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Rationality as a Social Construction: What Does Individual Behavior Have to Say about Development in an Amazon Community?

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  • Andrés Marroquín Gramajo

Abstract

This article argues that two different manifestations of rational behavior can coexist and collide in a relatively homogeneous society. In the Ticuna community of Arara in the Colombian Amazon; on the one hand, the majority of villagers tend to reach relatively lower levels of material wealth, following Polanyi’s idea of the pre-modern man (1968a; 1968b; 1968c), and also Sahlins’ (1972) idea of the original affluent man. On the other hand, community leaders and schoolteachers tend to accumulate material wealth, following Polanyi’s idea of modern-man (1968a; 1968b). These behavioral frameworks help explain the limited success of certain types of development programs in the Ticuna community.

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  • Andrés Marroquín Gramajo, 2008. "Rationality as a Social Construction: What Does Individual Behavior Have to Say about Development in an Amazon Community?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 115-132, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:42:y:2008:i:1:p:115-132
    DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2008.11507117
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    Cited by:

    1. Pinheiro, Silvia & Granados, Maria L. & Assunção, Manaira, 2020. "Local incentive structures and the constitution of community-based enterprises in the forest," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).

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