EASY MONEY? MORALITY AND CULTURE IN THE COCA AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

Abstract

This paper analyzes the plausibility of the “standard hypothesis” on moral and cultural changes prompted by the illicit crop economy in agrarian societies in Colombia. According to this hypothesis, coca cultivation as a modality of drug-trafficking triggers the search for “easy money” and fosters the development of a culture of illegality associated with disordered modalities of consumption and individualism. Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence, the article claims that such hypothesis is fundamentally wrong and discusses the reasons and mechanisms underlying this claim.