The used clothes hau: gift economy and popular consumption

Abstract

This study, derived from a broader ethnography of Mexican tianguis (street markets), examines the case of a vendor of used clothing and objects. Her practices illustrate how mercantile elements intertwine with ritual acts of giving and counter-giving. A more detailed analysis reveals that her social efficacy is even more significant. Amid the daily hardships of used clothing vendors, a highly ritualized mechanism of social support is established, creating circuits of gift economy interspersed with a more conventional mercantile economy. Together, these practices have been fundamental for the material subsistence of the tiangueros and their families. Although a simplistic view might associate ritual exclusively with its instrumental magical function, the separation between religious and secular ritual has dissolved. Even in a secular world, rituals persist and play crucial roles.