Clientelism, Elections, and the Dialectic of Numerical People in Northeast Brazil

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dc.contributor.authorAnsell, Aaronen
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-08T18:08:42Zen
dc.date.available2019-07-08T18:08:42Zen
dc.date.issued2018-04-01en
dc.date.updated2019-07-08T18:08:40Zen
dc.description.abstractThis paper explores rural Brazilians’ interpretations of and ethical reflections on political clientelism. Brazilian elites often regard the people of the dry hinterland (sertanejos) as lazy, politically apathetic, and prone to corruptingdemocratic elections through the sale of their votes. Here I argue that the sertanejos living in the northeastern state of Piau런ractice a form of clientelism that entails an ethical distinction between degraded vote buying and morally upright electoral transactions with politicians. For the sertanejos of Piauí‘s interior, ethical electoral transactions do not corrupt democratic elections; they reverse the moral damage that elections themselves cause. Elections refigure socially embedded persons as numerical individuals destined to be added together as equal quanta of generic value. Ethical transactions reconstitute the voter’s socially embedded personhood after the election has passed. However, rather than vindicating clientelism, this analysis draws attention to the social inequalities that prevent some people from practicing the ethical forms of political exchange. It therefore builds toward a standpoint for critiquing political clientelism that does not reproduce liberal idealizations of democratic citizenship.en
dc.description.notessubmitted December 21, 2016.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.extentPages S128-S137en
dc.format.extent10 page(s)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1086/696530en
dc.identifier.eissn1537-5382en
dc.identifier.issn0011-3204en
dc.identifier.issueS18en
dc.identifier.orcidAnsell, Aaron [0000-0001-6365-5168]en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/91209en
dc.identifier.volume59en
dc.languageEnglishen
dc.publisherUniversity of Chicago Pressen
dc.relation.urihttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000430218400013&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=930d57c9ac61a043676db62af60056c1en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectAnthropologyen
dc.subject1601 Anthropologyen
dc.subject2101 Archaeologyen
dc.subject1801 Lawen
dc.subjectAnthropologyen
dc.titleClientelism, Elections, and the Dialectic of Numerical People in Northeast Brazilen
dc.title.serialCurrent Anthropologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.otherArticleen
dc.type.otherProceedings Paperen
dc.type.otherMeetingen
dc.type.otherJournalen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciences/Religion and Cultureen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Liberal Arts and Human Sciences/CLAHS T&R Facultyen

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