Landowner vs Galician migrant: two family capital models collide
A conflict between a traditional Mexican landowner and a Galician immigrant reveals two economic models: capital based on land and honour versus liquid relational capital.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Dowry economics in hacienda-era Mexico: two models in conflict
A story set in the hacienda system of Jalisco, Mexico, depicts the conflict between two models of family capital accumulation. On one side, the traditional landowner, don Goyo, whose power rests on land and family honour, sees his daughter as an asset to be transferred through a dowry and formal marriage. On the other, Camilo, a Galician immigrant whose capital is relational and liquid, built through networks of contacts and favours, operates without any need for traditional legitimacy. The friction arises when the daughter, Roxanita, is taken by Camilo without the expected ritual, which don Goyo interprets as a devaluation of his family asset. The case illustrates how, in premodern contexts, dowries and marriage functioned as mechanisms for intergenerational transfers of wealth and status, while the immigrant's relational capital represents an emerging form of economic power not tied to land. The open question is whether the hacienda model can adapt to this new logic or will succumb to it.
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A story set in the hacienda system of Jalisco, Mexico, depicts the conflict between two models of family capital accumulation. On one side, the traditional landowner, don Goyo, whose power rests on land and family honour, sees his daughter as an asset to be transferred through a dowry and formal marriage. On the other, Camilo, a Galician immigrant whose capital is relational and liquid, built through networks of contacts and favours, operates without any need for traditional legitimacy. The friction arises when the daughter, Roxanita, is taken by Camilo without the expected ritual, which don Goyo interprets as a devaluation of his family asset. The case illustrates how, in premodern contexts, dowries and marriage functioned as mechanisms for intergenerational transfers of wealth and status, while the immigrant's relational capital represents an emerging form of economic power not tied to land. The open question is whether the hacienda model can adapt to this new logic or will succumb to it.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (8 replies).
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