Presented as part of the Humanities Research Centre Seminar Series

Microcredit loans—most famously systems of group-based borrowing—are a key tool in global economic development frameworks. Building outward from microcredit programs in Paraguay I explore the discontinuous materialities of both kin- and debt-based obligations, especially at their intersection. I argue that borrowers felt debts’ lifespans most acutely when mortuary practices anchored in kinship ties were bound up with the practical task of shouldering financial obligations of the dead. I document how the three-way link between kinship, death, and indebtedness goes beyond analogy; collective debt is not simply “like” a relationship of kinship. Instead, microcredit social collateral offers a powerful context for people to grapple with the broader question of lifespan, and the life-and-death human stakes of obligation.

Caroline Schuster is a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University researching debt, development, and gender in Latin America.

This seminar is free and all are welcome. Kindly direct any enquiries to the HRC administrator, Colette Gilmour, or visit the HRC website for further information.