My Business Pays Me: Labourers and Entrepreneurs Among the Self–Employed Poor in Latin America

Are the independent economic activities of poor people “petty commodity production”—an informal way to earn a subsistence wage? Or are they “microentrepreneurship”, a launching point for capital accumulation and growth? This paper draws on fieldwork in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala, focusing specifically on the poorest businesses. In–depth interviews indicate that even the smallest–scale producers, merchants and service providers have goals of “improving” their business and “growing” their capital, not unlike their capitalist counterparts. Yet, while growth is desirable, maintaining one's business as a steady source of income is a sufficient achievement for many. Poor self–employed people are both “labourers” and “entrepreneurs”; the key macro–level question becomes, not “Do petty–commodity producers have different goals than capitalist entrepreneurs”, but “What resources are lacking, and what obstacles exist, that keep many microentrepreneurs in low–yield activities, with little opportunity to grow their resources?”     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Peter F. Guardino, Peasants, Politics, and the Formation of Mexico's National State: Guerrero 1800–1857
Astvaldur Astvaldsson, Las voces de los wak'a
Katherine Isbester, Still Fighting: The Nicaraguan Women's Movement, 1977–2000
Marta R. Zabaleta, Feminine Stereotypes and Roles in Theory and Practice in Argentina Before and After the First Lady Eva Peron
Jeffrey M. Pilcher, Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity
Antoni Kapcia, Cuba: Island of Dreams
Damián Fernández, Cuba and the Politics of Passion