“Inculturating the market”

Abstract

How does an Amazonian population living at the margins of the globalized economy envision its involvement in the capitalist market? In this article, we examine the entrepreneurial perspectives expressed by leaders of the Ecuadorian Shuar of Transkutukú. Leaders place their hope in the pursuit of entrepreneurialism as a way to guarantee domestic and ethnic self-determination. This reflexive process is encapsulated by the local formula of “inculturating the market”, which promotes production, profit, and personal accumulation. Sorcery, motivated by envy, is identified by the villagers as the main obstacle to the desired economic progress.