refine further our hypothesis and subsequent research. Notes * This chapter is an abbreviated and revised version of the thesis produced by Alvarez for his masters in Research (international development) at the University of Bath. James Copestake assisted mainly with editing. 1. The same method was used to investigate the operation of one “glass of milk” committee in each site, affiliated to a national nutrition program of the same name. This data is presented and analyzed by Copestake (2006). 2. The second part of this study demonstrates this evidence with qualitative data. The case of “faenas” will be analyzed in depth. 3. This approval may take place at a higher or lower level of the community, depending on the economic value of the plot concerned. The lower-lying terrains are generally more likely to be governed by the free market, while higher-lying lands are more often controlled by the UCVs. 4. In the case of Peru the studies of Gonzales Olearte reflect this theoretical approach. 5. In contrast, the idea of public goods (not fully rival or excludable) underpinning the economics literature generally assumes that the benefits of collective action can still be enjoyed individually. In contrast, common goods (such as playing in a sports team or musical ensemble) can only be enjoyed through participation in their production: even when terms of that participation are heavily contested. 6. In each case the ECB yielded a list of items mentioned or not mentioned by each respondent. Factor analysis was then used to identify the most important across the community as part of the process of constructing the WeDQoL scales. 7. Here it should be noted that no claim can be made that these are representative of faena generally: one criterion for their selection being that they coincided with the period when this work was included in the field team’s work plan (June and July 2005) and another being that the field worker was in a position to participate easily.
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8. The method is generated in interaction and dialogue with informants in the field (Brettell, 1998:526 in Russell, 1998). It can be “negotiated and contested; forgotten, suppressed, or recovered; revised, invented, or reinvented” (Climo, 2002:5). 9. Written by Jorge Yamamoto, Lida Cahuallanqui, and Maribel Arrollo (WeD Peru), August 2004. 10. When asked why migrants who are suffering hard times don’t return to the village, even when life could still be better for them there people say, among other things, that there would be too much shame to return without having succeeded in the intention to progress. Here we see that those who leave have higher status than those who stay.
Chapter 7
Reproducing Unequal Security: Peru as a Wellbeing Regime James Copestake and Geof Wood1
7.1. Introduction The main purpose of this chapter is to present an analysis of the wider institutional landscape within which poor and marginalized people in Peru have to negotiate their livelihoods and forge some sense of wellbeing. The chapter thereby aims to provide a country-level counterpoint to the richer but more microanalysis presented in the other chapters.2 In so doing, we also explore the extent to which lower level welfare arrangements can be regarded as autonomous from national institutions of market and state. Starting with those who rely primarily on rural livelihoods, then three livelihood strengthening options can be distinguished, corresponding to Hirschman’s (1970) distinction between “exit, voice and loyalty.” Migration is often a problematic escape into equally harsh and contested terrain for negotiating an alternative livelihood. Voice includes engaging in localized collective action and protest with an uncertain payoff. And loyalty often amounts to unreliable dependency on the patronage of monopoly employers, landlords, political brokers, richer relatives, NGO, and government. Many families combine all three options, with outcomes made more uncertain and unequal by Peru’s insertion into the global economy through mining, export crops, tourism, and international migration. Although Peru has frequently experienced internal conflict, most recently during the 1980s, these conditions beg the question why it has not experienced a more full-blown revolutionary response; what has to be explained, perhaps, is not the frequency of protest and conflict, but rather the reproduction of at least some semblance of order. This leads to a second purpose of this chapter, which is to draw on Peru’s experience to inform theoretical thinking on different kinds of “wellbeing regime.”3 The notion of a “regime” that is at the heart of this chapter implies a degree of system stability at the national level that is only possible through the reproduction over decades of some form of political arrangement between major interests (Kalecki, 1976). With respect more specifically to social policy
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Esping-Andersen (1991; 1999) developed the notion of “welfare state regimes” in OECD countries (with liberal, conservative, and social-democratic variations) as a function of political settlement over core values and priorities. Gough and Wood (2004) modified these arguments by introducing a comparative analysis of welfare regimes across the globe to capture situations where lack of consensus over core values and priorities reduces the role of the state and its inability to “de-commodify” markets to meet welfare objectives. Their comparative analysis distinguished between relatively settled and unsettled societies, and was aided by the concept of an “institutional responsibility matrix” (IRM) comprising the domains of state, market, community, and households in both domestic and international planes as overlapping but flawed potential providers of individual welfare, differentiated by gender and age. The more unstable the IRM, the less a society is politically settled. Given the paradox of its turbulent reproduction, an interesting question for Peru is where it lies on a settled-unsettled continuum.4 A comprehensive answer to this question is provided by Figueroa (2001b; 2001a; 2003; 2007) in the form of a mathematically rigorous equilibrium model of the interplay between four rational and self-interested groups of actors: political brokers, capitalists, skilled labor, and unskilled labor, the two forms of labor being also racially differentiated. Economic inequality between the two groups of workers is the legacy of a foundational colonial shock, and has economic, political and cultural dimensions. The model identifies an equilibrium trap that reproduces high inequality because unskilled workers are unable to form a political coalition capable of equalizing access to state education, social protection, and credit across a racial-class divide. As a result they are systematically deprived of being able to benefit more equally from the fruits of general capital accumulation. Here we follow Copestake (2007) in locating this analysis within a broader inclusion-exclusion framework that leaves open more options for change in the balance of economic, political, and cultural resources between groups in state, market, and community arenas, thereby admitting the possibility of a wider range of individual wellbeing outcomes and regime changes.5 The overall structure of the chapter is as follows. Section 7.2 provides a more detailed overview of the wellbeing regime model, including a discussion of how it departs from the welfare regime model described in Wood and Gough (2006). The remaining sections then analyze Peru’s experience with reference to the four components of this model: conditioning factors (7.3); the institutional responsibility matrix (7.4); wellbeing outcomes, with particular reference to social protection and human rights (7.5); and finally reproduction consequences (7.6).
7.2. Elements of a Wellbeing Regime: The Wellbeing Regime Model Figure 7.1 below sets out the basic model. Beginning at the bottom right-hand corner, the wellbeing outcomes of the population represent the classic objectives that social policy and social development aim to meet through social assistance,
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX
CONDITIONING FACTORS:
RESOURCE PROFILES
ALLIANCE BUILDING
• Societal integration and cohesion (Identity, • • • • • •
social closure, adverse incorporation) Differentiation in cultures and values Location in global political economy (influence of globalization) Framing of policy agendas and priorities (universal versus local) State form: Legitimacy and competences Labor markets Financial markets
State Market Community Household
Domestic
Supra-national
Domestic governance Domestic markets Civil society, NGOs Households
International organizations, national donors Global markets, MNCs International NGOs International household strategies
POLICY intervention: improve resource profile to enable alliance building and sharing of wellbeing agenda amongst different actors within IRM
+/–
REPRODUCTION CONSEQUENCES (–) Simple reproduction: Reproduction or reinforcement of stratification outcomes (inequality, exclusion, exploitation, domination). Mobilizations of elites to maintain status quo to buttress own power resources
+/–
(+) Extended/expanded reproduction: New alliances established between poor and different actors within IRM (e.g., middle class) to enhance agency to negotiate IRM and manage resource profiles, starts a virtuous circle to improve wellbeing outcomes and mobilize the poor
Figure 7.1
Model for wellbeing regimes
WELL-BEING OUTCOMES
Mobilization of elites and poor to reinforce or change reproduction consequences
Stratification
• HDI • MDGs • Need satisfactions • Subjective wellbeing • Security of agency (avoidance of alienation) • Freedom to + freedom from: i.e., capabilities, rights, and citizenship • Universal sense of wellbeing to overcome negative diversity but allow local conceptions of wellbeing
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as well as investment in human resources and agency. Indicators include satisfaction of basic and intermediate needs, and reduction of poverty. In moving from welfare to wellbeing, outcomes are extended to include social identity, citizenship, participation, reduced alienation, freedom from fear, and subjective wellbeing. Moving to the top right of the figure, wellbeing outcomes are not explained simply by the presence and practice of policy. Rather they are explained by agency-structure interaction within an institutional responsibility matrix or welfare mix. This is the institutional landscape within which people pursue their livelihoods, and embrace the role of government, community (informal as well as legally constituted), markets, and the household, alongside corresponding international actors and processes.6 The welfare mix in turn is greatly shaped by the conditioning factors of a country (top left): including the pervasiveness and character of markets, the legitimacy and competence of the state, the extent of societal integration, cultural values, and the position of the country in the global system. Finally, under reproduction consequences we consider social stratification and patterns of political mobilization by elites and other groups (bottom left of Figure 7.1) as both cause and consequence of the other factors. Social stratification refers both to the existing distribution of power in society, as determined by the welfare mix, and to inequalities in wellbeing outcomes. These contribute to mobilizations of different groups and coalitions, which either reinforce (in more settled societies) or change conditioning factors and the future welfare mix of the country.7 This model draws on findings from WeD research in Peru and the other three countries to extend the idea of a welfare regime (Gough and Wood, 2004; Wood and Gough, 2006) toward the idea of a wellbeing regime, elaborated in four ways. First and foremost, the framework broadens the concept of welfare outcomes to include subjective dimensions described in chapter 3 as well as the material dimensions described in chapters 1 and 3. This is important for understanding wellbeing not only as an end in itself but also as the motivation for individual and collective action as described in the last two chapters. It opens up opportunities for analyzing diversity in the values and mind-sets of different actors within society, rather than relying on simpler assumptions of homo economicus. Second, the analysis gives more emphasis to change, uncertainty, political instability, and the challenges of societies undergoing rapid, anomic change. Third, given the problematic nature of the state in relatively unsettled societies, the analysis emphasizes the importance of empowering poor, marginalized, and vulnerable people themselves. Fourth, the analysis is also extended to cover nonstate actors, including churches, NGOs, charities, well established social movements, local-level forms of philanthropy, and mutual support. These last two points in effect add the notion of social development to social policy. This first elaboration can be extended further by arguing that individuals’ wellbeing cannot be assessed in isolation from that of others. Hence social policy is about the capacity of society-level institutions and social processes to provide preconditions for some concept of collective wellbeing. Such a proposition is akin to the view that personal happiness is some function of aggregate or utilitarian happiness and to the idea of the “common good” (Deneulin and
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Townsend, 2006). The scope for social engineering by the state to bring about such collective outcomes is, however, constrained by its effect on the wellbeing and agency of other actors, particularly given their greater significance in relatively unsettled societies. We are interested in the social conditions that inhibit or enhance such a quest for collective advantage—the configuration of power and the associated forms of social reproduction that contribute to the relative stability and success of different wellbeing regimes. However, before examining further the political problems to be overcome in establishing a successful wellbeing regime, more needs to be said about the normative significance of a wellbeing perspective for an enriched account of social policy, especially in poorer countries. In societies where neither material resources nor social relations permit reliance upon the state for statutory rights and entitlements in the form of welfare and regulated insurance, then individual agency mixed with local level collective action has to be correspondingly stronger. It is the enhancing of this agency (or set of capabilities) that has to become more central to policy analysis. If we consider the institutional landscape within which people pursue their survival, then capabilities have to be specified across the domains (domestic and supranational) of that landscape: the state itself; but also market, community, and household. And all the time we have to recognize the structuration principle that successful agency will induce dynamic (in contrast to simple) social reproduction that can be positive in the sense of enhancing the utility of structures and institutions to the ongoing pursuit of wellbeing. The key to this agenda in unsettled contexts is the distinction between “freedom from” and “freedom to.” In the relatively settled societies of most Western countries welfare policy has been able to focus mostly on “freedom from,” leaving “freedom to” agendas to other social policy domains, like education and health. By contrast, any welfare policy agenda in unsettled contexts also has to embrace a stronger social development agenda that emphasizes “freedom to” and human development objectives in a way that goes beyond investment in individual human capital, competences, and skills. This is more than a semantic point about the labeling of what goes under the heading of welfare policy in settled and unsettled societies. It is about where the responsibility lies for addressing the richer capabilities and universal human needs agendas as between individual agency and collective institutions (whether state or nonstate). Analyzing this further, and at the risk of oversimplification, “freedom from” in settled societies refers to both protection from disorder as a precondition for procedural and social rights, and to protection from basic income and livelihood loss through labor market regulation and forms of social insurance with universal benefits. But it is weaker in the former (Hegelian) and stronger in the latter (Polanyian) sense because protection from disorder is so generic and embedded in more settled societies as to be almost unnoticeable for much of the population. Procedural rights are largely assumed, and thus social rights are more easily pursued and maintained. For this reason, the more obvious welfare policy emphasis in settled societies has been income and livelihoods protection, and also social protection in the narrower material resource sense. The argument in
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this chapter is that this more limited welfare policy agenda, while necessary, is not a sufficient option even to meet security and livelihoods objectives in more unsettled societies, because the statutory, public institutions are too weak to be relied upon. There is no liberal-bourgeois consensus (or illusion) of substantive social rights supporting political equality amid economic inequalities. Thus while welfare regime analysis has primarily focused on public responses to the “freedom from” and human security agenda, the more ambitious wellbeing agenda emphasizing “freedom to” is in effect forced upon people by the prevalence of informal rather than statutory arrangements. Paradoxically, this implies that the more ambitious “freedom to” agenda is a greater imperative precisely in those societies where it is institutionally more difficult to achieve. We come to the institutional difficulties below, but having established the imperative we need still to dwell further on the nature of the ambition.
7.2.1. Alienation, Insecurity, and the Search for Security of Agency The “freedom to” agenda is enriched by a wellbeing conceptual framework, which has been, in turn, informed by the capabilities discourse. But it also encourages a revival of the old theme of alienation: the widespread fear of insecurity among all classes, and more specifically the Faustian bargain faced by poorer people between freedom and security (Wood, 2003). It can be argued that the whole discourse of “development as freedom,” leading through entitlement theory to the argument for enhancing capabilities, has its origin in the alienation problem.8 Behind this argument lies classic social contract theory emanating from the Enlightenment philosophers. The beauty of alienation as an entry point for the analysis of wellbeing regimes is that it leads directly into the process issues of power, agency, and hegemony that determine social outcomes within socially and culturally conditioned institutional landscapes. Alienation resonates more as a pervasive ontological experience of nonelites around the world than the idea of qualified autonomy. Alienation is also more obviously relational, pointing us toward the various dimensions of inequality in which agency (as opportunities, options, choices) of the many is constrained by the interests of the few. The Faustian bargain does not only express this headline problem of inequality and differential power, it also emphasizes ongoing foreclosure of agency through the continuous reinforcement of dependency over autonomy. In place of the normative capabilities approach to empowerment, alienation more realistically captures actual behavior and feelings. In an ontological sense, alienation draws attention to the threatened nature of wellbeing outcomes or the constant possibility of ill-being outcomes. It thereby takes us beyond the more limited agenda of outcomes in the welfare regime model that can be criticized for assuming a positive and unmediated connection between improvement in income, other human development indicators, and wellbeing that neglects the issue of security of agency (i.e., the removal of alienation). In other words, emphasis on insecurity of agency as an ontological feature of
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poverty sets up a more challenging social policy agenda for unsettled societies than emphasis on poverty as solely a lack of capabilities.
7.3. Conditioning Factors For all its middle-income country status, Peru has one of the highest absolute poverty rates and most unequal income distributions in Latin America. More than half of the population lives on less than US$2 a day, and 20 percent live on less than US$1 a day. Detailed poverty maps indicate poverty and deprivation is widespread, but concentrated mostly in rural areas of the highlands (Altamirano et al., 2004). With respect to income distribution, the World Bank (2003) estimates that the top decile receives 50 percent of total income (and the lowest decile 1.6 percent), while the UNDP (2005) is probably being conservative when it estimates the Gini coefficient in 2002 to have been 0.56. Data presented in chapter 1 also indicated that extreme poverty remains more concentrated in rural areas: child mortality averaging 45 and 25 per 1000 live births in rural and urban areas respectively, for example (UNICEF 2004). The full significance of these statistics emerges only when they are viewed in combination with Peru’s racial and ethnic diversity, reinforced by linguistic divisions. The long history of colonial Spanish intrusion into Quechua, Aymara, and other indigenous populations has produced a complex racial hybridization, compounded by cultural differentiation of identities (Degregori, 2000; Quijano 2000). The process of intermingling through marriage, other liaisons, settlement, and internal movement is captured by the idea of a radicalized class continuum, with more Spanish culture and ancestry in the mix at one end, and more indigenous at the other end (Drinot, 2006).9 Racial positioning reinforces inequality of income and wealth, with poverty and illiteracy concentrated at the indigenous end of a continuum (Figueroa and Barron, 2005; Thorp et al., 2006). At the other end a small elite has not only retained its European culture, but has actively sought to renew its “whiteness” through immigration (Gott, 2007). While accommodating leaders from a wider background, and relying to varying degrees on alliances with foreign investors, this group has retained broad control over power and wealth in the country since Independence, not least through subordination of the interests of inhabitants of the interior of the country to Lima and the coastal belt. Notwithstanding some loosening of social structure with the demise of the pre-Velasco oligarchic state, with gradations of race and culture compounded by regional identities and recent waves of mass migration, we would argue alongside Figueroa that a deep social and cultural segmentation has remained intact. Sources of variation to this general picture are the upland mining centers and some jungle areas that offer greater opportunities for upward mobility and cultural mixing through employment. However, at the same time commercial mining and farming activities controlled from Lima and abroad are also the source of recurrent conflict over resources that often have racial and ethnic dimensions. Important variation also exists between regions, compounded by the presence of additional minority groups, although the key point is that geographical remoteness is not
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the fundamental source of Peru’s social stratification; hence migration, urbanization, and better telecoms alone will not reduce it. Cultural dualism translates into political subordination, economic inequality, and a fundamental problem of institutional legitimacy. Problematic state legitimacy, widespread distrust of broader institutional arrangements, and the narrowness of the legally regulated labor market overlaid onto a highly unequal ethnically diversified society with culturally structured forms of social exclusion are all indicative of an “unsettled” society in wellbeing regime terms. To paraphrase Quijano (2000:229) “The trouble is that the Eurocentric perspective, adopted by [Peru’s] own dominant groups has led them to impose the European model of nation-building upon power structures that were organized around colonial relations between races.” In other words, a basic value consensus about rights to wellbeing and institutional responsibilities (or correlative duties) for delivering them is missing: the preconditions for a political settlement capable of delivering universal improvements in wellbeing are weak. And in a society dominated by strong ethnic and cultural identity, social closure and mutual exclusion, the lack of horizontal social cohesion undermines the prospect of improved vertical political integration. This is reflected in the configuration of political parties as well as in the class structure. The nation-state within which a political settlement is required remains too deeply divided. The integration problem is reinforced by the increasing significance of globalization, with different parts of the society located differently in the global political economy of opportunity, recognition, and social identity.
7.4. Negotiating the Institutional Responsibility Matrix 7.4.1. State Legitimacy In this section we focus particularly on the extent to which the state is regarded by its citizens as an actual or potential force for advancement of the common good in society. Orthodox social policy, with its focus on taxation and spending (particularly social protection) generally assumes the existence of some form of social contract of this kind, no matter how flawed. In contrast, in more unsettled societies it is necessary to review how far the state is ignored, bypassed, manipulated, distorted, coopted by a minority, or used as a source of rents for a privileged few, and furthermore to consider the extent to which this is regarded by all those involved as normal. The role of the state is also explored further in the discussion of social protection and human rights in section 7.5. For those at the bottom of Peruvian society the state and its agents are at worst a source of predation (DFID and World Bank, 2003) and at best a straightforward patron, manifest in the symbolic status of the president as chief provider (Arambaru et al., 2004). Even at the very top, among the educated minority, these views are more common than a more liberal democratic view of the state as implementer of transparent policy, periodically tested for value at the ballot box. For the majority of people between these extremes its role is more ambiguous: indeed a realistic analysis of the state in Peru arguably begins with the insight that deliberate ambiguity as well as uncertainty of street-level
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outcomes is key to its effectiveness in reproducing unequal security (Poole, 2004). The “frustrated achievers” identified by Graham and Pettinato (2002a), who are characterized by above average income mobility but below average subjective life satisfaction, are an indication of how self-improvement is undermined by continued lower social status, not least in the way they are treated as citizens by the state. Recent political history in Peru confirms the thesis of an “unsettled” regime, with more autocratic government (under military presidents from 1968 to 1980, and Fujimori in the 1990s); interspersed with more democratic government under Belaunde and García in the 1980s, and from 2000 onward under Paniagua, Toledo, and most recently García for a second time (Arredondo, 2005). The first of these periods witnessed agrarian reform, but also the failure of a nationalist agenda to strengthen domestic industrial interests, with government legitimacy eroded by economic failure as much as a lack of democratic process. The return to democracy under the Belaunde and García governments witnessed halting neoliberalism, the feeding of elite interests, an extension of clientelist politics based on populist social programs, the rise of terrorism, and harsh but largely ineffective army countermeasures. This paved the way for Fujimori’s bandwagon election as a populist outsider in 1990. His achievements on two fronts were dramatic. On the economic front he assuaged the international financial community, curbed public expenditure, rescheduled the national debt, tackled the hyperinflation, linked the sol to the dollar, and took measures to attract foreign investment. At the same time, he delivered on his promises to restore political stability by quashing Sendero Luminoso and other terrorist groups through a more deliberate and confident deployment of the army. Together these outcomes laid the foundation for sustained economic reforms and steady outward-oriented economic growth, interrupted only temporarily by contagion effects of the East Asian crisis in 1997. However, these successes did not translate into an improved climate for deliberative politics or social development. The autogolpe of April 1992 conferred on Fujimori virtually dictatorial powers. He dissolved Congress, suspended the constitution, and temporarily closed the judiciary. Thus began an era of increasingly corrupt, clientelist government. With little opportunity for broader political party mobilization Fujimori undermined the legitimacy of the political process and used state patronage to coopt grassroots social self-help movements. Already much weakened in the 1980s the “destructuring” of political parties and other civil society organizations continued (Tanaka, 2002). It is not surprising, therefore, that Fujimori’s shock resignation amid the flood of video revelations of corrupt practices unleashed a wave of pressure for political reform. At the same time, there were fears of chaos and anarchy in the potential flood of political parties, often with only regional and sectional appeal, wishing to enter elections. The interim Paniagua government of 2000–01 found itself attempting the impossible task of appealing to the elite, business, and educated middle class interests at the same time as the wider public interest without recourse to the populism, clientelism, corruption, and blackmail that Fujimori
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and Montesinos had raised into a precise, if dark and eventually self-destructive, science (McMillan and Zoido, 2004). After two decades of decline and emaciation, rehabilitation of the political parties was never going to be easy; and more than higher barriers for registration were needed to counter their fragmentation regionally and through patrimonial allegiance to dominant personalities. Toledo represented a return to old fashioned Latin American populism: using his cholo social identity to build mass recognition (if hardly loyalty) through the media, and dependent on opportunistic broking within the established political and technocratic elite, to construct any semblance of a functioning government. His weak rhetorical skills and inability to rise above the endless infighting, political scandals, and social conflicts undermined not only his personal appeal but contributed to further erosion of loyalty to the political class, despite its success in preserving relative economic and political stability. García’s return to power in 2006 partly reflected the resilience and national reach of APR A, as well as a perception that no other party was better able to hold out the prospect of political stability.10 But the far more striking feature of the election campaign was the speed with which Humala achieved prominence as García’s main rival by appealing to a popular sense of alienation, particularly in the south of the country and in rural areas. Regime stability was maintained because he triggered both racist alarm bells (of the kind described by Gott, 2007) and the instinct for self-preservation of what Taylor (2007) refers to as the solid pip-bearing core of the otherwise rotten apple of a political establishment.
7.4.2. Market Embeddedness Compared to political reform, it can be argued that more progress has been made in the last decade on the economic front through efforts to address pervasive entry barriers, monopoly, preferentialism, and discrimination in markets as well as to improve revenue collection systems (e.g., Webb, 2006). This has gradually enhanced the potential to use public spending to equalize opportunity and the tax system to redistribute resources. However, the key feature of markets for labor, finance, and goods in Peru is not so much that they have been governed by personalized relations in which social networks determine outcomes as much as price, skill, competence, and quality. Rather it is the extent to which these social relations are themselves fragmented on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, and gender in a way that is inflexibly hierarchical, with differences actively protected by those enjoying higher status. Second generation economic reforms started during the Fujimori regime have addressed some of these problems in some sectors: mobile phones, pharmacies, fast food, supermarket retailing, and microfinance being examples of the new, fast growing, and more color-blind businesses. However, their outreach remains limited, particularly in rural areas, and their effect on scale, quality, and security of overall employment is at best ambivalent. Here we focus our comments particularly on the labor market and the limited reach of legally regulated labor standards. Peru’s comparative advantage
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in natural resources has generally resulted in an adaptation to globalization that has been profoundly divisive, stimulating growth through investment in relatively capital-intensive activities and limiting its competitiveness in laborintensive manufacturing of the kind that has underpinned East and South East Asia’s economic growth pattern. Mining is substantially owned by foreign capital, although domestic businesses retain control of important ancillary services. To the extent that large firms are forced to operate with some reputational eye on international labor standards, then they offer some security and some additional social services to some of those they employ directly: likewise some large commercial farming, fishing, processing, and manufacturing employers. Otherwise, formal employment is confined to government itself, infrastructure, finance, tourism, large-scale retailing in Lima and the larger cities, and the rapidly growing private education and health provision. These sectors all offer some prospect of public or private social insurance provision in terms of sickness agreements and pension arrangements, and a corresponding ability to raise loans and personal insurance in the financial sector. But they are a small proportion of the total labor force in the country. Even in Lima the vast majority of workers live in shanty towns characterized by petty trading, small-scale, artisanal services, unskilled manual labor casually employed, and overall underemployment. Graduation into more regulated employment is constrained on one side by the slow rate of creation of such jobs, and on the other by barriers of education, language, and literacy often underpinned by relative poverty and racial discrimination. It would be wrong to infer from the above that the informal labor market represents complete anarchy and universal livelihood insecurity. Poor people have to rely more on family resources, including remittances from migration, resort to collective action in defense of resources, and fall back on clientelist dependency within supply chains as well with government officials. Public works and nutrition programs reflect government and international recognition that the labor market cannot be the basis for social insurance. These structural conditions profoundly affect poor peoples’ values, perceptions, social identity, and sense of wellbeing. But the causality is complicated: do we assume that institutional weaknesses in the state and market arenas influence choice in the community and household arenas of the IR M? Or do we conclude that subjective preferences for community and household are so embedded as to explain the weakness of state and market precisely because they are not culturally favored as institutions of first choice due to the enduring strength of primordial loyalties and ties? We suggest it is more accurate to view the relationship between apparent structural determinism and apparent cultural drivers as iterative. In other words, adaptive preferences for collective action, reliance upon personalized relationships, forms of migration molded by social resources and personalized networks rather than abstracted social capital, the instrumental as well as intrinsic value of geographical identity, and other forms of affective solidarity (including religious affiliations) are products of history, as well as a function of personal experience in the search for institutional room for maneuver.
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7.4.3. Civil Society: Festivals and Religion Evidence for this iterative complexity can be found, inter alia, in fiestas and churches. Fiestas are deeply symbolic of community identity and indeed collective autonomy. Of course, they provide patronage opportunities, reinforce gendered hierarchy, and reflect other divisions. But in a fission-fusion model of community they are fusion events—a celebration of the durability of village or neighborhood identity. They reinforce the idea of community coping in adversity and looking after its own in the context of institutional weakness elsewhere. Symbolic capital manifests social capital, with a strong implication that this does not extend in a secure and trustworthy way beyond. In addition to this functionalist interpretation, the fiesta offers hedonic as well as eudaimonic benefit to the revelers—through anticipation, actuality, and memory. It is an end as well as a means, a comfort, and an affirmation of a sense of security capable even of temporarily transcending racial class divisions (Wood, 2007b). As described in preceding chapters, many migrants make a big effort to return, as well as serving as an important source of festival finance. In Peru, fiestas are connected to the religious and seasonal calendar, and in a spiritual sense they connect the local to the universal. The returning migrant embodies that connection, acknowledging a sense of “home” and identity. Of course such returns rekindle interpersonal tensions and personal crises. But if all else fails in the wider world, then a retreat option of a sort remains. A deconstruction of the “church” provides additional insight. With its colonial origins the Catholic Church is rooted in the power structures of both community and state, offering a spiritual justification for an unequal material order. It has readily accommodated institutions of patronage, clientelism, and patriarchy. It has colluded in the social and cultural reproduction of vertical and horizontal inequities, endorsing the barriers to integration, convincing their congregations of a natural hierarchy and inculcating respect for their leaders and betters. This has been additionally managed through philanthropy and charity rather than mobilization for rights—through the reproduction of informal rather than autonomous security. Of course, liberation theology, where it occurred, survived, and thrived, set itself against this traditional role, encouraging conscientization or the “capacity to aspire” (Appadurai, 2004). Indeed, we shall note later in the chapter how active this stream within the Catholic Church has been in the human rights movement in Peru, especially at local levels. As elsewhere in Latin America, Peru has experienced rapid growth of Protestant (especially Pentecostal) churches. Like liberation theology its presence can be transformatory: forcing communities to accommodate religious pluralism and ideas conducive to wider awareness of citizenship rights and demands for greater accountability (Levine, 2003). But the rise of Protestant churches can also be viewed as a symptom of less progressive change, a combination of anomie and alienation. In rural areas their growth has been accelerated by the terrorist violence. In shanty towns they can also be viewed as a response to transience, insecurity, instability, and uncertainty. Without the value of place, other forms of solidarity, affective happiness and spiritual comfort are sought.
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The millenarian aspects of the radical Protestant churches offers this sense of replacement community through congregational participation and a stronger sense of justice in the hereafter, which does not seek to validate the material basis of unequal order on earth. The sense of injustice about contemporary inequality is intensified when compared to previous generations by rising literacy, mobility and migration, urbanization and “rurbanization,” media access, and observational proximity to wealth and success. The cognitive experience of relative deprivation is a function of this exposure to other lifestyles, with which poorer people negatively compare their own. Such negative self-conceptions translate into feelings of inferiority, lack of self-respect, loss of dignity, shame, and humiliation. The world is very familiar with this equation, say, in the context of Palestinians confined by Israeli and U.S. policy to the marginal zones of the West Bank and Gaza. However, the argument here is that this equation is generic, and that it reproduces alienation and “millenarian” accounts of injustice which appear in different forms all over the world.11
7.4.4. Households and the Experience of Migration Andean rural households have been extensively studied as the basis of livelihood security and a moral economy of reciprocity (e.g., Mayer, 2002). Here we focus on an account of its extension and transformation through migration. Chapter 5 reviewed the wide variety of patterns of migration and emphasized the often brutal wellbeing trade-offs that it entails, particularly in terms of the sacrifice of family relationships and quality of living environment in pursuit of better employment and education prospects. As a form of livelihood diversification, migration also influences Peru’s institutional landscape. It changes the status of migrants in relation to the state, alters their position in the labor market, reconfigures community, and reduces some forms of collective action and patronage while opening up others. Migration also impinges upon the localuniversal construction of wellbeing, acting as a mechanism for the transmission of ideas, values, resources, and opportunities. Access to material resources are altered, social skills change, other values and cultures are witnessed. As described in previous chapters, there is some shift from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft, but it is also grossly inaccurate to depict this as a simple modernizing shift from localized-rural to urban-cosmopolitan culture. There is no single simple answer to how far migration in Peru has provided opportunities for upward mobility and improved social cohesion. Figueroa’s model of social exclusion highlights that physical movement is not accompanied by social mobility: labor market dualism is being rooted in radicalized class interests that span town and countryside alike. Confronted with barriers to employment, migrants are unable to jettison informal family-based coping mechanisms, visits home and remittances in turn acting as constraints on saving, education, and individualistic transition. But in other cases, extended family networks and regional associations constitute the indispensable networks
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through which land, jobs, and self-employment opportunities are located. Meanwhile, international migration offers new avenues for capital accumulation, and a means of escape for those who might otherwise contribute to stronger domestic political mobilization.
7.4.5. Summary This selective examination of the IR M in Peru indicates turmoil, transition, and uncertainty across the institutional landscape. In one sense the reconfiguration of Peruvian society through migration has been occurring over several decades now, and there is some stabilization in relationships and institutions at the settlement level, popularized both by case studies of collective action in Villa El Salvador and by Hernando De Soto’s advocacy of property right formalization. However, even where there have been steady trajectories of this kind they must be viewed in the context of increasing labor market insecurity, delinquency, economic polarization, and state support for vulnerable families that has been sporadic, clientelistic, and uncertain. These trends have been reinforced by the differential aspects of globalization. On the one hand, improved internal security, macroeconomic stabilization, fiscal incentives, and resurgent commodity prices have encouraged a renewed expansion of foreign direct investment, not only in mining and exportoriented agriculture but also in retailing, banking, telecoms, and other services. Meanwhile it is precisely the same macroeconomic strategy that has constrained social spending, while the politics of adjustment and pressure for tighter targeting of social spending have exacerbated clientelism. In the context of an increasingly casual and fragmented labor market insecurity among poorer Peruvians is as pervasive as ever. This in turn compels poor and vulnerable people in Peru to seek material and spiritual security in other domains of the IRM and to construct their ideas and hopes for wellbeing accordingly. In understanding the wellbeing regime in Peru through this analysis of individual agency or lack of it there are two points to emphasize: strategic and contextual. First, strategically, we should give more emphasis to people’s social and cultural resources, to the potential role of non-state actors and of alliance building across ethnic identities as part of a larger political formation. In the sense that politics is about linking one’s own specific interests to more universal ones, the capacity for alliance building between poor people and nonstate actors (and their supranational supporters) is crucial. But secondly and contextually, as a feature of unsettled societies these new institutional domains are prone to the same discretionary and arbitrary rules and practices that they experience in the arena of state, market, and community (Wood, 2000; Wood and Gough, 2006). Poor people have to negotiate their way round this contaminated landscape weighing up the likelihood that to the extent that they succeed in forging alliances and crossing social boundaries they do so only on adverse terms that can reinforce their alienation.
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7.5. Wellbeing Outcomes Section 7.3 started with a brief inventory of standard welfare indicators for Peru, but in advancing conceptually toward the idea of a wellbeing regime, this chapter advocates a more ambitious policy agenda that requires an additional set of indicators. We have argued that in more unsettled societies the enhancement of agency and removal of alienation is paramount, and with it the shift to a perspective that addresses not only enjoyment of outcomes but motivation to participate actively in the means to achieve them. This also critically means that while the arrow in figure 7.1 may go from the IRM to wellbeing outcomes, it crucially points in the reverse direction too. Many writers are heading in a similar direction by advocating enriched measures of wellbeing in support of a social development agenda.12 With reference to Peru, Figueroa asserts that inequality and poverty persist in large measure because excluded unskilled workers lack incentives to take collective action in pursuit of their rights as citizens, particularly to demand more equal access to public education, social assistance, and financial services. His explanation for this failure of collective action rests, first, on an appeal to the idea of a culture of poverty arising from the resilience of traditional forms of discrimination.13 Second, he argues that poor people have less time to devote to “higher” needs in the sense popularized by Maslow. Third, he appeals to a free-rider problem, described by Lichbach (1998) as the “rebel’s dilemma”: why risk leading a political movement, rather than piggybacking on the leadership of others? All these arguments are about agency and rest on questionable psychological assumptions. The culture of poverty argument has been attacked for essentializing poor people.14 The Maslowian idea of a universal hierarchy of needs has also been the subject of extensive criticism within psychology as well as from other disciplines (e.g., Doyal and Gough 1991). Then, the rebel’s dilemma was challenged even within economics by Hirschman (1982) for neglecting the extent to which pursuit of public goods is something people opt to do (at least for discrete periods in their life) because they find it more meaningful and sometimes more enjoyable than pursuit of private goals. Without exploring these criticisms further the main point is that they all appeal to deepen psychological insights than that of homo economicus, and by implication suggest the need for an extension of the range of outcome indicators. In this section we focus on two process indicators: improved social assistance and enhancement of human rights. Both are associated with progress toward greater security of agency, and can also be viewed as indicators of pro-poor improvements in the IRM. Improved social assistance can be considered as primarily a “freedom from” initiative, though recent emphasis is on how such programs (“with bounce”) enhance “freedom to” as well (Barrientos and Hulme, 2005; Devereux, 2006). The human rights agenda straddles a “freedom from” and a “freedom to” purpose. The overall conclusion from this review is that the potential political liberation and rights-based citizenship opportunities for the dynamic reproduction of society toward democratic wellbeing are underrealized and indeed sabotaged by aspects of “process as normal,” in particular a
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continuation of widespread forms of clientelism in the distribution of food aid and infrastructure projects. Thus the wellbeing regime in Peru has been reproducing a contradiction of extending social protection and safety nets through a Faustian Bargain (Wood, 2003) with the poor, thus helping us to explain the central argument of relative political stability and path dependency despite the glaring inequalities and poverty in the society.
7.5.1. Social Assistance Programs The main vehicle for many of the food aid and other social programs was until recently the National Food Assistance Program (Programma Nacional de Asistencia Alimentaria or PRONAA) located in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development. Its programs have their origins in earlier, often voluntary forms. Even before the restoration of democracy in 1980, popular kitchens (comedores populares) emerged in the shanty towns of Lima and other cities. After 1980, with inflation rising alongside negative economic growth, these efforts became even more significant. Competing political parties became involved and the then Mayor of Lima also began to sponsor “glass of milk committees” (Comites del vaso de leche) in the poorest districts of Lima. Increasingly financed and operated by the state, this program evolved into a political instrument both of mass populism for successive presidents, and as the grist for petty clientelism (Copestake, 2006).15 Two years after winning power, Fujimori created in 1992 the National Fund for Compensation and Social Development (Fondo Nacional de Compensacion y Desarrollo Social or FONCODES) as an additional instrument for channeling funds direct from central government to regions, particularly areas worst affected by the terrorist violence. FONCODES was also designed to be supported by the IMF and the World Bank as a way of dealing with the social downside of their structural adjustment prescriptions. By operating directly to the President, it emerged as a bureaucratically relatively nimble infrastructure fund targeted on poor rural communities to generate employment opportunities for cash incomes. However, being isolated from other government or NGO programs, it was weakly linked to actual needs. Nor was there any independent scrutiny of contracts or hiring of labor. Thus FONCODES emerged as a useful source of clientelistic support to the post-autogolpe regime. Meanwhile PRONAA was switched to the Ministry of the Presidency and tasked with centralizing food assistance programs. In this way, the comedores populares were also captured, and the patronage of opposing political parties displaced. In effect, as a condition of access to food assistance, poor and vulnerable families lost their civilian rights, being forced instead to negotiate inclusion into these programs—exchanging voice for loyalty. Alongside PRONAA and FONCODES other programs in education and health also expanded in an ad hoc way after 1994. Public spending on social programs (including education and health) grew steadily, particularly after 2002 when public finances began to improve as a result of economic growth and higher tax revenues. But at the same time
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foreign donors became increasingly skeptical of their effectiveness and critical of their clientelist manipulation. The departure of Fujimori raised hopes that social assistance could be “declientelized” in such a way as to contribute to, rather than obstruct, the extension of political rights.16 After his election as president in 2001, Toledo talked of improving democracy and reducing poverty together through social programs that combined participatory access and professionalism in overall design and management. Indeed such a marriage was strengthened by bringing in meritocrats from civil society organizations. There was some initial increase in budgetary provision, accompanied by overoptimistic expectations of foreign aid support. A good example was the A Trabajar (To Work) employment scheme, to be run in the countryside by grassroots organizations in a way intended to address problems of clientelism. However, in the context of rapidly declining popularity and concerns about the regional and municipal elections in November 2002, Toledo positioned leaders of his Perú Posible party to control this and other programs, also changing the leaderships of the women’s and education ministries and FONCODES. But these moves did not rescue the reputation of Perú Posible in the local elections, where regional power was almost universally gained by the opposition parties, especially García’s APR A. This in turn set up new political obstacles to government-inspired decentralization of social programs, since it would place them in the hands of opposing political networks. Thus the decentralization of social programs stalled. And, neither was Perú Posible able to assert full clientelistic control over them. Toledo’s lack of popularity and legitimacy also limited his freedom to raise taxes in order to expand the programs and thus regain support, while foreign aid support diminished with donors retreating to the label of Peru as a relatively stable pro-Western middle-income country. In this context, prospects for renewed donor support hinged on making headway in declientelization of programs, and a possible mechanism for demonstrating this was through the launch of a conditional cash transfer program (CCT) of the kind expanding rapidly elsewhere in the region. Toledo first announced Pro Perú in February 2005 (later renamed Juntos), and it featured prominently within the National Social Policy Development Plan and the National Plan to Overcome Poverty (2004–2006). However, the proposals were widely criticized for being hastily thought out, particularly with respect to targeting methods (especially in urban areas), cash handling mechanisms (especially in rural areas), and the need to improve weak health and education services before stimulating greater demand for them. As a result Toledo scaled back plans to a relatively small pilot program, restricting it to one district of Ayacucho noted for being particularly severely affected by the Sendero conflict.17 Given donor support, it is no surprise that the Juntos program has subsequently expanded under García. It is also of particular relevance to the argument here since CCTs seek explicitly to link “freedom from” objectives (cash transfers as social protection to poor households with children) with “freedom to” objectives (through investment in human resources that aim to help break life course and intergenerational transfers of poverty by facilitating households’
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capacities to ensure children’s rights to adequate nutrition, healthcare, and education). Jones et al. (2007) reviewed the first year of the pilot program in Ayacucho Department. Eligible, targeted households, with children under 14 years old, receive 100 soles a month (approximately US$30) subject to meeting conditions for child care that include school attendance, vaccination, health checks, use of clean chlorinated water, antiparasite medication for infants, and participation in other social programs. Fulfillment of these conditions obviously has to be monitored, and along with the validation of target households this opens up opportunities for new forms of clientelism and corruption. By September 2006, 135,000 households across Peru were receiving these transfers, and the García government was planning to increase this to 250,000 families during 2007 with an incremental budget increase of US$40 million. Actions intended to avoid clientelism and politicization of program implementation included placing it in a directorate within the Presidential Council of Ministers, under technocratic management monitored by civil society representatives that leapfrog other bureaucratic interests by developing a cadre of community level facilitators, predominantly women.18 Monitoring is overseen by the Committee on Supervision and Transparency, comprising church and civil society leaders. A key rationale for the CCT is to reduce the opportunity cost for poor families of keeping children at school and away from domestic, farm, and perhaps casual paid labor, thereby addressing their supposed higher propensity to discount the future. Jones et al. (2007) report changes in children’s time use in favor of schooling, with more parental support for their education, especially by fathers. As predicted, increased demand for education has increased pressure to improve the quality of teachers and teaching. They report families purchasing higher quality food, and investing in longer term livelihoods security through purchase of livestock, for example. They also provide anecdotal evidence of improvements in women recipients’ bargaining power within the household. At the community level, as a result of the targeting and labeling problems, there is also evidence of disharmony among those included and excluded (Wood, 2007a). Nevertheless if the program can be scaled up without being fatally entrapped by party or more local patronage and corruption, then it would constitute a significant positive wellbeing outcome because it confers more substantive benefits that can contribute more to security of agency. As well as making it politically more palatable to richer citizens, the conditionality becomes a deliberate attempt to lengthen recipients’ time horizons, although tighter targeting risks the opposite if it creates new forms of poverty trap. The erosion of a community mediated element (when compared to Glass of Milk program, for example) can also be empowering by strengthening a sense of individual entitlement, rather than entitlement mediated by others. No matter how well implemented, the program alone cannot of course be expected to deliver more fearless citizenship, overcome alienation, and initiate a positive dynamic of social reproduction capable of challenging the path dependency of extreme inequality. However, it would certainly be a positive step in that direction.
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7.5.2. Human Rights The human rights theme is essential to any understanding of wellbeing in unsettled societies, being a crucial aspect of the personal security dimension of wellbeing, expressed both as freedom from insecurity as well as having the confidence to express voice without fear, and thus move to full citizenship and the overcoming of alienation. Peru’s economically stratified ethnic diversity presents a particular challenge to a human rights agenda. Even without the obvious episodes of political violence and counterrepression by the state there is a generic, inherent, structural undermining of rights through racism and cultural othering. Given the long history of use of violence by those at the richer end of the radicalized class continuum to defend privilege, the persistence of a strong human rights movement is perhaps surprising, but it can partially be seen as both a counterreaction to such violence and part of a political settlement that must be able to address extreme human rights abuses in order to head off total chaos and collapse. In 1985, human rights groups from across the country came together under the umbrella of Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos just before the elections that brought in García’s first APR A government and at a time when the Sendero Luminoso insurgency was growing and attracting counterrepressive measures of the military. Through García’s and Fujimori’s periods in office, human rights activists ran the gauntlet of attacks by state security forces as well as Sendero Luminoso. They were increasingly labeled by Fujimori as apologists for the insurgents, while the insurgents targeted them and other left activists as a rival source of popular leadership. The Coordinadora and its increasingly professionalized personnel had an ambivalent stance toward the state, which perhaps became clearer toward the end of the Fujimori period as the insurgency was crushed and the military slowly returned to the barracks. But for the first ten years, it had to operate a balance between cooperating with the state to achieve individual case gains as well as more systemic ones, while also signaling an adversarial position as lobbyists and advocates. Cooperation was a hard option during a period when their own members were the target of disappearances as well as negative propaganda. The professional persistence of Coordinadora paid off as early as 1993 with the inclusion of the Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo) in the constitution and its actual enactment in 1996. Broadly, they worked with judges to strengthen their independence, including the independence of their information sources. Along with social workers, they worked to improve conditions in the jails. They tracked cases of those who disappeared and those being held without trial, placing pressure on the authorities to improve their conditions and reduce torture. Eventually they secured legislation to ban torture and disappearances, making them criminal offenses. These efforts (and the legitimacy gained for them) culminated in the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Comision de la Verdad y Reconciliacion or CVR) during the Paniagua transitional government in 2001. In effect much of the work of the Coordinadora, along with many staff, transferred to the CVR. The incoming Toledo government
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agreed to abide by the Commission’s recommendations and findings, arising from its nine-volume report in 2004, which estimated that 69,000 Peruvians were killed or disappeared. Before reflecting upon the enduring significance of the Commission, it must be emphasized that Coordinadora was not a safe Lima institution. Dispersed across numerous small organizations across the country its activists were highly exposed to local violence of liquidation squads as well as state repression through local military exercises. The pastoral offices (vicarias) and local activists of the Catholic Church in these scattered rural locations also provided important support to groups and organizations of the family members of victims. The CVR represented a concerted and sustained attempt to institutionalize the human rights agenda within Peru. It ensured that political insecurity and the violence of the state as well as terrorists were firmly placed in the public domain. By adopting the South African post-apartheid model of public hearings around the country (unlike in other Latin American countries such as Chile), past victims and victimized groups were able to tell their story to the wider society, with strong media coverage. As a result, no literate person could claim ignorance of what happened, and thus some sense of responsibility across the radicalized class continuum has been established. That is important for any movement toward greater political settlement in rights as well as related social policy. Whatever its impact on future governance a further indication of this embeddedness is the willingness to pursue at least some symbolic prosecutions as a condition of reconciliation rather than to declare a full amnesty. At the same time, powerful voices in the political, military, and economic elite have resisted the Commission’s recommendations since 2003, and supported by negative media coverage they have managed to use Congress to block facilitating legislation. Nor has there been a formal peace accord with insurgents, past or present. Pockets of political violence continue, alongside drug-related and criminal activities. For many, the terrorist threat remains and can be deployed to suppress a further liberalizing of rights. And although there has been some cleaning up of the judiciary (e.g., the removal of unqualified acting judges appointed during the Fujimori period), the judiciary has been slow in human rights cases. Judicial reforms include human rights training for judges, and there has been some progress of victim reparation in areas most affected in the past by political violence.19 The civil society element has also been strengthened by the Commission’s presence with the victims’ relatives becoming more vociferous. In addition to this, a network of human rights organizations, NGOs, and church groups (originally part of the Coordinardora) has created another umbrella coalition—Para Que No Se Repita (So That We Do Not Repeat the Past) to keep the Commission’s recommendations alive in the public consciousness and conscience.
7.6. Reproduction Consequences Analysis of sociopolitical reproduction is the critical test of regime identification and hence the wellbeing regime model. It is difficult to argue for any society that
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it is entirely path-dependent, with “simple” reproduction of existing inequalities, stratification, and power configurations. Some change is almost inevitable, but the question is whether or not such change is pathbreaking (amounting to what Figueroa describes as a “refoundational shock”) in respect to the way politics is managed. By contrasting politically settled with unsettled societies for welfare policy and regime purposes, the term “unsettled” implies contradiction, conflict, and a necessary dialectic for change. However, if power structures are sufficiently entrenched, some societies can remain unsettled over long periods in the sense of fractures, horizontal inequalities, and thus absence of consensus over the overall wellbeing outcome. In Latin America perhaps more than elsewhere, the concept of a regime must also accommodate some cyclical political economy tendencies: with scope for endless variation in the way commodity booms and busts, inward and outward economic policy orientation, democratic liberalism, and authoritarian populism interact with one another and more random events. One aspect of particular interest to political scientists in this respect is Peru’s failure, compared to Ecuador and Bolivia, to produce an indigenous political force strong enough to seize power: Humala’s strong challenge for the 2006 presidency being at the same time indicative of the depth of disaffection with prevailing liberal-democratic institutions and of limited recourse to indigenous identity (rather than nationalistic and cultural populism) as a political strategy. Yashar (2005) argues that state corporatism under Velasco up to 1975, quickly followed by the Sendero conflict, undermined transcommunity indigenous networks. Not incompatible with this is García’s (2005) emphasis on a regional perspective on struggle over the ambiguous notion of indigenous citizenship fragmented across community and state. This enables her to identify and reaffirm the strength of indigenous politics but at a more local level: in the formation of rondas campensinas (community militia) to fight terrorists, the defense of natural resources rights, and parental resistance to bilingual education, for example. She argues that indigenous activism has sought to escape the confines of the indigenous label (traditional, rural, etc.) by influencing instead the indigenous element in mestizo identity: “lack of recognized ethnic mobilization in the country is due to the fact that indigenous mestizo activism is not usually considered ethnic activism” (9). Noting Charles Tilly’s definition of a social movement as a cluster of contested political performances, she argues that indigenous politics in Peru is not missing but more complicated.20 This line of argument suggests local government is an important arena for sniffing out deeper shifts in political culture and opportunities for wider collective action. There is no shortage of ambitious and socially motivated mayors in the sierra as Schneider and Zuniga-Hamlin (2005) report, nor of more progressive NGOs willing to link up with them (DFID’s El Gol program being just one example).21 There has certainly been an expansion in the use of the discourse of rights and correlative duties, implying some tendency toward a greater sense of civic security of agency. García’s rapid commitment to further decentralization of health and education budgets also suggests scope for further changes in the political and financial relationship between municipalities and the state, to add to those taking place in respect of social assistance programs. If all of
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these processes worked to the ambitions of their advocates, then we might see an increase in participatory politics eroding radicalized class differences. Donor funding can also provide leverage for decentralization as a constructive response to pro-Chavez and anti-Western mobilization, feeding off feelings of alienation and exclusion. External support can also perhaps be mobilized in support of more deliberative resolution of conflicts over natural resources between foreign investors and local communities. Nevertheless, rights remain fragile and clientelistic forms of patronage and control over budgetary allocations strong. Autonomous security of agency remains weak. Alienation remains. Grassroots and regional mobilization can be seen as a long-established element of the prevailing regime rather than a challenge to it, lacking the strength and cohesion to institute a more fundamental power diffusion process. Commenting on the prospects that Fujimori might bring lasting change to Peru, Powelson (1997:265) exhorts his readers to “contemplate the immensity of history.” This is a conclusion based not only on the resilience of political culture, but also on as yet very limited diversification of the economy. While Peru’s unequal security regime seems remarkably resilient and intact in its defense of inequality it perhaps allows at least for some gradual improvement in average welfare. However, as a wellbeing regime this suggests the persistence of a large gap between what poorer Peruvians are tempted to aspire to materially and what they can realistically achieve.
7.7. Conclusions The two main purposes of this chapter were to provide an overview of the institutional landscape within which poor people in Peru pursue wellbeing, and to take Peru as a case study through which to reflect on the four components of a general wellbeing regime model. With respect to the first, a single overall conclusion is inappropriate to the extent that the “devil is in the detail.” However, a recurring theme has been the extent to which the state is implicated in reproducing rather than mitigating the fundamental problem of a highly fragmented and unequal society. In addition, in contrast to Figueroa’s theoretical determinism (admitting the possibility of transformation only through an exogenous refoundational shock) the analysis remains open to possibilities of endogenous, incremental acquisition of more equal rights and freedoms. However, in so doing we have not relapsed into wishful thinking that the state can somehow reinvent itself as a more proactive and hegemonic force for change. Rather, we have emphasized an evolutionary pathway of more gradualist power diffusion across the racial class continuum in response to grassroots threats to the neoliberal core of the economy. Part of the difficulty with this argument is that any attempt to isolate a long-term trend is confounded by short-term cycles and fluctuations in politics (e.g., between autocratic and consensual) and policy (e.g., between outward and inward orientation). These oscillations alone justify referring to Peru as an “unsettled regime” not only in the sense of changing over time, but also in the sense of a regime that survives through crisis and the performance of a relatively small political elite rather than being rooted in a deeper settlement between consolidated interests and institutions.
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Turning to our second purpose, this chapter deliberately adopted a more open and complex welfare regime model than that in Wood, Gough, and others’ earlier work. At issue is whether the additional generality (and loss of parsimony) entailed in the conceptual enlargement from welfare to wellbeing is justified in terms of the extra understanding of Peru’s case that it permitted. The most important argument advanced in favor is that it brings the question of poor peoples’ alienation and agency more to the center of analysis, and with it forces a closer analysis of processes and relationships as well as resources and welfare indicators.
Notes 1. We are grateful for comments on earlier drafts of this chapter by other WeD researchers as well as Carlos Eduardo Aramburú, Patricia Ruiz Bravo, Augusto Castro, Mary Claux, Sergio Gamarra, Jane Henrici, Rosa Mendoza, David Sanchez Marín, Carolina Trivelli, Maria Balarín, Katie Wright-Revolledo, Diego Sanchez, Fernando Filgueira, Rubén M. Lo Vuolo, Juliana Martíinez Franzoni, and Des Gasper. 2. In so doing, it benefited more than detailed citations indicate from Crabtree (2006), Figueroa and Baron (2005), Sheahan (1999), Tanaka (2002), Taylor (2007), and Thorp et al. (2006) in particular, as well as monthly news updates from the Peru Support Group in London, and Escuela para el Desarrollo (School for Development) in Lima. 3. The chapter does not, however, aim to classify Peru as a particular category of regime within some broader typology, being open to the idea that every country is unique. Rather Peru is used as a case study through which the explanatory power of a general wellbeing regime model can be tested and refined. 4. In Polanyi’s (1944) terminology the paradox can be restated as how a society so profoundly molded by capitalism has retained such a degree of political stability when the dehumanizing effects of commodification of money, people, and the environment should have triggered a more transformative social reaction. 5. Powelson (1997:261–65) echoes Figueroa’s analysis when he sums up his brief analysis of Peru in the following way. “Because the culture gap between elites and lower classes in Peru has been so vast, the power-diffusion process has never worked. Instead, fear and mistrust have minimized the possibilities for vertical alliances, pluralism and leverage”. Nevertheless, Powelson argues that Peru is better analyzed as a “dual” society than as a completely “sectioned” society (in contrast to El Salvador or Guatemala, for example) because of the closer interaction between the two parts. 6. The household is used deliberately as a unit of kin-based moral responsibility for its acknowledged members. Of course, at any one time, some members may have migrated for shorter or longer periods, but contribute through remittances and participation in strategic decision making. Broader kin groups operate, for the purposes of the IRM, in the “community” domain. 7. The term political settlement refers here to the de facto agreements that have evolved between different classes, groups, and interests over time regarding the principal ways in which society is run and resources are allocated. Such settlements can perpetuate welfare inequalities as a reflection of power and domination. They can also enshrine concessions to politically weaker groups (and commitments to public goods by elites, as part of enlightened self-interest), as well as the exclusion of
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8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. 14.
15.
others. The stability or regime characteristics of such settlements become hegemonic in that no one can imagine meaningful policy negotiation occurring outside of these accumulated, de facto agreements. This is expressed differently, but compatibly, in Doyal and Gough’s (1991) formulation of qualified autonomy as a universal human need alongside health. Autonomy as a determinant of wellbeing is also highlighted by the empirical studies of Ryan and Deci (2001b) alongside not only competence but also relatedness: nobody is suggesting that pure autonomy is either possible or desirable (see also Devine et al., 2006). We prefer the idea of a “continuum” rather than “hierarchy” or “stratification” because it suggests greater fluidity, albeit subject to entrenched racial and class barriers. Reference to “class” on the other hand is not without problems, because it suggests a rather stronger consolidation of “class for itself” proletariat and bourgeois interests than is true for contemporary Peru compared to other capitalist societies. The American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APR A) is the oldest surviving political party in Peru. Generally center-left and social-democratic its core of devoted followers give it the character of a social movement, distinguishing it from the more opportunistic membership of most other Peruvian political parties. Although the term “millenarian” has a stricter meaning about belief in the “savior” coming to solve problems of poverty, deprivation, and alienation, we are using the term to refer to wider sociocultural processes, while not also losing aspects of the stricter meaning. Thus millenarianism is associated with cults, and (through shared perceptions) with social identity. It is associated with intense spiritual and metaphysical beliefs, and therefore in religious terms with more fundamentalist, fixed, literal, or reductionist interpretations of scriptures as guides to human purpose, moral behavior, and wellbeing. To the extent that such beliefs constitute what Weber called “value rationality,” so believers are offered frames of meaning in which suffering and deprivation during life can be endured en route to the cure in the life hereafter. Endured in the sense of offering dignity in suffering by attributing the “victim” condition to the exclusionary machinations and discrimination of others (e.g., through capitalist globalization unmediated by a benign state) while acknowledging that such experience is only temporal and finite. In other words, powerlessness on earth will be compensated for by power, or at least reward, in heaven. See, for example, Schaffer and Huang (1975) on access, Sen (1985) on capabilities, Doyal and Gough (1991) on autonomy, Moser (1998) on asset vulnerability, Ryan and Deci (2001a; 2001b) on autonomy and relatedness, Wood (2003) on security, Copestake (2006) on inclusion/exclusion, and McGregor (2004) on resource profiles. A linked argument is that poverty encourages a shorter time horizon, reinforcing a willing compromise with what works, including relationships of dependency. On the other hand, it has been revisited by psychologists as an empirical hypothesis (Palomar Lever et al., 2004; Burton and Kagan, 2005). The idea that poverty can be reinforced by lowered aspirations is also enjoying something of a renaissance (Rao and Walton, 2004: especially chapters by Appadurai and Douglas). By 2005 Vaso de Leche had grown into the biggest national food assistance program distributing food worth US$100 million a year to more than three million children. Municipalities were responsible for procurement and distribution through local committees, subject to strict bureaucratic guidelines from the center. Ethnographic case
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17.
18. 19.
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studies reported by Copestake (2006) revealed serious efforts to comply with these but also widespread clientelism in local food allocation. Rations were valued by the women who obtained them but had at best a marginal effect on child poverty and malnutrition. The communitarian features of the program had evolved to suit different rural and urban contexts, but were more paternalistic than empowering. In short, the program was found to be reproducing a weak affective link between women and government, but one that was ultimately doing almost nothing to address the more fundamental inequalities in food and income insecurity. Wood and Gough (2006) describe declientelization as a “strategy principle” for moving poor people from dependent to autonomous security. See also Wood (2007a). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that Ayacucho department was the location for 40% of the 69,000 deaths attributable to political violence between 1980 and 2000. There is a problem of illiteracy among these facilitators, who have been elected by a local assembly. For example, the regional government of Huancavelica has adopted the Commission’s recommendations allocating reparations from its hard-pressed budget, and at least some other regions (Apurimac, Huanuco, and San Martin) are following suit. Decentralized local struggles can be as significant as national and transcommunity mobilization. They are also less easily detached from grassroots opinion in their own hinterland, and thus can be less easily coopted into the populist projects of others or of neoliberal pluralism. See Schneider and Zuniga-Hamilin (2005), but also Salgado (2006) for a cautionary examination of decentralization efforts.
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Chapter 8
Conclusions and Implications for Development Policy and Practice James Copestake
8.1. Introduction The opening chapter of this book suggested that international development policies often fail to connect or resonate sufficiently with the ideas and experiences of those intended to benefit from them. It hinted that part of the problem was political and bureaucratic pressure to come up with policies based on a universal (often Western) view of development, and expressed the fear that this quest for consistency undermines responsiveness to diverse local perspectives and priorities. It then suggested that the very openness of the concept of wellbeing might be helpful in the task of analyzing such gaps and identifying how far they can be reconciled. And it suggested that this issue should be addressed not only through academic debate and international policy dialogue but also through rigorous empirical research into the understanding and experiences of wellbeing of ordinary people in specific times and places. The choice of Peru for such research was defended on the grounds of wide economic disparities, cultural diversity, and some evidence that many Peruvians experience comparatively low subjective wellbeing. Section 8.2 presents an overview of some of the key findings of subsequent chapters, and section 8.3 explores further their relevance for international development policy. Chapter 9 then points toward new directions for scientific research into subjective wellbeing.
8.2. An Overview of Empirical Findings Chapter 2 provided an overview of contextual influences on wellbeing in the seven chosen research sites in Central Peru. We found that variation in (a) livelihoods, (b) institutional mix, and (c) social identity did not vary in a clearly linear way from village to city along the research corridor. With respect to (a), market relations, extended kinship, and migration mean that livelihoods often span all three. With respect to (b), the mix of market access, provision of government services, and community organization vary sharply even between neighboring
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villages and adjacent urban neighborhoods. And with respect to (c), prevalent “imagined communities” (of the Huanca nation, for example) transcend geographical localities as well as being contested within them. As regards ethnicity, one third of those people who answered specific questions about this ascribed a different ethnic label to themselves and to their community. Diversity and flux in the relationship between livelihoods, institutions, and social identities itself constitutes an argument against overreliance on a single modernization view of how to improve human wellbeing. And the risk of overgeneralization is accentuated by variation in individual adaptation to change according to age, education, gender, wealth, personality, and many other factors, as highlighted particularly in chapter 3. The ethnographic data from the seven research sites presented in chapter 2 revealed both a rich variety of community activity and the pervasiveness of internal conflict. Many of the latter appear to be primarily about material interests in resources, including land, water, mineral rights, and external funds. But they are often conflated by personal and group-based feuding, as well as misunderstandings between different community groups, government, church groups, and NGOs. And behind these struggles the legacy of Sendero remains strong both at the personal level and in terms of generalized suspicion and mistrust. It also remains a nightmarish reminder of the capacity for new ideas to grip the imagination of disaffected young people. In short, the research sites proved a wealth of case-study material on contested visions both of wellbeing and of development. Chapter 3 shifted from community level to individual perspectives on wellbeing. Subjective wellbeing was measured by asking respondents to rate the importance they attached to different items deemed necessary for living well in each site, and then their satisfaction with achievement of each. The individual items were selected through an exploratory phase of participant observation and structured open-ended interviewing in each site rather than through imposition of a predetermined theory of the components of wellbeing. Factor analysis was used to identify latent needs driving the items, and the final result (along with descriptive labels) was arrived at through an iterative process of triangulation between data obtained using ethnography, participant observation, indepth interviews, and quantitative methods. In this process, discussion with field researchers was pivotal. Table 8.1 summarizes the raw item responses and factor analysis results on goals/needs and their satisfaction. It provides a simple illustration of how subjective wellbeing can be measured on the basis of a locally determined set of aspirations or goals. On average we note that more importance is attached to the latent goal of improvement from a secure base (mean 1.68), followed by place to live better (1.53) and then raise a family (1.07). In contrast, respondents were least satisfied with improvement from a secure base. More insight into this finding comes from comparing the difference in the necessity and satisfaction rankings of each item. In the case of improvement from a secure base we find three items (to be a professional, to work for a salary, and to educate children) where there is a huge gap between importance ranking and satisfaction ranking. This is a key emerging hypothesis of the study: that the aspiration of rising status through education and employment remains strong despite very limited success in achieving it.
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Of course, the averages in table 8.1 hide important variation in aspirations and goals of individuals within the sample, and chapter 3 also reported on statistical analysis of variation in scores relative to a range of control variables. For example, the model indicates that with respect to raise a family both necessity and satisfaction scores were higher with age, number of children, and having a partner or spouse. A contrasting adaptive process is suggested by the finding that some forms of education were associated with a lowering of need perception, perhaps because other things became more important, so lower or delayed Table 8.1
Necessity and satisfaction with components of wellbeing
Latent needs and component items
Necessity Mean
A place to live better ● Healthy and nice environment ●
●
Tranquility: without violence or delinquency Getting ahead/resolving problems
Raise a family Marriage
●
Satisfaction
Rank
Mean
Rank
RD
1.53 1.47
14
2.16 1.9
23
⫺9
1.54
9
2.21
16
⫺7
1.56
8
2.35
8
0
1.07 1.06
26
2.08 1.83
25
1
●
Partner
1.03
28
1.97
21
7
●
Children
1.09
25
2.23
15
10
28
᎑22
Improvement from a secure base
1.68
●
Work for a salary
●
Room or house
1.68
4
2.33
10
᎑6
●
1.17
24
2.19
18
6
●
Consumer goods like television or liquidizer Education for children
1.77
3
1.91
22
⫺19
●
Daily food
1.85
2
2.53
2
0
●
Health
1.88
1
2.53
3
⫺2
●
To be a professional
1.51
12
0.18
34
⫺22
1.63
5
2.32
11
᎑6
Other individual items ● Electricity, water, sanitation
1.59
1.99 6
1.28
●
Good family relations
1.57
7
2.65
1
6
●
1.53
10
2.28
13
⫺3
●
To be good with God and/or the church To be of good character
1.52
11
2.5
4
7
●
Education for yourself
1.51
13
2.26
14
⫺1
●
Public transport Improvement in the community
1.44 1.41
15 16
2.21 1.86
17 24
⫺2 ⫺8
●
Continued
214 Table 8.1 ●
● ●
● ●
● ●
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Continued
Household goods (e.g., pots & furniture) Getting on well with neighbors
1.38
Recreational space, like sports complex To teach others what you know Neighbors participate in an organized way Clothes Friendship
17
2.34
9
8
1.37
18
2.46
5
13
1.37
19
1.97
20
⫺1
1.36
20
2.42
7
13
1.28
21
2.13
19
2
1.26 1.18
22 23
2.3 2.45
12 6
10 17
1.06
27
0.9
31
⫺4
0.97
29
1.18
29
0
0.95
30
1.61
27
3
0.92
31
1.1
30
1
●
Telephone or other forms of communication Shop, buying and selling (cattle, crops) Member of communal/community association Own transportation
●
To be in a position of authority
0.7
32
0.82
32
0
●
Go to fiestas
0.42
33
1.76
26
7
●
Participate in organizing fiestas
0.29
34
0.71
33
1
●
●
●
Note: RD refers to the necessity ranking less the satisfaction ranking. Item necessity was rated by respondents on a three-point scale (very necessary = 2, necessary = 1, or not necessary = 0) while goal satisfaction was rated against a four-point response scale (satisfied = 3, so-so = 2, bad = 1, don’t have = 0). The sample size was 550.
progress in raising a family mattered less. Where people were living at the time of interview also correlated with satisfaction with raising a family: highest in villages, then the small towns and lowest in the urban sites, whereas with respect to other latent needs it was significant but not linear. The subjective wellbeing effect of migration was also significant but nonlinear: there being some evidence that wellbeing is better served by moving little or to a very distant place rather than something in between. Additionally, the chapter found relatively few statistically significant differences in responses between men and women. Chapter 4 explored links between subjective wellbeing and standard economic welfare measures at the individual and household level. Drawing on a survey of 247 households, the income and expenditure of people living in the seven selected sites was found to be relatively low, with more than 85 percent falling below the national poverty line. This confirms deliberate selection of relatively poor sites, though it probably also reflects some measurement inconsistencies. Multivariate analysis was used to analyze answers to a single happiness question, generally obtained from two people in each household in each
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of the three rounds of the survey. As expected, this indicator of happiness was found to be significantly higher for households with high income relative to other respondents in their site. However, living in a relatively better-off site was found to be negatively associated with happiness. This confirms findings of other studies and can be attributed to the negative effect of social comparison. What is surprising is to find this effect outweighing the positive effect of higher income on capacity to purchase basic needs even for a relatively poor sample. The study of happiness was complemented by an initial exploration of the linkages between economic variables and subjective wellbeing measures developed in chapter 3. Within urban sites, a positive correlation was found between lower poverty and satisfaction relative to the latent need for improvement from a secure base.1 However, across the whole sample satisfaction relative to the goals of place to live better and raise a family was associated with deeper poverty.2 This suggests that living in a more isolated community can raise subjective wellbeing because it permits greater fulfillment of nonmaterial life goals, such as raising a family and living in a better social environment. This provides an important alternative to the hypothesis that living in rural areas could raise wellbeing because it isolates people from making adverse social comparisons. Chapter 5 first presented data on the diverse patterns of migration and shorter term movement into and out of the seven selected research sites. The high level of overall mobility supports the view that their inhabitants share a broadly similar base of understanding about wellbeing possibilities in a range of urban and rural settings across the region. In contrast to the usual emphasis on migration as a response to economic incentives, the chapter takes a broader wellbeing perspective, encompassing those who stay as well as those who move. The narrative data helps to interpret the empirical data presented in the previous chapters. While expectations and perceived outcomes of migration are highly diverse, one theme that emerges strongly is the trade-off between material and relational aspirations and outcomes. The decision to migrate (and not to return) is often motivated by the pursuit of personal improvement through employment and education in the knowledge that this is both a risky process and that it entails personal sacrifice in terms of loss of family and quality of living environment. The case-study material presented in the chapter emphasizes the importance of intersubjective (emotional as well as political) effects of migration on wellbeing, particularly the relationship between parents and children. In contrast to the emphasis on individual agency through migration, chapter 6 explores the relationship between wellbeing and community structures and institutions. At a theoretical level, it reflects on the disjuncture between (1) an essentialist Andean view of institutions as holistic, bundled, or integrative in their relationship to wellbeing and (2) more reductionist social science perspectives that separate out their economic, political, social, and symbolic functions. But rather than reinforce this distinction it attempts a classification of how different institutions contribute to achievement of the three latent needs identified in chapter 3. For example, market and government institutions appear more prevalent than community institutions in urban compared to rural sites, but whether this is necessarily beneficial cannot be judged without also
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examining diverse wellbeing consequences. Case studies of collective action are used to illustrate their multiple purposes: means for the reproduction of values and identities; instrument for production of goods and services (consumed individually) and also mechanisms for social interaction with intrinsic worth (consumed jointly), including intense emotional experiences with which to punctuate the routine drudgery and difficulty of participants’ lives. In emphasizing their multidimensionality the chapter challenges the assumption (latent in much Western thinking about modernization) that reduced reliance on collectivist rather than individualized institutions is progressive in the sense of enhancing overall wellbeing. Despite his recognition of their inherent logic even Figueroa, for example, takes it for granted that collective action is inferior to universal provision of services through market and state on the basis of citizenship rights. The counterview is that market and state create their own demand by first eroding collective options, principally by weakening voice and strengthening exit options for a privileged few (Hirschman, 1982). The decline of collective institutions thereby reflects the revealed preference of only a minority, and once collective action is thus undermined then habituation and free-rider problems make it harder to restore. In this sense, Álvarez suggests a silver lining to the dark clouds of social exclusion and market discrimination. Evidence of this, he suggests, includes the common practice of migrants’ return to their place of origin to participate in fiestas as well as the resilience and reinvention of collective action in urban areas. Chapter 7 situated the empirical data presented in earlier chapters in a wider national and historical context. It did so by exploring the superficially contradictory idea of Peru as an “unsettled regime” that somehow preserves core institutional continuity despite massive inequality and low levels of trust and loyalty toward government. The key conditioning factors behind this regime are the colonial origins of Peru’s insertion into global capitalism and the political culture of racial/class hierarchy that it fostered. This persists because more educated and privileged groups have an interest in resisting popular moves to establish more universal human rights. However, in contrast to more pessimistic theories, chapter 7 emphasizes continued possibilities for people to overcome social exclusion and alienation through their own action. Policy analysis informed by a wellbeing perspective is about analyzing the extent to which a given regime is transformative in this sense or exists mainly to perpetuate the status quo. The argument was illustrated with reference to migration, the growth of protestant churches, pursuit of human rights, and the reform of social assistance programs.
8.3. Relevance for International Development Policy and Practice In this section we explore, in turn, six arguments for the policy relevance of the book. First, we suggest that a wellbeing perspective can reveal differences in the way people think about development, and hence the nature of disagreements between them. Second, we suggest that subjective wellbeing research methods in
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psychology offer new and innovative approaches to assessing development goals and priorities. Third, we argue that an enlarged definition and analysis of wellbeing that emphasizes how people are motivated by more than material interests permits a fuller analysis of opportunities and obstacles to development. Fourth, we briefly review norms for the vertical management of aid relationships. Fifth, we consider specialization and scale of development interventions. Sixth, we end with brief reflections on the personal dimension of development intervention.
8.3.1. Wellbeing Discourse One explanation for popular disillusionment with development thinking is the perception that it is overly dominated by Western ideas of progress, and a market driven pursuit of average income growth. In the eyes of many it has simply failed to deliver opportunities for higher and more secure income earning on a sufficient scale, while at the same time contributing to social instability by exacerbating inequality and undermining local institutions. There is also mounting evidence that the materialist and individualist consumer values associated with it bring transient happiness at best. At the same time, it can undermine the social contract needed for higher and better quality investment in public goods that strengthen human needs. Adoption by some development agencies of a “rights first” approach reflects the view that rebalancing market and state can be achieved only through grassroots political mobilization. But the rhetoric of human rights is often abstract and remote from most people’s own perceived needs and their daily experiences of dependence on richer and more powerful patrons and employers. A further aspect of popular alienation from international development policy (as enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals, for example) is the perception that it is formulated by distant elites. As academic researchers we also experience a bias in international policy toward Western and universal ideas over those rooted in local contexts and cultural traditions. Participation in debate at this level entails submission of ideas to processes of global peer review through the media, conferences, journals, and bureaucratic selection that systematically convert local into global discourse in ways that render them more acceptable to already established, richer and more powerful interests.3 Chapter 1 also presented “local first” discourse as one reaction to growth, needs, and rights first discourses, still more to any grand “post–Washington consensus” synthesis of them. However, it also noted that this strategy risks simply subsuming diverse local views under a fourth homogenizing global discourse. It is not self-evident, for example, that an Andean vision of balance between community, environment, and the Apus (gods) has much in common with Taliban social policy in Afghanistan, or Zapatista political ideology in Mexico. Attempts to forge global anti-Western movements and alliances out of such diverse perspectives are also prone to being hijacked by globalizing Western influences, albeit dissenting ones. An isolationist retreat into local cultural, intellectual, and civic space that can be defended against processes of global colonization and assimilation is also problematic. For it again risks
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accentuating a false dichotomy between “local” and “global,” which contradicts some of the very values being defended, such as hospitality toward outsiders and respect for their ideas. Defending the local solely because it is local risks a culturally relativist denial of our shared humanity. In this book we have sought to contribute to the tension between universal and local perspectives in at least three ways. First, we have sought to confront different universal views with empirical data about the experiences and ideas of people in specific times and places using a range of methods. The world view of typical respondents in our Central Peruvian research sites was certainly not found to be narrowly “localist” in the sense described above. To the extent that any generalization is possible, we observed people and a society preoccupied with how to integrate foreign ideas and influences, albeit selectively and alert to the risk that this can degenerate into an unequal subordination of the local into the external (for example, when the local is conflated with outmoded “tradition” and the external with progressive “modernity”). Second, and more ambitiously, we have sought to contribute inductively to the development of universal understanding that is capable of accommodating a wider and more subtle array of experiences and insights. This is not about “local first,” it is about “wellbeing first.” Chapter 3 seeks to do this not only by advancing a single method for eliciting local views but also by relating the results to the common evolutionary history of humanity, while at the same time accommodating diverse local cultural and individual adaptations. In other words, an inductive modeling approach aims to identify underlying quasiuniversal patterns behind the local on the basis of the hypothesis that shared evolutionary patterns are hidden within them. Similarly, chapter 7 seeks a general but flexible framework for thinking about national policy regimes as responses to shared problems or needs of humanity, at the same time open to how these reflect diverse local constraints, opportunities, and priorities. Third, and most important of all, we have sought to be reflexive, in the sense of being open to diverse descriptions of the nature of wellbeing and poverty. Rather than advancing a new “wellbeing first” perspective we suggest that the language of wellbeing provides discursive space within which to understand better when, how, and why those involved in development resonate with or fail to connect to other stakeholders. Making these more transparent enhances possibilities for greater mutual understanding and agreement. Of course, pointing out how different views start out with different ontological assumptions will not automatically result in harmony and cooperation, sweetness and light. The magnitude and intractability of disagreements (over competing materialistic interests and ideologies, for example) may simply be made clearer. Not everyone is willing or able to go the next step and reflect on the reasons behind such differences and how they themselves as well as others have to change if they can be overcome. But more reflection along these lines should nevertheless assist in the messy business of seeking common ground and negotiating ways forward where incomprehension, confrontation, and conflict might otherwise prevail. To the extent that international development is explicitly committed to enhancing the wellbeing of others then there should be scope for fuller and
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more reciprocal recognition of values and priorities, as well as scope for mutually beneficial interaction. By acknowledging and affirming local cultural diversity, discussion of wellbeing can also act as a useful counterpoint to self-serving forces behind globalization, centralization, and the sham negotiations and consultations through which the interests of the more powerful almost inevitably prevail. Failure to use this discursive space explicitly does not necessarily condemn a development initiative to failure. There may be good reasons in particular times and places for the ascendency of a narrower discourse, whether liberal, structuralist, localist, or something completely new. But what is clear is that an assessment or deconstruction of reliance on narrower discourses, and the consequences of this, can only be made on the basis of a broader understanding of wellbeing, capable of accommodating fully the beliefs and values of all those affected and being open to their full participation. This challenges the authority of any foreign country, government, NGO, or development agency to impose predetermined policies on others: a point that can be illustrated by imagining the likely consequences of any attempt by the leader of an Amazonian community to instigate collective solutions to the perceived ills of individualism in London or New York, for example. Some years ago, during fieldwork in the Andes, one of the contributors to this book observed a new and rare cultural phenomenon: Andean women playing football while wearing their pollera (heavy colorful wool skirt). The villagers reported that they were forced to play football in order to receive material support from an aid program. They did not understand the reasons for this very well, but some of the villagers remembered that one gringa said that this was a way to challenge machismo, because football is only played by men. If these women, he wondered, had a particular variety of potato that could save many lives of Europeans, then would they force the recipients to learn salsa because there is evidence that salsa dancing increases wellbeing? Such riddles can only be resolved through open debate over the nature of wellbeing that can accommodate different views on the importance of freedom as well as food, sport, and dance. This point takes us back to the first of our three responses to the universallocal dichotomy: the need to strengthen the empirical base for understanding what makes people feel happy and fulfilled in particular times and places— particularly relatively poor and marginalized people. Ironically, while subjective wellbeing and happiness research has expanded rapidly in richer countries, it has been suppressed in poorer countries by a top-down assumption that what local people need most is self-evidently more income, security, basic need, human rights, and so on.4 By reporting in detail what people in seven sites across central Peru think and feel, as well as what they have and do, this book represents a small response to this gap in knowledge. Importantly, the book also embodies new ideas about how to collect and codify individual views about wellbeing, both to inform policy and to advance our understanding of the human condition generally. In so doing, we do not deny the existence of universal aspects of human wellbeing, but we are critical of hegemonic projects to define and measure these using methodologies whose underlying epistemology and ontology bias the scope of possible findings.
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8.3.2. Identifying Development Priorities and Monitoring Interventions Do we feel food secure? How satisfied are we with our formal education? How secure do we feel about different areas of our life? How loyal are we to different national institutions? Each question implicitly reflects a different view of human wellbeing. Likewise, the choices of development agencies emphasize different aspects of the wellbeing of the people they purport to serve. We first review why they should take these people’s own views of wellbeing more into account, and then we consider how. If international development is regarded as an “industry” then finding out what its “clients” think and feel can be regarded as routine market research, and a reality check for top-down positions, including those reviewed in chapter 1. No development agency can have a work plan that is entirely client responsive or demand driven: all are constrained by their own competence and cultural baggage. This exists in the latent values of staff and in informal organizational practices and habits as much as in formal mission, vision, policy, and procedural statements. A specialized microfinance institution, for example, embodies the view that wellbeing depends in part on access to financial services. It cannot suddenly turn itself into a medical relief agency, nor should it. But while there is strong institutional path dependence in respect of institutionalized visions of wellbeing this need not amount to total lock-in. Nor do limits on how radically an organization can reinvent itself diminish the case for finding out how far its internal values and priorities resonate with others’. In the market arena, such responsiveness is partially enforced by the freedom of consumers not to buy a firm’s product, and the fact that if enough of them decide not to then its control over resources rapidly dissipates. Businesses consequently invest heavily in market research both to anticipate customers’ views and assist them in working out how to influence them. Likewise, while the ultimate check on governments may be that they can be thrown out of office, they also invest heavily in monitoring and manipulating how people think and feel about their policy and performance. Development can similarly be viewed as another arena in which institutionalized and individual visions of wellbeing compete and coalesce. However, this particular “quasi-market” is further complicated to the extent that those who pay and vote for the services provided are often not the main intended beneficiaries of those services (Martens et al., 2002; Copestake, 2005; Eyben, 2005). This “broken feedback loop” accentuates the question of how development agencies should forge their own mission. Complete harmonization of goals (still less values) with other stakeholders is not a necessary precondition for any effective action: indeed such alignment often takes place most effectively only through practical collaboration. However, the feedback loops through which alignment with “clients” occur are weaker, so the possibility of persistent cultural misunderstanding and political disjuncture is greater. A general objection to “just asking” people is that they may themselves have unclear or biased views about their own needs and wants, amounting even to what Engels first called “false consciousness.”5 A Peru example, discussed in chapter 3,
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was the apparent preference for removing trees and cementing over village squares. A simple but important riposte to this criticism is that systematically finding out what people think and feel does not imply abandoning the quest for consistent universal visions of wellbeing as well. But if the two diverge then it is useful to know this and to examine why. How to do so? Chapter 3 advanced a specific methodology, designed to reflect local concepts and meanings and relying on inductive analysis so as to avoid subsequent imposition of predetermined ideas on the data. This process can readily be applied to the design and appraisal of development interventions—indeed its use has already been piloted by NGOs working in the Peruvian Amazon and in fishing communities along the Pacific coast. Latent needs, relative satisfaction with them, and the importance attached to additional resources needed to achieve them can all inform intervention priorities, as well as assumptions about how delivery of outputs should lead to intended outcomes or wellbeing impacts. Data on personality and values can also inform more culturally sensitive recruitment and training of staff, and thinking not just about goals, but also culturally appropriate ways of working, of which more is discussed below. Repeat surveys of goals, goal satisfaction, and resources perception can be used to monitor whether intended changes are taking place, providing a robust empirical point of reference for reviews and evaluations.6 It should be emphasized that we are not proposing an exclusively emic development perspective: rather, an approach that starts with such an understanding of local SWB conceptions. For example, American society emphasizes the goal of economic success (Kasser and Ryan, 1993), but the achievement of this goal has been associated with a decline in SWB (Kasser and Ryan, 1996; 2001). If we reverse roles and the United States become clients, then from this point of view no intervention can be justified that aims exclusively to promote economic success. This also undermines the case for intervention elsewhere based on a narrowly economistic U.S. model of development. Pursuing this argument in the Central Peru context we found that raise a family need is a huge source of SWB, yet is inversely related to some modernization indicators. We infer that development proposals should support rather than challenge cultural and interpersonal mechanisms related to the strength of the raise a family need, aware that in a complex equation a small shift in one critical variable can have major adverse repercussions on others.7 We are not proposing a more informed negotiation, but ideally a functional analysis that starts with local wellbeing conceptions and then assesses different policy options by simulating the effect of each against them. Development programs based solely on predetermined assumptions about wellbeing and how to achieve it should be rejected. To conclude this subsection it is worth briefly clarifying how this approach differs from other ways of finding out about subjective wellbeing. Many development agencies have relied on participatory appraisal methods (Mayoux and Johnson, 2007). Starting as a movement to give more weight to indigenous knowledge in specific fields, particularly agriculture, natural resource management, and health, this approach has also been adapted to inform national poverty reduction strategies (for Peru, see DFID and World Bank, 2003) and was also used as part of the
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global “voices of the poor” project of the World Bank (Camfield, 2006:5–10). At the micro level, a particular strength of participatory appraisal is that it can lead directly to collective action and bottom-up processes of empowerment, or a process of participatory learning and action. Done well, group-based consultation methods can also act as a direct spur to collective action in securing public goods. The very process of inclusive discussion and decision making can also enhance wellbeing (Deneulin and Townsend, 2006). However, there is a risk that participatory methods downplay individual differences, marginalize minority interests, and bias policy toward a lowest common denominator of less controversial priorities. More generally, there is the danger that they retain a bias toward the forms of intervention with which the sponsoring development agency is most associated. At the macro level, the diverse, open-ended and often qualitative data collected is also difficult to aggregate in a way that permits systematic statistical analysis and is user friendly for policy purposes. A quite different approach is simply to add attitudinal questions to existing statistical surveys of needs and resources (e.g., Herrera et al., 2007).8 Such questions can be restricted to global happiness (see chapter 4) or they can be related to a predetermined framework for dividing wellbeing up into different domains. Rojas (2007), for example, divides life satisfaction into health, economic, job, family, friendship, personal, and community domains and analyzes people’s subjective views about each, leaving open the possibility of failing to ask about things that are nevertheless important to respondents themselves.9 This potential difficulty challenges researchers to develop an empirical approach to identifying the best possible set of indicators that are shared across a given multicultural population. A leading example is the work of the Quality of Life group affiliated to the World Health Organization.10 The main measures developed (the WHOQOL-100 and the 26-item WHOQOL-BREF) rely on responses to closed questions organized into domains and facets of quality of life that are agreed between countries and linguistic groups using an agreed protocol (Skevington et al., 2004; Schmidt and Bullinger, 2007).11 The initial plan for SWB measurement by the WeD research group was to follow this approach. However, while WHOQOL protocols allow for negotiating changes to existing lists of facets and domains, there were fears that the rules for doing so (particularly reliance on focus groups) could bias results too much toward the values and priorities of more educated participants.12 There was also a risk of path dependence from a starting point that heavily emphasized health. Similar concerns also weighed against adopting other existing wellbeing scales, particularly given the fact that these had mostly been developed using relatively affluent and educated Western respondents.13 A more attractive approach to the WeD group was the patient generated index, or PGI, pioneered by Ruta (1994; 1998). This allows respondents to identify for themselves what is important to their quality of life, in a way that also echoes methods used by Clark (2002) in South Africa. It also offers a gap theory of wellbeing (assessing the degree of satisfaction with selected goals) that fits well with the idea of development as a planned or cognitive process. However, because the PGI constructs scores using items that are specific to each
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respondent, systematic comparisons between individuals are harder to interpret, and the data is also amenable to statistical generalization and model building. Hence while other researchers in the WeD group explored its usefulness as an applied tool in other contexts, its use was not taken further in Peru. This discussion highlights the unique combination of characteristics of the WeDQoL as presented in chapter 3. Openness to diverse local priorities is ensured by a prior phase of ethnographic research, followed by in-depth structured open-ended interviews. At the same time, systematic construction of emic or native psychometric scales from this data permits a second and relatively rapid phase of collection of quantitative data that is directly comparable across individuals within the selected population. This is then consolidated into a manageable number of wellbeing indicators using an inductive method of statistical analysis. The result is an assessment tool that measures subjective wellbeing of individuals in a comparable way, sensitive to cultural context, and relatively unbiased by the normative frameworks of outsiders. With further testing and adaptation it can be developed into a user-friendly needs assessment tool for use in a wide range of applied development contexts.
8.3.3. Wellbeing Regimes and Policy Analysis So far we have argued that wellbeing is useful both as the starting point for openended debate over core development values and priorities, and as the foundation for new ways of assessing development priorities. In addition, chapter 7 argued that a wellbeing perspective can also add to analysis of social change (compared to political economy perspectives based on rational choice models) by factoring into it a better understanding of the diverse mental models of development that motivate different stakeholders. This position was incorporated into a four component dynamic system model: “wellbeing outcomes” in any period included changes in different groups’ willingness and ability to take individual and collective action. These have “reproduction consequences” that affect economic, political, and social structure. These in turn change the “institutional mix” that determines wellbeing outcomes. Hence possibilities for cumulative cycles can be identified through which small changes in one period can precipitate more far-reaching changes in the future. A critical example is the prospect for collective action among poorer and excluded sections of the population. Figueroa emphasizes the difficulties. First, culture is against them: they face discrimination, have lower aspirations and less capacity. Second, they have less time to devote to “higher order needs” in the sense popularized by Maslow.14 Third, there is Lichbach’s “rebel’s dilemma”: why risk leading a collective movement rather than piggybacking on the leadership of others? All these arguments rest on controversial psychological assumptions. First, the culture of poverty argument essentializes poor people. Second, Maslow’s ideas have been found to rely on a simplistic analysis of individual and collective interests. Third, the rebel’s dilemma neglects the extent to which pursuit of public goods is something people opt to do because they find it more meaningful
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and sometimes more enjoyable than private consumption.15 In short, dealing with this issue thoroughly requires a broader understanding of the subjective wellbeing and motivation of the subordinate group. Equally controversial are the rational choice political economy assumptions about the motivation of more educated people, including capitalists and political brokers. For example, they may be influenced by more inclusive, often nationalist ideology (Calderon and Szmukler, 2004). Figueroa’s argument that capitalists will block policies to reduce financial exclusion or to improve social protection, and that the educated self-employed will block policies to reduce educational exclusion can be challenged on these grounds. There may be scope for threeway compromises or power-diffusion processes particularly as the labor market becomes tighter, and as lower and middle class groups become more politically organized (Powelson, 1997; Acemoglu and Robinson, 2005). More realistic analysis of the policy process again demands more subtle psychology and a better appreciation of how political issues are socially and culturally embedded. It may be that politicians in a particular country are ruthlessly self-interested rent seekers and takers, who operate in a low trust environment devoid of institutional and cultural constraints on their action. But this cannot be assumed.16
8.3.4. Vertical Management of Development Interventions The three points made so far can all inform traditional approaches to programming development as a linear and logical sequence of action points in pursuit of fixed objectives (including the traditional project cycle, logical frameworks, and results-based management). For example, discourse analysis can be used to assist in identifying the scope for making the actions of different agencies more consistent,17 subjective wellbeing studies can assist in needs assessment, and wellbeing regime analysis can inform policy prioritization. However, the practical implications of a more holistic approach to wellbeing are more far-reaching than this. A good starting point for exploring why is by considering the complexity of wellbeing regime analysis. In chapter 7 it was argued that an important foundation for policy is an appropriate model for analyzing social change as a real historical process. It further suggested that such models could be made more realistic by incorporating a better understanding of the distinct and often competing “mental models” of different actors in order to identify scope for forging alliances capable of bringing about lasting change (North, 1990). These may include the four development discourses described in Chapter 1, as well as a multiplicity of more local views. Mental models exist as a form of bounded rationality, or deliberate simplification to facilitate action in the face of potentially overwhelming complexity. Hence it should be no surprise that attempts to locate them in a wider framework are challenging. The administrative solution to complexity is generally to set parameters and then delegate powers. The wellbeing regime framework only provides the basis
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for more effective action when applied in detail to complex specific country contexts and fleshed out with data that is inherently difficult to quantify. It follows that its practical utility to international development agencies hinges on their ability to give employees or collaborators at the country level and below more freedom to act on the basis of better local knowledge and a more complex set of local relationships.18 One difficulty posed by such delegation is that it becomes harder for development agencies to set appropriate parameters (in the form of standard performance indicators and policy guidelines) through which to demonstrate consistency of action between countries. To the extent that effective performance hinges on local improvisation it is also harder to bundle intervention into uniform and replicable packages for the purpose of planning, funding, monitoring, and evaluation. Improvisation entails not only context-specific diversity of action, but also agility in responding quickly to unexpected events. Some degree of policy consistency can nevertheless be claimed by requiring program managers to comply with “crosscutting” policy principles (e.g., abiding by the law, gender awareness, environmental sustainability) and to justify their actions periodically relative to measurable outcomes (e.g., poverty reduction, provision of basic needs, and compliance with human rights legislation). But the larger the number of policy principles and universal goals imposed on country teams the more limited is their residual room for maneuver. Indeed, freed from the need to operate within a more detailed analysis of development processes, policy makers are more prone to indulge in ever more elaborate goal setting, and imposition of unrealistic norms for what is and is not “acceptable.” In order to avoid total bureaucratic gridlock, local staff are then likely to find themselves having to develop unofficial modes of action that exacerbate inevitable gaps between official policy rhetoric and local reality. Eyben (2005:48) observes that analysis of the problems facing development programming along these lines echoes complexity theory: systems are more selforganized than controlled; there are multiple and overlapping causes, effects and outcomes; all understanding is situated and partial; and the overall effect of any one action on the total system is very hard to predict. She argues that operating effectively in such an environment requires new attitudes to learning and to self-evaluation. It is more important to improvise, and to reflect honestly on what happens, than to devise detailed and consistent plans. Building open and trusting networks as the basis for cooperation is more important than clear hierarchies of control. A practical tool that goes some way in this direction is “drivers of change” analysis (DFID, 2005a). This was introduced in part to redress the balance between (a) technical programming of development in line with normative goals, and (b) more realistic analysis of political and cultural opportunities and constraints to the proposed changes. But in so doing it implicitly acknowledges the case for a more organic and decentralized approach to the management of development, capable of responding in a timely way to complex and dynamic situations by nudging events in particular directions. A positive illustration of this link is provided by DFID’s aid program in Peru between 2000 and 2005 (DFID, 2005b; Wilson and Eyben, 2005). A combination of its relatively small budget and the experience of in-country staff enabled it
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to enjoy more local autonomy than most other country programs (Eyben, 2006). This enabled them to opt to pursue a rights-based agenda informed by detailed knowledge of the local policy context, and to implement it in a flexible way by building up trustful networks with like-minded agencies and individuals. Peru was also going through a particularly fluid period, following the resignation of Fujimori and his replacement by a transitional government under Paniagua. Eyben acknowledges some risks in this approach, including becoming locked in clientelist funding relationships and losing independence of judgment. Nevertheless, the DFID Peru case study provides an interesting contrast to country programs where the proliferation of general policy guidelines and a preoccupation with measurable targets has greatly limited local room for maneuver.
8.3.5. Specialization and Scale of Development Intervention A last point on vertical division of power concerns the scale of intervention. By moving quickly from pilot to project, to program and policy levels, development agencies address the criticism that they are simply too small to be significant. Scaling up requires larger budgets, and spending them is an indicator of success that can improve career prospects. But with every increase in scale it is harder to ensure that interventions are adequately tailored to reflect local context and priorities. And the more holistic the underlying vision of wellbeing the sharper the dilemma. There are also potentially misleading professional incentives to scaling up, because it is often easier to estimate potential cost savings than the losses that may arise as one-size-fits-all prescriptions become more hit-andmiss. Decentralized intervention also requires investment in local capacity to provide political and administrative oversight that goes against the interests of those higher up the power chain. Much development activity is managed in discrete silos or columns, each addressing some different aspect of wellbeing and delegated to appropriate teams of technical specialists. So long as it is accurately identified as a priority then there is an efficiency case for concentrating resources on one particular aspect of the wellbeing of a particular disadvantaged group, drawing in those with appropriate specialist expertise. But excessive or badly structured specialization risks turning development workers’ tasks into abstractions, and separating them from real social human beings. Once under the control of specialists, there is then a danger that one priority is pursued at the expense of other dimensions. Alkire (2004:192) suggests this is at the heart of antidevelopment discourse “the major problem . . . is that development initiatives, even if they try to reduce poverty, define as exogenous (out of their field of concern) other capabilities that people really valued and allowed them to be nonchalantly undermined” (italics in original). In other words, it’s not that better education, health, or food security is necessarily a bad thing, but in prioritizing them other dimensions of wellbeing (above all valued aspects of local culture) risk being ignored and ultimately damaged.
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This suggests that one consequence of a more holistic wellbeing perspective is the need for more emphasis on continued consultation with intended beneficiaries, mediated by those who have a broad understanding of development rather than specialist expertise. To the extent that development has to be managed in smaller and more locally specific bundles then the economics of specialization change.19 More generally, this analysis can be framed in the language of cultural theory developed particularly by Mary Douglas (Giddens, 1971; Eriksen, 2001:82; Douglas, 2004). Coordination takes place in two ways: establishment of constraining rules and regulations (“grid”), and incorporation into a wider collective identity (“group”). In a healthy organization the balance between them is managed through challenge and response among individuals and factions with preferences for different forms and levels of regulation and incorporation. The analysis above suggests top-down development inclines to a strong-grid/strong-group bureaucratic norm. The danger of this is anomie and apathy among those who identify neither with donor grid structures nor its group identity, ideology, and discourse. Wellbeing discourse, with its emphasis on the importance of relationship, ideas, people, and material goods, can help agencies identify where they are failing to connect with other stakeholders through their neglect of differences in each domain.
8.3.6. The Primacy of the Personal Several of the arguments advanced so far in this section suggest the importance of personal abilities as a means to better management of development: to understand and interpret other people’s perspectives; to build trusting relationships and networks; and to adapt quickly to change and be able to improvise. Thinking about wellbeing should not only encourage a more rounded view of others, but also of ourselves: just as poor people should be regarded as people first and poor second, so should professional people regard themselves as people first and professional second. This point has been made particularly strongly by Chambers (1997; 2005) and is echoed by McGregor (2007:321–2) in his argument for keeping the “social human being” at the heart of development research and practice. The same point could arguably be made of practice in any field of activity. We hope our dentist will be pleasant and respectful, but if it came to a tradeoff most of us would nevertheless opt for a dentist who is more skilful with the drill than the one with better chairside manners. Development practice differs to the extent that interpersonal behavior can have a more direct effect on the core goal of diffusing power in society. More fundamentally, the inequality in control over resources that is inherent in many aid relationships creates particular strains on personal relationships. Carr et al. (1998) observe this effect closely in the labeling and othering associated with technical assistance for training. Grammig (2002) alludes to the same issue in his observation that even where counterparts enjoy mutual professional respect and friendship their relationship is still mediated by differing political interests and identities arising from unequal power over allocation and disbursement of funds. While there is no avoiding the inequality of control over global resources within which
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development is embedded, the effect of this can at least be reduced by questioning the functional separation between those who control the timing of initiatives (and money flow) and those responsible for their implementation. Specialization through successive stages of the intervention cycle (in project identification teams, implementation units, and review bodies) also helps us to avoid sustained personal relationships and commitment through which we are more likely to accept personal responsibility for the outcome of our work. Indeed, it is perhaps not entirely cynical to argue that rapid circulation of staff—particularly expatriates in country offices—serves at least in part the need of donor organizations to forget in order not to have to confront the unbridgeable gap between official policy and ground reality. Or to put the matter another way, if donor staff were forced to spend more time in one place, then much of the discourse that frames how they operate might more quickly be shown to be unrealistic. Figure 8.1 suggests a simple intervention model intended to encourage both reflexivity and a more holistic wellbeing perspective. It first defines agencies by their values, relationships, and resources. Values include formal goals, but also the importance implicitly attached to different states and roles. Relationships may be both positive and antagonistic. Resources include claims over material, natural, human assets, and knowledge. Together they influence how different agencies act and interact with each other over time, with outcomes (symbolic, relational, and material), which in turn alter their states.20 These symbolic and relational effects are reinforced in the way development agencies act—for example, through choice of language, staff recruitment, forms of consultation, and collaboration. As Eyben (2005) acknowledges in her discussion of the DFID Peru experience, the social positioning of a development agency unavoidably
DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
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OTHERS Values & mental models Relationships Resources This side of the diagram is concerned with monitoring states
Figure 8.1
ACTION & INTERACTION Individual Collective This side of the diagram is concerned with monitoring specific changes.
A reflexive framework for appraisal of development interventions
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affects the status and political influence of others. These symbolic and relational effects can be more important (in both their direct and indirect effect on wellbeing) than intended material effects, yet they are often ignored or downplayed. Notes 1. Lower poverty was also associated with more positive perception of adequacy of resources, this being a measure of items perceived to be instrumentally but not intrinsically important to live well in the region (see chapter 3). No significant links were identified between poverty status and latent need importance, though there is tentative evidence that the importance attached to ISB was positively correlated with per capita expenditure (relatively low economic aspirations associated with low relative achievement). 2. High raise a family satisfaction was also significantly and positively correlated with responses to the global happiness question. 3. Research into poverty, gender relations, youth, and indigenous groups is rendered more acceptable and publishable if couched in terms of human and social capital rather than more sophisticated social theory, for example. 4. To be clear, it is worth reiterating that many people may indeed need these things. But by assuming they do and focusing on them exclusively, other aspects of people’s wellbeing are ignored. People are also thereby relegated from subject to object, and from active agent to passive recipient of policy. 5. “Ideology is a process accomplished by the so-called thinker. Consciously, it is true, but with a false consciousness. The real motive forces impelling him remain unknown to him; otherwise it simply would not be an ideological process. Hence he imagines false or seeming motive forces” Engels (1893). 6. Routine monitoring of impact variables of this kind does not constitute rigorous impact assessment. This is because it does not on its own reveal the extent to which observed changes can be attributed to the intervention. See section 8.4 for further discussion. 7. For example, in contrast to raise a family, improvement with a secure base is associated with a hedonic treadmill dynamic where dissatisfaction seems to remain despite the achievement. Thus simulation using the structural model of SWB presented in chapter 3 would favor development activities emphasizing culturally rooted practices to raise a family (including early marriage and higher number of children in rural isolated areas) and deemphasizing the individualistic values related to the motivation for higher income through individual accumulation in a highly competitive context. 8. Moller (2007:247) reports that the twenty-five year old Quality of Life Trends Project in South Africa started out this way, but found the correlation between subjective and so-called objective indicators to be so strong that they dropped the latter completely. 9. Regional “barometer” studies are even more eclectic in their selection of opinion questions. The underlying epistemological dilemma is that prior codification or quantification of responses facilitates subsequent data manipulation and aggregation, but only by top-down imposition of categories and hence the introduction of bias, including reduced openness to the unexpected (Moris and Copestake, 1993). 10. The term “quality of life” as used by this group can be taken as synonymous with subjective wellbeing. They define it as “an individual’s perception of their position in life, in the context of culture and values in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns” (WHOQOL Group, 1994).
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11. The domains for the former are physical, psychological, social, environmental, economic, and spiritual, while the latter covers only the first four. 12. As a result it was also feared that the health psychology orientation of the instrument (emphasizing standard physical and mental functioning of the human organism) might continue to dominate relative to a social psychological perspective that places more emphasis on the cultural and context specificity of subjective wellbeing outcomes. 13. Options considered and rejected included self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci, 2001b), the satisfaction with life scale (Diener et al., 1985), and the global happiness question (Veenhoven, 2001). 14. To this we can add the problem of risk and uncertainty arising from social and political instability. Deep and often violent conflict possibly encourages a shortening of time horizons, and reinforces a willing compromise with what works, including pervasive clientelism. 15. Hirschman (1982). He does acknowledge that capacity to sustain ideological commitment to any universal vision of collective future wellbeing is time-bound, often age-bound and requires ever stronger discipline to defend against disappointment. For criticisms from a psychological perspective see Haidt (2006). The free-riding problem is also less for flatter and more anarchic movements where leadership is more diffuse. 16. For detailed discussions of politicians and political institutions in Peru see Taylor (2007), Crabtree (2006), DFID/NDI (2005), and Tanaka (2003). 17. In donor language consistency refers to alignment and harmonization. It also equates with what Chambers (2005) refers to as congruence. However, here we are concerned with a deeper sense of cultural connection or resonance that can also be linked back to Long’s actor-oriented sociology (Long and Long, 1994). 18. Although not pursued here, the case for delegation need not only be confined to relations within development agencies but can include the full gamut of “power reversals” between them and other stakeholders (Chambers, 2005). Here the discussion connects with the wider issue of empowerment, despite having started from the problem of how to deal with complexity, rather than from the ideological perspective of how to empower others for its own sake. 19. The argument here runs in parallel with debate over agricultural performance and research. Where agro-industry operates on a huge scale within fairly uniform environmental parameters then there is a stronger case for specialized research. To the extent that it operates in “complex, diverse and risky” environments then farmers themselves are the experts and it is harder to justify investment in narrow technical expertise (Chambers et al., 1989). 20. Bevan (2004) provides a further discussion of the time dimension. If development agencies do nothing, then cycles of action, outcomes, and altered states of “others” continue without them. But the downward dotted line is a reminder that the mere existence of a development agency can affect the way others perceive themselves and behave, while the upward dotted line indicates how the values, relationships, and resources of development agencies are also constantly being influenced by others.
Chapter 9
Implications for Wellbeing Research and Theory Jorge Yamamoto
9.1. Introduction The conclusions of the research presented in this book (summarized in section 8.2) signify less of an end point than the gateway to an exciting road to improved understanding of wellbeing. First, we can conclude that the emic and post-hoc research (EPHR) used in this book offers a powerful alternative approach for wellbeing investigation, and that further research using this approach (with different samples and including more variables) will enrich wellbeing and development theory (see section 9.2). Second, the iteration between quantitative methods (including structural equation modeling), and qualitative methods (including ethnography and in-depth interviews) was critical to producing robust and context-sensitive empirical data. But further insights can be gained by combining this with a more detailed commentary on the past roots of different wellbeing patterns, drawing on historical data including archaeological evidence and human evolutionary interpretation. Section 9.3 therefore proposes to expand the method followed in this book through more systematic inclusion of psychohistory and archaeological analyses. Third, the results presented in this book can ultimately be linked to genetics, molecular biology, and brain structures. Section 9.4 further explores these links and the underlying mechanisms behind wellbeing, enlightening its structure and organization. Consequently, it proposes merging the neuroscience research tradition to the EPHR approach. Fourth, one of the main contributions of this research is to go beyond the extensive literature on components of wellbeing by proposing an integrative framework, empirically grounded and validated through structural equation modeling (SEM). The model presented in chapter 3 is mathematically robust, anthropologically meaningful, and psychologically coherent. Section 9.5 proposes further research on modeling wellbeing that would not only validate the model and theory in other contexts, but more importantly would yield additional perspectives, allow continuous model improvement, and further enrich theory. Finally, we are researching wellbeing and what is behind happiness as a
• EGG
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EPHR: Emic and post-hoc research line. OWB: Objective wellbeing. mA: baseline measurement. mB: target line measurement. This figure does not show the longitudinal, long-term study suggested in Section 9.4.
Figure 9.1
Implications for wellbeing research and theory: Chapter summary
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contribution to sustainable development. Therefore, an acid test of the research would be experimental intervention, starting with the results and conclusions of this investigation, to measure longitudinal results of different interventions while controlling for external influences and experimental stimuli. This would lead to understanding of what is working and what is not, further fine-tuning of interventions, and iteration in an ongoing process of continuous improvement. The overall argument of the chapter is summarized in figure 9.1.
9.2. Expansion of Emic and Post-hoc Wellbeing Research The present book proposes that wellbeing discourse can help to close the gap between international development and the reality of life in developing countries. We also claim that the conceptual framework and empirical evidence presented here demonstrates this possibility. But far from being an endpoint it is but the start of a research line that needs to be expanded in at least four ways: (1) repeating the work in additional research sites to represent better the complexity of developing countries; (2) repeating the work with samples of richer people; (3) integrating additional variables into the wellbeing definition and model; and (4) testing hypotheses that have arisen from the research. These are each explored further below. First, the complexity of Peru goes far beyond this corridor sample, but should include lowland Amazonian natives, rural coastal villagers, and greater Andean heterogeneity, just to mention a few. Further, there is the complexity of all Latin America and the Caribbean to contemplate: from small Caribbean islands associated with a stereotype of idyllic life to near Antarctic rural communities. To research a representative sample of developing countries around the world is an even more complex and daunting challenge. Nevertheless, the same procedure followed in this research to integrate seven diverse sites in one country can in principle be applied to more sites internationally, with the promise that integrative analyses and modeling could also reveal significant convergence. Second, it makes no sense to understand wellbeing in developing countries if we do not investigate wellbeing in developed countries in the same way. Likewise it makes no sense to understand wellbeing (and ill-being) in developed countries without a proper understanding of the same in developing countries. To include sites such as London, Paris, and New York, together with Llajta Jock, Alegria, and Nuevo Lugar, and sites in-between would provide significant advances in wellbeing understanding leading to a less stereotyped view of poverty, richness, happiness, and unhappiness. Ongoing research by Yamamoto and Lopez using the EPHR approach with richer samples from Lima and Medellín found a threefactor need solution [chi2 (206, N = 131) = 241.99, p = .043, CFI = .939, RMSEA = .028]: alto nivel de vida (high level of life), community, and disfrute (enjoyment). It also found a three-factor solution for resources [chi2 (206, N = 130) = 223.53, p = .191, CFI = .973, RMSEA = .019]: material resources, personal and
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interpersonal resources, and physical (body) resources, and a four-factor solution for values [chi2 (84, N = 234) = 100.66, p = .104, CFI = .985, RMSEA = .029]: emprendimiento (entrepreneurship), marginality versus integrity, support, and alegría (cheerfulness). The differences and similarity of these results compared to what was presented in the “poorer” samples in this book illustrate the scope for an integrated understanding of rich and poor wellbeing dynamics. Another strand of research under WeD identified confirmatory results at the cross-country level, by using comparable data from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Peru (Yamamoto, 2006a). There was a robust confirmatory factor analysis solution of two cross-cultural needs [chi2 (9, N = 371) =5.29, p = .808, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .001]: good place to live, and raise a family. These two factors were very similar to those found in Peru, whereas the improvement with a secure base need found in Peru was lacking. A one-dimensional solution for resources at the cross-country level was also achieved [chi2 (12, N = 371) =22.75, p = .030, CFI = .975, RMSEA = .029] with four indicators, compared to the seven indicators of resources identified in Peru, but also reflecting a mixture of material and nonmaterial resources. With respect to values, a three-factor solution at the cross-country level [chi2 (45, N = 371) = 66.66, p = .020, CFI = .990, RMSEA = .021] compared to the two factor solution found in Peru. Here, a similar factor of individualism was found; a personalism factor defined by a person who is not particularly focused in the collective, sharing or supporting, but respectful to the others and individually responsible. Interpersonalism, the third factor, is an equivalent of collectivism. Again, the similarities and differences illustrate the possibilities for theorizing a true universal theory of wellbeing by collecting more samples. Third, there is evidence of the role of additional variables in wellbeing that could usefully be incorporated into the overall model. These include: hedonic balance (Custers and Aarts, 2005; Herrington et al., 2005; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005; MacLeod and Conway, 2005, 2001; Watson and Tellegen, 1988); identity (Amir and Lev-Wiesel, 2001; Karakitapoglu-Aygün, 2004; Leary, 2007; Major and O’Brien, 2005; McGregor and Little, 1998; Sanchez et al., 2007; Vandewater and Stewart, 2006) and the self (Chung and Gale, 2006; Diener and Diener, 1995; Kim et al., 2003; King, 1998; Leary, 2007; Leventhal et al., 2008). Integration of hedonic balance into the model presented in chapter 3 could contribute to integrating hedonic and eudemonic SWB traditions. Self and identity are core concepts in social psychology, and provide integrative frameworks for understanding the dynamics of individual behavior in social context. As wellbeing also emerges as an integrative framework for social psychology, to converge the two traditions in a metaintegration provides a complex but promising perspective for social behavior and wellbeing theorizing. Fourth, the EPHR approach rejected several established theories about wellbeing, particularly those related to the western influence, and supports other theories, particularly those related to hard core human structure and human functions that are common to different times and spaces, like evolutionary theory. This strengthens links between wellbeing and ancestral human history, reinforcing the proposition that the deep roots of wellbeing are located in the
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evolutionary constitution of Homo Sapiens, and the challenges posed by the environment in which it has been formed (Yamamoto, 2007b; Yamamoto and Feijoo, 2007). An exciting set of evolutionary explanations arise and consequent empirical tests would lead to significant improvements in SWB theory and research. An illustrative example is the dynamic between the adaptive group heterogeneity (Yamamoto, 2007b) of personality and the adaptive group homogeneity of values proposed in chapter 3. Human beings, as a social species, require behavioral protocols in order to coordinate the interaction between individuals; therefore adaptive group homogeneity is required. This homogeneity is processed within groups and as an adaptive process it must consider environmental characteristics of the specific groups, and other contextual information such as the history of social and intergroup interaction. This leads to a set of interiorized and shared patterns of “good” behavior that function like an adaptive orchestrator of interpersonal behavior. This requires homogeneity, a common set of ideals, and functions as an adaptive advantage. However, too much homogeneity would lead to static sociobehavioral inbreeding. Some counterforce is required to balance homogeneity in order to draft different solution scenarios that maximize success through changing and diverse behavioral strategies, or adaptive group heterogeneity, which could be conducted through personality differences, and through different successful and durable traits within a group. A promising line of research is to explore further the precise dynamics between adaptive group homogeneity and heterogeneity, including the environmental stimuli that prompt particular molecular and cultural processes, leading in turn to specific personality and values.
9.3. “Fastback” Historical Reflection The integration and iteration between quantitative and qualitative methods, particularly the integration of ethnography and in-depth interviews, was a core part of the methodology proposed in this book, and we claim to provide evidence of its benefits. The connection to the past (life histories, for example) provided insightful information, and going back even further into the past will provide even more insight. In different sections of the book, empirical results were discussed in terms of history, from the recent Shining Path terrorist movement to the Spanish conquest in the fifteenth century. This discussion addressed relatively obvious historical connections with the research results, and a more systematic psychohistorical analysis of sites would undercover connections that are not relatively obvious, bringing opportunities for a more comprehensive understanding of wellbeing. All written history itself is but a short story in terms of evolutionary time. Archaeology takes us back much further, particularly in places rich in archaeological sites like Peru. For example, archaeological evidence from sites where an EPHR is conducted could link the pattern of modern wellbeing with ancient environmental, social, and societal characteristics, opening the possibility for hypotheses testing of the ancient roots of modern wellbeing patterns.
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Population genetics also provides additional perspectives on our ancestral past, particularly the opportunity to explore the ancient roots of personality traits. There is evidence that ancestral migration has led to different adaptive strategies, resulting in different phenotypes. For example, Beall (2001) presents evidence and discusses how the Tibetan and Andean populations adapted differently to altitude. Tibetan and Andeans differ phenotypically with respect to resting ventilation, hypoxic ventilatory response, and hemoglobin concentration. On the other hand, Wells (2003) draws on analysis of Y chromosome mutations and mitochondrial DNA to propose that Andeans and Tibetans evolved from a common sea-level ancestor. The Asian population migrated to South America some 10, 000 to 15,000 years ago. It seems likely that the Asian ancestral migrants to the South American Andes left Asia before the Asian occupation of the highlands, and therefore did not carry these adaptations when they arrived in the Andes, but developed different adaptations (Beall, 2001). This is an interesting insight into physical adaptation using population genetics combined with specific physical adaptation evidence. Research that combines population genetics with social and psychosocial adaptations is also technically possible and promising. For example, it is possible that modern temperament and personality traits can be the product of ancient conditions that select those specific traits because they were more successful in the environment of our ancestors over thousands of years. At present, there are studies that link temperament and personality traits with neurotransmitters and their respective genes (Ando et al., 2002; Dragan and Oniszczenko, 2006; Gerra et al., 1999; Jokela et al., 2007; Ronai et al., 2001; Samochowiec et al., 2001). There are also studies from molecular archaeology (Benditt, 1989) that analyze genetic evidence from mummies (Ross, 1992), and fossils (Shapiro et al., 2004). Mellars (2006) has also connected archaeological evidence with genetic information from living humans analyzing the modern human colonization of Eurasia. All these pieces together make it possible to connect data on the personality of modern and ancient humans and to relate both to the environmental characteristics that probably shaped these traits as adaptations.
9.4. Objective Wellbeing So-called objective measurement of wellbeing is often used to refer to indicators that are directly observable, such as food intake, illness, undernourishment, and levels of consumption. However, such data often relies more on what people subjectively report about them than actual observation. Even more fundamentally, precisely how they relate to wellbeing as actually experienced by individuals is also mostly assumed rather than rigorously and empirically explored. In contrast, objective wellbeing is used here to refer to molecular genetics, molecular biology, and neuroimaging among other methods of measuring physiological phenomena underlying subjective wellbeing, and which together constitute a new epistemological dimension of wellbeing knowledge. Neuroimaging is a set of techniques—particularly functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emissions tomography—which identify
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the areas of the brain that are activated during particular brain process under specific stimuli. This technique has already made a significant contribution to the understanding of human behavior (e.g., Friston, 2005; Lieberman, 2007) and wellbeing, particularly the identification of the neural processes involved in hedonic states (Davidson, 2005), and more recently the neural pathways associated with adaptation to reward (Koob and Le Moal, 2008). For example, Ezpeleta and his colleagues (Ezpeleta et al., 1998) present the case of a patient with damage in the periaqueductal gray. This damage was associated with nonmotivated emotions of pleasure. Periaqueductal gray is part of the brain stem (levels 9 and 10) and was related to the nociceptive (pain) system (e.g., Hadjipavlou et al., 2006), which is related to the endocannabinol (Maione et al., 2006), glutamate (D’Amico et al., 1996), and neuropeptide (Wang et al., 2001), which are also related to pleasure circuits. Furthermore, DeWall and Baumeister (2006) suggest a link between social pain (social exclusion) and periaqueductal gray. Another illustration is presented by Pruessner and colleagues (2008). They exposed human subjects to psychosocial stress while conducting positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging. They observed deactivation of the limbic system components, including the hippocampus, hypothalamus, medio-orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulated cortex in subjects who reacted with significant increase of cortisol. The limbic system is frequently linked to the affective brain system (Pessoa, 2008)1 and cortisol is a reliable marker of stress (Gunnar and Quevedo, 2007; Morris et al., 2006). The degree of deactivation in the hippocampus was correlated with cortisol release. This provides additional evidence of the role of the limbic system in negative emotions. Under psychosocial stresses that produce negative affect, the limbic system and particularly the hippocampus become deactivitated. Similar research could investigate the objective basis of human thinking about their goals, resources, achievement of need satisfaction, and values. Through neuroimaging we could link areas of the brain to each experimental condition. The brain mapping of processes associated with wellbeing could then be related to already established data on the functions and interconnections of many brain areas, leading to a better understanding of complex patterns of behavior.2 Molecular genetics and molecular biology also provided significant advances in the understanding of human behavior and these advances can be extended to SWB research and theorization. Far from pointing in the direction of biological determinism, contemporary molecular genetics points toward a more open and complex interaction between genes, transcription of genetic information related to environmental stimuli, and brain plasticity (Gunnar and Quevedo, 2007; Lesch et al., 2002). This approach can equally be applied to SWB processes. For example, there is abundant evidence that personality is an influential factor in SWB in human and nonhuman primates (Baird et al., 2006; Diener et al., 2003; Schimmack et al., 2002; Weiss et al., 2002; Weiss et al., 2006). At the same time, there is also abundant evidence for humans and other mammals that the presence of care figures in the first days and weeks is by far the most important environmental influence on durable traits for emotional reactions
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in adult life. Lack of licking and grooming in rats, lack of stable, physical contact in human and nonhuman primates during early rearing is related to longlasting negative affect in adulthood. This relation is mediated by the 5-HTT gene in humans. Transcriptional activity of 5-HTT is modulated by the repetitive polymorphic3 element 5-HTTLPR. Evidence is already available that the early experiences produce unique contributions to the later functioning of the 5-HT system, particularly the 5-HTT gene and the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (Gunnar and Quevedo, 2007). Previous research has identified that traditional Andean communities are characterized by a particular quality and quantity of physical contact4 during childrearing (e.g., Ortiz and Yamamoto, 1994). This could be linked to high levels on SWB reported in this book and in other papers. Therefore, future research combining molecular genetics with in-depth research into early childrearing and cultural practice may produce a discriminative map of specific childrearing practices, associated to timing in development (the moment in development when these practices have an impact5), its effects on adult wellbeing, and the mediator molecular genetic processes. The precise understanding of early and silent experiences that have a massive impact on long-lasting traits in wellbeing suggest new approaches to ill-being or harm prevention based on early interventions that help to establish a durable basis for wellbeing. Other objective measures, including use of electro encephalograms (EEGs) offer simpler instrumentation for objective wellbeing research. Tomarken and colleagues (1992) found that generalized positive affect is related to extreme relative left anterior activation of midfrontal and anterior temporal sites compared to the right activation for negative affect. For example, emotionally evocative films can be linked to left brain activation for positive affect, and to right brain activation for negative affect (Jones and Fox, 1992). Similar findings have also been generated in therapeutic contexts (Rosenfeld et al., 1996), and in dispositional tendencies to depression (Harmon-Jones and Allen, 1997), though reliable results have not yet been generated for depressed patients (Debener et al., 2000). Petruzello and colleagues (2001) found evidence measuring asymmetry after aerobic exercise only in a highly fit group. There is also evidence about the validity of EEG based SWB measures comparing music versus noise (Kim et al., 2003), and left frontal brain activity related to process and outcome of coping after traumatic motor accidents (Rabe et al., 2006). Future research could include measures of positive and negative affect using both psychometric and EEG brain asymmetry measures providing valuable objective control over social desirability6 and nonconscious interferences that affect responses to pen and paper questionnaires.
9.5. Iterative Wellbeing Model Development Chapter 3 presented a subjective wellbeing model integrating individual, cultural, and environmental dimensions. This SWB model can be improved in many ways; indeed, the research lines already discussed in this chapter could converge at this point, the challenge being not only to pursue them independently but
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also to integrate them coherently in a holistic model.7 Beyond SWB, there is also scope for integration of economic, institutional, and societal level variables in a truly multidisciplinary wellbeing model. Iterative development of the SWB model is considered first, followed by possibilities extending beyond SWB. Within SWB, in-depth research and modeling of each latent need (to develop a model that explains the variables underlying raise a family need and the interconnections between them, for example) provides valuable insight for improved wellbeing understanding and development practice. The raise a family need emerges as the core need in the sample of this study, and there is ample research on this topic that can be integrated with this finding. Marital satisfaction for example, is related to personality convergence (Blum and Mehrabian, 1999; Botwin et al., 1997), anticipation to infidelity (Shackelford and Buss, 1997a; 1997b), and mate retention tactics (Buss and Shackelford, 1997c). Calderon (2003) integrated these pieces and provides evidence of their validity for a sample of poor people in Southern Peru. This example illustrates how some variables can influence one specific need (and need achievement perception) only.8 This could provide valuable detail for the design of intervention programs and projects for sustainable quality of life improvement based on need achievement. In the same direction, in-depth studies of the characteristics of the places to live associated with greater wellbeing, and integrated with migration research at the modeling level could shed light on other problematic issues in the dynamics of wellbeing. Chapters 3 and 5 presented evidence that migration does not enhance satisfaction, but is part of a hedonic treadmill (Brickman and Campbell, 1971) with respect to place to live better need. People make huge sacrifices (sometimes as an investment for future generations) in order to achieve this need and we must be sure of the positive (or negative) correlates to this effort. Recently, Koob and Le Moal (2008) provided an interesting theoretical framework derived from drug addiction research that updates the hedonic treadmill hypothesis. They provide a neurobiological model of the brain emotional system for drug addiction that can be applied to other nondrug processes. A decreased function of the brain reward system occurs in the form of tolerance9 to higher intensity of exposure to the rewarding stimuli. This is followed by recruitment of an antireward system that operates as a defense of the brain caused by overloading of the reward system. The tolerance is related to homeostatic processes that achieve equilibrium; however the recruitment of the anti-reward system involves more severe and long-term changes and can be explained by allostatic10 processes. The reward neurocircuitry involves dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and opioid peptides, which interact with the nucleus accumbens, areas of the brain widely related to positive emotion. The antireward system activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) related to the stress system that involves norepinephrine and corticotrophin-releasing factors (Koob and Le Moal, 2008), widely related to negative affect. This neurobiological model can be applied to wellbeing. We can hypothesize that for rich subjects addicted to daily hedonic episodes (i.e., highly pleasurable experiences) comparable results would be found: deactivation of the
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reward system and activation of the antireward system. Conversely, this effect will not be observed in subjects with low consumption and low frequency hedonic seasonal episodes, such as anticipating intense pleasure a few times a year during fiestas (see Appendix 6.2). In the latter, the reward system will show little tolerance and no activation of the HPA axis and no allostatic processes, thus explaining an important part of the paradox of the happiness of the “poor” sample, and the depression, anxiety, addiction, and ennui (James, 2007) of a developed countries’ sample. In the same direction, we could test the hypothesis of the activation of the antireward allostatic adaptation in the place to live better need, and probably identify differences in the allostatic adaptations to wellbeing compared to drug abuse results. Beyond SWB, integration of the levels of analysis discussed in different chapters in this book—economic, institutional, and societal—could bring a more comprehensive and holistic approach to wellbeing. Chapter 4 presented different results comparing the analysis of the single happiness question frequently used in economics with the analysis using the alternative scores related to the three robust need factors presented in chapter 3. Results from the alternative scores showed meaningful interpretations in the context of the whole research presented in this book. An emic approach to economic variables, understanding the economic processes in their context and their relative importance (and the proper way to measure them according to their context and relative importance) would be of fundamental importance in achieving a true objective understanding of wellbeing. Institutions and the institutional mix were important elements in different chapters in this book. Refining the process analyses undertaken in the reengineering of business strategic processes (Champy and Nohria, 1996; Hammer and Champy, 1994; Manganelli and Klein, 1995) and integrating this into the model can add precision to understanding the link between wellbeing and the role of each institution. Just as business process reengineering analysis quantifies the role of institutions, modeling these roles is possible using operations research techniques. An initial step in this direction (to identify the role of observed institutions and the way they fulfill or fail their roles) was reported in chapter 6, and provides evidence in support of continued research in this direction. Migration was also an important emergent topic in this book. Modeling the pathways of migration and its effects on wellbeing, and integrating different migration patterns, could build on the insights offered in chapter 5. The trade-off between material and relational dimensions discussed in chapter 5, together with the hybrid rationale proposed in chapter 2, when discussing the institutional mix, suggest scope for a more dynamic model, probably requiring longitudinal data in addition to the cross-sectional data presented here. This could create patterns that reflect more precisely the subtle tones of syncretism in cross-cultural adaptations, and help to solve the unanswered question: if the corridor concept did not explain a linear relation between tradition and modernity, between wellbeing and ill-being, then what does explain it adequately? The use of longitudinal data gathered over long periods is emerging as a logical next step in the general wellbeing research agenda.
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9.6. Intervention for Sustainable Development A recurring theme of this book has been the canyon that separates international development policies and the reality of people’s lives in Peru. Yamamoto (2005) found a gap between the development ideals of international development funders, NGO practitioners, and their intended beneficiaries or clients. The gap was much smaller for funders and practitioners who were themselves Peruvian, with extensive experience in the field (not just frequent short visits to sites) and intercultural competencies, like openness and ability to discriminate between their own and others’ values. This suggests selecting practitioners according to their intercultural competencies profile, and conducting a diagnostic based on local conceptions of wellbeing and development. This diagnostic can be conducted using the methodology presented in this book. The structural equation modeling presented in chapter 3 can be used as a baseline at the model level. After intervention the same measures can be applied and compared using the different mathematical indices available for model comparison. Between preintervention and postintervention measures, multiple longitudinal evaluations can be conducted in order to fine tune the program during its implementation. Evidence from this book has demonstrated that multilevel wellbeing components’ interaction is critical and very complex. For example, to increase availability of resources by itself will not lead to an increase in SWB; furthermore, in some cases it will have the opposite effect, mediated by cultural or personality factors. To be aware of these interactions and have the possibility to simulate different program designs prior to the intervention would lead to new levels of productivity and quality in social projects, social programs, and international development practice. Controlled measurement of wellbeing, combined with a rigorous control and measurement of the intervention actions should permit analysis of the effect of each action, the effect of the interaction of actions, and the total effect of the intervention. Experimental research of this kind has proved to be a very valuable source for model tuning and intervention tuning, leading to an ongoing and iterative process of improvement in modeling and theorizing. For example, it is impossible to conceive development of modern medicine without such experimental research. Notes 1. However, recent papers emphasize the strong connections between affective and cognitive areas. The connectivity did not reject the localization of brain areas related to functions and processes and does reject the parcelling of the brain in simplistic autonomic areas (Pessoa, 2008). 2. For example, De Waal and Baumeister (2006) induced social exclusion in an experiment in humans. Using fMRI, the authors found an activation of the anterior cingulated cortex, the prefrontal cortex, and the periaquaeductal gray. Those areas were previously related to physical pain. With this connection, the authors discuss that social exclusion in humans is a condition that is historically avoided as humans are very dependant on social networks. As part of human evolution, the social exclusion system is rooted in the same physical pain system, using a highly
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
effective alarm system to avoid the condition. However, there are some characteristics of the physical pain system that are dysfunctional for social (pain) exclusion. Physical pain is related to partial disconnection of the emotional system in order to dampen the intensity of the perceived physical pain. However, when social exclusion occurs, the disconnection of the emotional system is critical because when the person is under social exclusion, the complete activation of the emotional system is required in order to develop strategies for effective social inclusion (DeWall and Baumeister, 2006). Polymorphism is the occurrence of at least two alleles of a locus in the general population of which the rare allele has a frequency of at least 1 percent (Burmeister, 1999). Immediately after the baby is born, the mother traditionally puts the baby on her back using a typical Andean manta (blanket), and will not leave the baby for going to work, social activities, and most daily activities. In addition, babies receive mother’s milk until they eat solid meals. This means years of physical contact, far less than experienced by a typical modern Western baby. A simple observation of the behaviour of the Andean children compared to modern Western children suggests that the inf luence on the quality and quantity of physical contact appears in early phases, as well as having long-lasting effects. There is substantial evidence about critical periods of early influences. After that critical period, the same influence (e.g., mother grooming or licking) will not have such a critical effect. This refers to the tendency to answer according to what is socially expected instead of giving the honest answer. It is particularly important in collectivistic settings. Of course, there is more than modelling at the convergence point of multilevel research, but modelling provides a useful focus for discussion of operational integration. More examples could be identified by comparing fully integrative wellbeing models with specific need (and need achievement perception) models such as presented in chapter 3. An adaptation characterized by less effect under the exposure of the same stimuli due to the adaptation of the organism to these stimuli. In the case of drug abuse it means that more of the drug is required to have the same effect. Allostasis is defined as stability through change (Koob and Le Moal, 2008). Typically, under intense and prolonged experiences, a stable change in the response pattern can occur.
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Index
Adaptive group homogeneity, 99, 235 Aid, See Development, interventions Alegria (fictitious name for research site in Huancavelica), 19, 48, 125–9, 168 Alienation, 190 Andean culture, 13, 38, 58, 67, 155, 182, 192, 215 See also Ayllu; Collectivism and individualism; Festivals, and feasts; Social identity; Values Anti-development, 7–8, 61 APR A, 194, 201, 203 Aristotle, 27 Ayllu, 155–6 Ayni, 165 Barley cultivation, 49, 166–7 Basic needs, See Needs Catholic Church, See Religion Cholo, 39–40 Citizenship, 205 Clientelism (and declientelization), 193, 201 Collective action, 164 See also Communal associations; Faena Collectivism and individualism, 78–83, 234 Common good, 164, 171 Communal associations, 44, 160, 200
and forest management, 169 by research site, 43–57 Community profiling, 43 Complexity and development, 224 Conditional cash transfer programs, 201–2 See also Social assistance programs Congruence, See Connections and disjunctures Connections and disjunctures, 1, 13, 211, 241 Conspicuous consumption, 111, 118 Corridor, See Economic corridors Cultural theory, 38, 58, 227 See also Andean culture Decentralization, 205, 224, 226 Descanso (fictitious name for research site in Mantaro Valley), 19, 50–3, 124–9, 169, 171–5 Desencuentro (disconnect), See Connections and disjuncture De Soto, Hernando, 198 Development discourse, 1, 3, 5–9, 217–18 interventions, 220, 224–8, 241 local and universal views, 217–19 See also Anti-development; Postdevelopment DFID (UK Dept of International Development), 225–6 Discursive space, 218
266
INDEX
Disjunctures, See Connections and disjunctures Drinking water, 169 Drivers of change analysis, 225 ECB (components of wellbeing survey), 21, 64, 157–8, 161 Economic corridors, 17–18, 32, 57 Economic wellbeing, 103 Education cross-analysis with values, 83 school building, 167, 170 variation by research site, 22–3, 45–57 Emotional interdependence, 139–40 EPHR (Emic post-hoc research) methodology, 78, 231–2 Evangelical churches, See Religion Evolutionary psychology, 182, 234–6 Exclusion, See Social exclusion Factor analysis, 65 Faena, 44, 153, 160, 165–75 False consciousness, 220 Faustian bargain, 190, 200 Festivals and feasts, 43, 45–57, 168, 170 See also Jalapato; Santiago Fiestas See Festivals and feasts Figueroa, Adolfo, 12, 58, 156, 186, 191, 197, 205, 224 Freedom (from and to), 190, 199 Frustrated achievers, 105, 193 Fujimori, Alberto, 35, 56 García, Alan, See APR A Glass of Milk (Vaso de Leche) program, 21, 46, 183, 200, 202 Goals and needs, 66 Guzman, Abimael, See Shining Path
Happiness, See also Life satisfaction correlation with latent need satisfaction, 115–18 eudemonic and hedonic, 3, 154, 196 multivariate analysis of, 113 reported overall happiness by research site, 23–4, 103, 111 Health services (by research site), 45–67 Hedonic balance, 234 Hedonic treadmill, 239 Household income and expenditure (by research site), 107–8 See also Income and expenditure survey Household income management, 114 Huanca culture, 32, 36, 38 Huancavelica (Department of), 36–8 See also Alegria; Llajta Jock; Llajta Iskay Huancayo city, 33, 176 See also Mantaro Valley; Progreso Human Development Index (HDI), 10–11 Human needs, See Needs Human rights, 7, 11–12, 203–4 Identity (personal), 234; See also Social identity Imagined communities, 31 Income and Expenditure Survey, 21, 103, 106, 109, 114 Income mobility, 105–6 Individualism, See Collectivism and individualism Inheritance, 163 Insecurity, 190 Institutions definition and analysis of, 153, 154–6, 187, 240 the institutional matrix by research site, 158–64 the institutional responsibility matrix at national level, 192–8
INDEX
Jalapato (festival), 178–80 Junin (Department of), 37 Land disputes (by research site), 43–57, 163 Latent needs and latent need satisfaction, 2, 63, 66, 212–14 cross-analysed by institution, 160–2 cross-analysed with economic wellbeing, 117–18 cross-analysed with reported happiness, 114–16 improvement from a secure base (ISB), 66–71, 74, 95–7, 117–18, 131–2, 158, 161–2, 213–14 and migration, 131 place to live better (PLB), 66–71, 89–91, 114–18, 131–4, 158–9, 213–14, 234, 239–40 raise a family (R AF), 66–71, 91–5, 114–18, 131, 134, 158–60, 213–14, 221, 234 Latinobarómetro, 15–16 Life satisfaction (defined as latent need satisfaction), 5, 65, 66, 103 Lima, 104, 195, 233 Department statistics, 37 See also Nuevo Lugar Livelihoods, 185, 197 Llajta Iskay (fictitious name for research site in Huancavelica), 19, 43–5, 124–9, 166–7 Llajta Jock (fictitious name for research site in Huancavelica) 19, 45–4, 124–9, 167, 178–80 Lo Andino, See Andean culture
267
Maslow, Abraham (hierarchy of needs), 199, 223–4 Mental models, 224 Mestizo, 32–3, 38–42, 156, 205 Methodology, See Research methodology Migration, 121–3, 128 classification of motives for migration, 126–31 and education, 135–6 and family relationships, 134–49 and latent needs, 66, 72 and mobility (by study site), 124–9 outcomes of migration, 130–1, 239–40 Millenarianism, 197 Millenium Development Goals, 7, 217 Minka, 165 Mita, 156 Molecular genetics, 237 MRTA (Movemiento Revolucionario de Tupac Amaru), 35 Music and dance, 156, 169, 176–83 Needs, 6, 10–11, 199 See also Latent needs Neighbourhood associations, 160 Neoliberalism, 9 Neuroimaging, 236–7 NGOs (non-government organisations) by research site, 43–57 Caritas, 49 Taller de los Niños (Children’s workshop), 94 Nuevo Lugar (fictitious name for research site in Huancavelica), 19, 54–7, 124–9, 170–1 Objective wellbeing, 236–7
Mantaro Valley, 18, 32–6 See also Descanso; Huanca culture; Huancayo city Marital relations, 93, 94, 161 See also Servinakuy
Participatory appraisal, 13–15, 221–2 Patient Generated Index, 222 Peasant associations, See Communal associations
268
INDEX
Pentecostalism, See Religion Personality, 83–8 Peru (general), 9–18, 104–6, 185, 191, 207 Polanyi, Karl, 154, 175, 189 Post-development, 7–8 Poverty incidence by research site, 106–10 incidence in Peru, 10, 105 official poverty lines for Peru, 104, 108–9 participatory poverty assessment for Peru, 13–15 subjective poverty lines, 104 Principal components analysis, See Factor analysis Probit analysis, 22–4, 113 Progreso (fictitious name for research site in Huancayo City), 19, 53–4, 124–9, 169 Protestant churches, See Religion R ANQ (resources and needs questionnaire), 20–2, 124, 157 Rebel’s dilemma, 199, 223 Reciprocity, 145–7 Reflexivity, 218, 227–8 Religion, 160, 196–7 by research site, 45–57 Remittances, 140–5 Research methodology, 16–21, 157–8, 235, 241 for site selection, See Economic corridors See also EPHR methodology Resources perception, 76–7, 115–18, 162–4 Road maintenance, 167–8 Rondas campensinas (village militia), 48, 160, 174, 205 Santiago (festival), 176–8 Seasonality (in the Mantaro Valley), 43, 107–8
Selva Manta (fictitious name for research site in cloud-forest), 19, 46–8, 124–9, 167 Sendero Luminoso, See Shining Path Servinakuy (cohabitation before marriage), 44, 67, 93 Shining Path, 13, 15, 34–6, 56, 123, 193, 203 Social assistance programs, 199–202 by research site, 43–57 See also Conditional cash transfers programs; Glass of Milk program Social comparison, 111, 118 Social exclusion, 58 See also Figueroa, Adolfo Social identity (by research site), 38–42 See also Andean Culture; Cholo; Huanca culture; Mestizo Structural equation modelling, 66, 89, 91, 96, 100, 231 Subjective wellbeing (SWB) definitions of, 4, 63 and income mobility, 105–6 methodology for researching SWB, 20–1, 63–6 models of, 88, 91, 97–100, 233–40 See also latent needs and latent need satisfaction; WeDQoL Toledo, Alejandro, 193, 2003 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 34–6, 55–6, 203–4 UNCP (National Central University of Peru), 16 Values, 78, 234 See also Collectivism and individualism
INDEX
Washington consensus, 9 WeDQoL (WeD quality of life survey instrument), 20–1, 38–42, 114–15, 118–19, 131, 157–8, 175 Wellbeing definitions of, 1, 3–4, 236, 238 and policy regimes, 186–90, 199 policy relevance, 216–29
269
See also Economic wellbeing; latent needs and latent need satisfaction; objective wellbeing; subjective wellbeing Welfare regimes, 185–6, 206–7 Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD) research group, xi, 16–17, 234 WHOQoL (WHO quality of life survey instrument), 21, 222
