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Introduction: Consolidation of the Cigano Moneylending Niche in the Early Twenty-First Century

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From Itinerant Trade to Moneylending in the Era of Financial Inclusion

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Abstract

In recent decades, a population of Romanies living in Brazil, who call themselves Calon and are generally referred to as Ciganos (Gypsies), have been specialising in lending money on interest. This chapter discusses the expansion of the financial services that has enabled the development of this economic niche. It also argues that moneylending can be understood as a continuation and transformation of past Calon activities, and that through manipulating credit and debt Calon forge themselves as moral persons and create proper sociality. The chapter introduces key terms and outlines the book’s argument.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All translations, unless otherwise noted, are mine.

  2. 2.

    Billi, Marcelo. No sertão da Bahia, cigano é ‘banqueiro’, Caderno Dinheiro, Folha de São Paulo, 12.06.2005.

  3. 3.

    http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2017/07/1897897-dividas-poem-61-milhoes-com-nome-sujo-na-praca-recorde-desde-2012.shtml

  4. 4.

    http://www.brasil.gov.br/cidadania-e-justica/2017/03/beneficiarios-recebem-r-2-4-bilhoes-do-bolsa-familia

  5. 5.

    http://politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,combate-a-pobreza-foi-o-maior-feito-do-pt,10000050641

  6. 6.

    ‘Classe média no Nordeste aumentou 80% em sete anos’, n.d., http://www.sae.gov.br/novaclassemedia/?p=236

  7. 7.

    Maurer, Harry, and Alexander Ragir, ‘Brazil’s New Middle Class Goes on a Spree’, Bloomberg Business, 12.5.2011, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_21/b4229010792956.htm, last accessed 30 April 2012. See also Leahy, Joe, ‘Brazil’s tale of two middle classes’, Financial Times, 20.7.2011, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6745ef9a-b1e9-11e0-a06c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1qUd3orss, last accessed 30 April 2012.

  8. 8.

    Maurer, Harry, and Alexander Ragir, ‘Brazil’s New Middle Class Goes on a Spree’, Bloomberg Business, 12.5.2011, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_21/b4229010792956.htm, last accessed 30 April 2012. See also Leahy, Joe, ‘Brazil’s tale of two middle classes’, Financial Times, 20.7.2011, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6745ef9a-b1e9-11e0-a06c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1qUd3orss, last accessed 30 April 2012.

  9. 9.

    These cheques allow him to go into R$3000 overdraft without any interest if he pays the debt within one week.

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  1. Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Martin Fotta

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Fotta, M. (2018). Introduction: Consolidation of the Cigano Moneylending Niche in the Early Twenty-First Century. In: From Itinerant Trade to Moneylending in the Era of Financial Inclusion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96409-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96409-6_1

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