Michael Taussig: The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America
"in the sugar-cane plantations of the Cauca Valley and in the tin mines of highland Bolivia it is clear that the devil is intrinsic to the process of the proletarization of the peasant and to the commoditization of the peasant's world. (...) The neophyte proletarians and their surrounding peasant kinsman understand the world of market relations as intimately associated with the spirit of evil. Despite all possibilities of increasing their cash incomes, they still seem to view this mode of production as productive of barrenness and death as well. To them, therefore, this new socio-economic system is neither natural nor good. Instead is both unnatural and evil, as the symbolism of the devil in this situation is not unlike the definition that is given him by the Christian Fathers - "he who resists the cosmic process."
- Paulo Tavares's blog
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