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Poor People’s Survival Strategies

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Faith M. Deckard and Javier Auyero discuss the qualitative research on those strategies, focusing not only on mutual aid networks but also on clientelist politics and popular protest

Image courtesy of interviewee. January 19, 2024

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This video video discusses the significance of reciprocity networks among the urban poor in both Latin America and the United States, referencing seminal works by Larissa L. and Carol Stack. As these works approach their 50th anniversary, the authors reflect on how the urban poor manage to survive and sometimes thrive despite inadequate resources from the market and state. They highlight that reciprocity—mutual aid and the exchange of services—is a critical strategy for collective survival.

Key findings include:

1. **Enduring Relevance of Reciprocity Networks**: Mutual aid networks remain vital for daily survival across different socio-political landscapes, emphasizing the importance of interpersonal relationships in coping with economic scarcity.

2. **Horizontal and Vertical Strategies**: The review distinguishes between horizontal networks (peer collective action) and vertical networks (relationships with those in power, such as local officials). Both strategies often work together to help individuals meet their needs, such as housing through squatting and political patronage.

3. **Safety and Protection**: Reciprocity networks extend beyond economic support; they also provide safety and help individuals navigate potential threats of violence by sharing information and relying on community knowledge.

4. **Research Agenda**: The authors call for further research into how these networks can address both economic survival and violence prevention, emphasizing the complexities and interplay between different forms of social support.

5. **Interdisciplinary Approach**: They advocate for combining sociological and anthropological perspectives to enrich the understanding of poverty and survival strategies among marginalized populations across the Americas.

The authors conclude with an emphasis on the need for ongoing studies to explore effective collective actions that can significantly improve conditions for the poor, especially in light of contemporary challenges such as mass criminalization, surveillance, and the impacts of recent global events.

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I believe that Javier was reading as he usually does,

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but in particular for another co-authored piece.

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And among those books and articles were Larissa Le Networks

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in marginality life in a Mexican shanty town.

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And then also Carol Sacks all are kin Strategies

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for survival in the black community.

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And it dawned on him. Wow.

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So we're approaching the eve of the 50th anniversary

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for these two seminal works, one in Latin America

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and one in the United States that both interrogate

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how the urban poor managed to subsist

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and even thrive when the resources provided by the market

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and the state are just simply not enough.

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And each author respectively came to a similar conclusion,

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which illuminated for us

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the reciprocity networks are a critical strategy

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for collective survival

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among the urban poor when one person provides childcare in

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exchange for someone who provides a ride to work in exchange

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for someone else who shares a hot meal, right?

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And so forth and so forth.

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But from these works, then a research agenda was born on the

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role of reciprocity networks in making ends meet at

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society's margins.

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And we thought it would be awesome

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to collaborate on a review that paid tribute

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to these pieces, and then synthesize the literature on

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what we've learned since then about poor people's survival

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strategies more generally with the geo

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geographical focus on the Americas right to mirror that

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of laments and stack.

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And in a nutshell, really we find three things.

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So first, reciprocity

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or mutual aid networks have an enduring relevance

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for daily survival among the urban poor.

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And this holds across sociopolitical environments

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as the US is characterized by state retrenchment

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or a lack of protection for the most vulnerable.

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While in Latin America, a mix exists where some arms

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of the state are engaging in retrenchment,

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while others are extending safety nets.

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But regardless of the differences in structural support,

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reciprocity networks at the interpersonal level are

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as booming and useful as ever.

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So by horizontal we just mean

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that sometimes the urban poor people occupying similar

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positions in a social space, they engage in collective

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action to better their conditions

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and increase their access to resources.

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And as an example, in the review,

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we highlight collective forms of fighting for housing,

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whether that be through grassroots organizations

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or squatting and auto construction.

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But by vertical we mean that sometimes people

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with unequal power, so poor residents, brokers,

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the state officials for example, they might work together

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to solve the daily needs of the poor.

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And this type of verticality is referred to

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as patronage networks or clientless networks.

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And what the review sought to emphasize was

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that rather than being antagonistic, these two strategies,

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so one horizontal

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and one vertical, they oftentimes work in tandem

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and these complimentary ways for everyday problem solving.

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And then last, we speak to the importance

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of reciprocity networks for not only economic

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and material survival, but also for safety and protection.

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So for example, the poor don't just rely on each other

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for information about jobs or food stamps,

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but also for knowledge about what areas are safe

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to travel in and with whom and at what time of day.

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And again, we pay attention to horizontal

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and vertical dimensions as safety

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and protection can be desired from interpersonal

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connections, but also from the state.

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And so we end that review, as a sort

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of open question about what it would mean

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or what would be revealed if we simultaneously studied

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how the poor rely on kin friend to protect themselves

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from both material deprivation and also from violence.

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What did Loates and stack say?

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They said that networks of reciprocal change

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were central in the daily lives in Sara Elcon,

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which was the Shanti town where, Loates did,

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her fieldwork and also in the flats where,

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Carol Stack did, hers.

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And the argument was surprisingly very similar.

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The basic insecurity of

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marginal existence is somewhat compensated

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through the creation of what they both called mechanisms

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of economic solidarity exchange networks, you know,

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goods services, economically valuable information, loans,

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job assistance, moral support.

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They would, you know, circulate to compensate for

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what the state and or the market were not doing.

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Now, that research agenda, as faith mentioned

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before, that research agenda that they started 50 years ago

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sort of exploded during the eighties,

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the nineties, and the two thousands.

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And they all, they're all grappling with the idea of like,

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okay, how important these networks still are.

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Uh, and a variety of answers that we sort

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of reevaluate in the, in the text,

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but we also bring together, okay,

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there are reciprocal networks, there are also organizations,

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there are also other informal institutions.

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But if you look south of the border, if you look, if you,

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instead of only looking at the us, you expand the scope of

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what you are, you know, studying, you realize,

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wait a minute, the poor not only survived through these

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reciprocity networks, they also are very contentious.

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They protest a lot to grapple you

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to get resources from the state.

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And they also engage in what faith beautifully described

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as sort of patrone patronage networks,

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these vertical relationships in which they, you know,

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become friendly or, or they follow these

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or that politicians so

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that they can get resources they need in exchange

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for some sort of political support.

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But basically the agenda that, you know, both Lni and

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and Carol stack set, is still, you know, alive

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and well in, for those of us who study, the,

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the survival strategy of the poor.

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And we wanted to a pay tribute to them

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and see what, what happened in the research.

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Since then. Our central argument is that with respect

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to material scarcity, we show that networks, organizations,

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informal institutions are central in the ways in which the

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marginalized acquire food, acquire shelter,

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acquire medicine, right?

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Among the informal institutions

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that upon which the poor rely to address their needs.

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We pay particular attention to patronage and, and protest.

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Think for example, about the ways in which the poor have

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somewhat addressed

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and solved the issue of housing, which is a pressing issue

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for the poor in, in the United States in most

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of Latin America, they solve that issue

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through squatting, right?

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Which is it, it usually combines both protest collective

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action and patronage relationship to local authorities

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and politicians, which by the way proves

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as we argue in the review, that patronage

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and protests are not these separate universes, right?

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Typically, it, it is thought

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that either you are in client relationships

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and you know, you follow a politician or you protest.

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In fact, the, the issue of squatting shows

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that you can do both things at the same time.

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The the other argument that we're making as faith mentioned

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before is that if we take the idea of survival

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or subsistence, literally the poor are not just threatened

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with the lack of food or the lack of housing.

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They're literally threatened, you know, of violence,

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violence, both from

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interpersonal violence and state violence.

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And we, a we actually won was, were wondering, okay,

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how do they survive this actually a literal threat?

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And we started speculating and did some research

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and our own research shows that,

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that they rely on very similar mechanisms,

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collective action, reciprocity, informal institutions.

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And so we, we start wondering, okay,

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sometimes these networks complement each other, right?

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You rely on a, on an, an, an ankle, to, you know, for,

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job reference.

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But what if that ankle is involved with some local gang

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that tie sometimes that can help you one day,

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can put you in danger in, in another one.

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So sometimes it's, it's compli

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or these ties are complimentary.

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Sometimes they, they collide right now.

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Uh, and and one last thing with respect

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to existing research, not just what LOB needs

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and Stack said, but with other authors have been saying,

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we are actually complimenting, you know,

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we we're hitting the call of what David Brady,

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but David Brady is a, you know, student of,

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of poverty here in the US

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and he has been calling for a more interdisciplinary work.

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So we, we, in the review, we combine both sociology

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and anthropology, and the other thing he has been calling

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for is less parochialism.

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The, the US only studies survival strategies in the US

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and what we, we wanted to do

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by bringing what's happening in the rest

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of the Americas is you can learn a lot if you actually

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incorporate the experiences

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of poor people south of, of the border.

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And we build on the, on the sort of agenda put forward

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by Desmond

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and Western, that they call

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for more relational understandings of poverty.

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Uh, transactions not so much on groups,

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but on transactions,

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processes linking actors of different power.

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And so we built on less parochialism, more relationality,

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more interdisciplinarity.

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So unlike their wealthier counterparts,

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the poor throughout the Americas do not have the luxury

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of isolating themselves in gated

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and walled communities with private security.

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So instead they cope with the lack of public safety

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and a well-documented fear

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of violent victimization at the interpersonal neighborhood

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level, tactical knowledge is a key strategy

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that emerges from the literature.

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So this can include knowing when to seclude oneself

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and one's family inside at home.

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And then when that time inevitably, inevitably comes

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to venture outside having information about the time,

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the place, the circumstances

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and potential perpetrators of violence.

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But outside of having pertinent travel information,

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another precautionary action

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among poor residents is traveling in groups, right?

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So relying on the age old antidote

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that there's power in numbers,

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although, as Javier just mentioned,

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this can take a dark turn right when the person you turn to

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for protection in one circumstance then exposes you

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to potential danger or violence in another.

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Um, but beyond these interpersonal ties,

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the literature also tells us

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that poor residents rely on local institutions

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and collective action to protest against

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and to cope with surrounding violence.

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So sometimes these take an informal and sporadic form.

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It's like a community using high schools

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to provide recreation during violence spikes,

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or perhaps local gang being called upon

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to obtain protection from violent threats.

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But in other instances, strategies to cope with violence,

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they might take a more formalized and recurrent form.

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So such as vigilante groups that operate outside

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of official law enforcement to reduce crime levels

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or self-defense groups that respond

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to violence with violence.

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And last we conclude by turning an eye to state violence

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and noting the prominent role of kin

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and friend networks in avoiding preparing for

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and deescalating that as well.

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I think there, there are a few things.

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One is a, we need much more work on, on

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to actually see how these networks of reciprocal health

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to get food or housing sometimes compliment

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or sometimes contradict the ones that are operation to,

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you know, survive violence.

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That's one thing. The other thing that I'm,

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we're really interested in is under

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what conditions collective action

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among the poor can succeed, can actually make a difference.

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And I think there's much

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to be learned from the experiences here in the US

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and also, in throughout the Americas

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to see when does actually collective action more

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or less transgressive

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or disruptive, when does it actually crystallize into

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successful sort of community initiatives

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that actually make a difference for the poor, right?

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Because they do engage in collective action.

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Sometimes they fail, sometimes they succeed.

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But when they succeed, you know, suffering is lessened.

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And so we wanna know, we, we need

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to know more about these forms of, of collective action

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to see if we can actually contribute as, you know,

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intellectuals, as we are as academics, like we're to,

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you know, the improvement of their lives.

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So since these seminal works came out, we've had an era of

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mass criminalization and incarceration.

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We've had eras of mass surveillance,

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we've had the dual pandemics.

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And so I think our work also points to the increasing role

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of technology, the increasing role role of surveillance,

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and how strategies and reciprocity networks might transform

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or, or not in the face of these sort of new

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and concurrent, challenges and systems.

Reciprocity Networks Among Urban Poor

00:00:00 - I believe that Javier was reading as he usually does, but in particular for another co-authored piece. And among those books and articles were Larissa Le Networks in marginality life in a Mexican shanty town. And then also Carol Sacks all are kin Strategies for survival in the black community. And it dawned on him. Wow. So we're approaching the eve of the 50th anniversary for these two seminal works, one in Latin America and one in the United States that both interrogate how the urban poor managed to subsist and even thrive when the resources provided by the market
00:00:36 - And each author respectively came to a similar conclusion, which illuminated for us the reciprocity networks are a critical strategy for collective survival among the urban poor when one person provides childcare in exchange for someone who provides a ride to work in exchange for someone else who shares a hot meal, right? And so forth and so forth. But from these works, then a research agenda was born on the role of reciprocity networks in making ends meet at
00:01:05 - And we thought it would be awesome to collaborate on a review that paid tribute to these pieces, and then synthesize the literature on what we've learned since then about poor people's survival strategies more generally with the geo geographical focus on the Americas right to mirror that of laments and stack. And in a nutshell, really we find three things. So first, reciprocity or mutual aid networks have an enduring relevance for daily survival among the urban poor.
00:01:38 - as the US is characterized by state retrenchment or a lack of protection for the most vulnerable. While in Latin America, a mix exists where some arms of the state are engaging in retrenchment, while others are extending safety nets. But regardless of the differences in structural support, reciprocity networks at the interpersonal level are as booming and useful as ever. So by horizontal we just mean that sometimes the urban poor people occupying similar
00:02:08 - action to better their conditions and increase their access to resources. And as an example, in the review, we highlight collective forms of fighting for housing, whether that be through grassroots organizations or squatting and auto construction. But by vertical we mean that sometimes people with unequal power, so poor residents, brokers, the state officials for example, they might work together to solve the daily needs of the poor. And this type of verticality is referred to
00:02:39 - And what the review sought to emphasize was that rather than being antagonistic, these two strategies, so one horizontal and one vertical, they oftentimes work in tandem and these complimentary ways for everyday problem solving. And then last, we speak to the importance of reciprocity networks for not only economic and material survival, but also for safety and protection. So for example, the poor don't just rely on each other for information about jobs or food stamps,

Survival Strategies Among the Urban Poor

00:03:09 - to travel in and with whom and at what time of day. And again, we pay attention to horizontal and vertical dimensions as safety and protection can be desired from interpersonal connections, but also from the state. And so we end that review, as a sort of open question about what it would mean or what would be revealed if we simultaneously studied how the poor rely on kin friend to protect themselves from both material deprivation and also from violence.
00:03:41 - They said that networks of reciprocal change were central in the daily lives in Sara Elcon, which was the Shanti town where, Loates did, her fieldwork and also in the flats where, Carol Stack did, hers. And the argument was surprisingly very similar. The basic insecurity of marginal existence is somewhat compensated through the creation of what they both called mechanisms
00:04:16 - goods services, economically valuable information, loans, job assistance, moral support. They would, you know, circulate to compensate for what the state and or the market were not doing. Now, that research agenda, as faith mentioned before, that research agenda that they started 50 years ago sort of exploded during the eighties,
00:04:42 - And they all, they're all grappling with the idea of like, okay, how important these networks still are. and a variety of answers that we sort of reevaluate in the, in the text, but we also bring together, okay, there are reciprocal networks, there are also organizations, there are also other informal institutions. But if you look south of the border, if you look, if you, instead of only looking at the us, you expand the scope of
00:05:14 - wait a minute, the poor not only survived through these reciprocity networks, they also are very contentious. They protest a lot to grapple you to get resources from the state. And they also engage in what faith beautifully described as sort of patrone patronage networks, these vertical relationships in which they, you know, become friendly or, or they follow these or that politicians so that they can get resources they need in exchange
00:05:44 - But basically the agenda that, you know, both Lni and and Carol stack set, is still, you know, alive and well in, for those of us who study, the, the survival strategy of the poor. And we wanted to a pay tribute to them and see what, what happened in the research. Since then. Our central argument is that with respect to material scarcity, we show that networks, organizations,

Survival Strategies Among the Urban Poor

00:06:18 - marginalized acquire food, acquire shelter, acquire medicine, right? Among the informal institutions that upon which the poor rely to address their needs. We pay particular attention to patronage and, and protest. Think for example, about the ways in which the poor have somewhat addressed and solved the issue of housing, which is a pressing issue for the poor in, in the United States in most of Latin America, they solve that issue
00:06:47 - Which is it, it usually combines both protest collective action and patronage relationship to local authorities and politicians, which by the way proves as we argue in the review, that patronage and protests are not these separate universes, right? Typically, it, it is thought that either you are in client relationships and you know, you follow a politician or you protest. In fact, the, the issue of squatting shows that you can do both things at the same time.
00:07:21 - before is that if we take the idea of survival or subsistence, literally the poor are not just threatened with the lack of food or the lack of housing. They're literally threatened, you know, of violence, violence, both from interpersonal violence and state violence. And we, a we actually won was, were wondering, okay, how do they survive this actually a literal threat?
00:07:53 - and our own research shows that, that they rely on very similar mechanisms, collective action, reciprocity, informal institutions. And so we, we start wondering, okay, sometimes these networks complement each other, right? You rely on a, on an, an, an ankle, to, you know, for, job reference. But what if that ankle is involved with some local gang that tie sometimes that can help you one day,
00:08:24 - So sometimes it's, it's compli or these ties are complimentary. Sometimes they, they collide right now. and and one last thing with respect to existing research, not just what LOB needs and Stack said, but with other authors have been saying, we are actually complimenting, you know, we we're hitting the call of what David Brady, but David Brady is a, you know, student of, of poverty here in the US and he has been calling for a more interdisciplinary work.
00:08:57 - and anthropology, and the other thing he has been calling for is less parochialism. The, the US only studies survival strategies in the US and what we, we wanted to do by bringing what's happening in the rest of the Americas is you can learn a lot if you actually incorporate the experiences of poor people south of, of the border. And we build on the, on the sort of agenda put forward

Navigating Poverty: Strategies for Survival and Safety

00:09:26 - and Western, that they call for more relational understandings of poverty. transactions not so much on groups, but on transactions, processes linking actors of different power. And so we built on less parochialism, more relationality, more interdisciplinarity. So unlike their wealthier counterparts, the poor throughout the Americas do not have the luxury of isolating themselves in gated and walled communities with private security. So instead they cope with the lack of public safety
00:09:59 - of violent victimization at the interpersonal neighborhood level, tactical knowledge is a key strategy that emerges from the literature. So this can include knowing when to seclude oneself and one's family inside at home. And then when that time inevitably, inevitably comes to venture outside having information about the time, the place, the circumstances and potential perpetrators of violence. But outside of having pertinent travel information, another precautionary action among poor residents is traveling in groups, right?
00:10:31 - that there's power in numbers, although, as Javier just mentioned, this can take a dark turn right when the person you turn to for protection in one circumstance then exposes you to potential danger or violence in another. but beyond these interpersonal ties, the literature also tells us that poor residents rely on local institutions and collective action to protest against and to cope with surrounding violence. So sometimes these take an informal and sporadic form.
00:11:02 - to provide recreation during violence spikes, or perhaps local gang being called upon to obtain protection from violent threats. But in other instances, strategies to cope with violence, they might take a more formalized and recurrent form. So such as vigilante groups that operate outside of official law enforcement to reduce crime levels or self-defense groups that respond to violence with violence. And last we conclude by turning an eye to state violence
00:11:32 - and friend networks in avoiding preparing for and deescalating that as well. I think there, there are a few things. One is a, we need much more work on, on to actually see how these networks of reciprocal health to get food or housing sometimes compliment or sometimes contradict the ones that are operation to, you know, survive violence. That's one thing. The other thing that I'm, we're really interested in is under
00:12:03 - among the poor can succeed, can actually make a difference. And I think there's much to be learned from the experiences here in the US and also, in throughout the Americas to see when does actually collective action more or less transgressive or disruptive, when does it actually crystallize into successful sort of community initiatives that actually make a difference for the poor, right?

Collective Action: Successes and Challenges

00:12:34 - Sometimes they fail, sometimes they succeed. But when they succeed, you know, suffering is lessened. And so we wanna know, we, we need to know more about these forms of, of collective action to see if we can actually contribute as, you know, intellectuals, as we are as academics, like we're to, you know, the improvement of their lives. So since these seminal works came out, we've had an era of mass criminalization and incarceration. We've had eras of mass surveillance,
00:13:18 - And so I think our work also points to the increasing role of technology, the increasing role role of surveillance, and how strategies and reciprocity networks might transform or, or not in the face of these sort of new and concurrent, challenges and systems.

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