Ulrich Köhler

Patterns of interethnic economic exchange in Southeastern Mexico.

This article offers a description and analysis of the complex system of interethnic economic exchange in the highlands of Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico. While the paper focuses on the dichotomy between Indians and Ladinos, the Spanish-speaking local population, the relations between the various Indian groups are also taken into consideration. In the analysis of behavioral patterns in the marketplace, a scheme of differential exchange strategies as developed by Sahlins (1965) for exchange by reciprocity proves fully applicable to this setting. In a final assessment the reasons for Ladino dominance are singled out; in contrast to an interpretation of the existing inequality as due to class relations, the empirical data clearly demonstrate that this aspect is nowhere a significant factor.