Abstract

WEEKS, Samuel. Marxian Crisis, Maussian Gift: The mutual-help practices of Lisbon’s Cape Verdean labor immigrants in an age of austerity. Cadernos de Estudos Africanos [online]. 2012, n.24, pp.27-43. ISSN 1645-3794.

The post-2008 economic crisis in Portugal has been particularly severe in the neighborhoods in which many of the country’s Cape Verdean labor immigrants live. In this article, I will attempt to examine how my informants have conceptualized the current downturn, as well as how they have used ‘gifts’ of mutual help (djuda) to cope with, or even overcome, the profound challenges of living on a Lisbon periphery in crisis. An additional factor I will explore is the perception among my informants that the giving of mutual-help gifts has lost importance. I will argue that there is a disconnect between Cape Verdeans perceiving that their mutual-help practices are in decline and simultaneously needing the material support that they provide.

Keywords : Cape Verdeans; Lisbon; crisis; mutual-help practices; gift economy.

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