Miners, peasants and entrepreneurs: regional development in the central highlands of Peru.

Abstract

Through historical material combined with field studies of villages and of the major town of the region, Huancayo, the book examines the economic and cultural processes underlying the 'progressive' reputation of the region in Peru and in the literature on development. Since the major enterprise of the region, the Cerro de Pesco Mining Corporation, was, until the 1970s, foreign owned, a persisting theme is the type of economic growth association with, and the distortions produced by, foreign capitalist economic enclaves on predominantly peasant economies. The profound effect of the mining economy on local society is traced from the colonial period, showing how it has contributed to an economic dualism manifest in a wide-spread informal economy of small-scale enterprise. The political consequences are examined, showing the weakness of regional interest groups, and the failure of contemporary regional development policies. Two chapters examine the organization of regional migrants in the capital, Lima, to demonstrate the basis for the continuing strength of regional attachments among residents there. Contributed chapters to the book are: 1) Highland puna communities and the impact of the mining economy, by P.Campana & R.Rivera; 2) Migration and social differentiation amongst Mantaro valley peasants, by J.Laite; 3) Regional commitment among central highlands migrants in Lima, by T.Altamirano; and 4) Confederations of households: extended domestic enterprises in city and country, by G.Alderson-Smith. -from Publisher