Paper short abstract:

In this paper, through careful analysis of jokes referencing Neoliberalism told at moments of possible unemployment in a local NGO in rural El Salvador, I posit that joke-telling in the face of uncertainty and precarity, more broadly, is a form of self- and collective empowerment.

Paper long abstract:

El Salvador is known for its systemic, interpersonal, and banal violence and uncertainty (Bourgois and Scheper-Hughes 2004, Hume 2009, Moodie 2010). While conducting fieldwork with a local NGO in rural La Libertad, my informants often faced threats of routine unemployment at the end of project funding. More than a mere coping mechanism, workers increased their joke telling around these difficult moments. Significantly, the jokes tended to highlight alternative forms of possible employment available to the workers. The two most common options were selling minutas (snow cones) at the tourist beaches and migrating to the United States. Interestingly, jokes typically noted the inequalities of the Neoliberal system and the punch line revolved around the workers exploiting, in return, those holding the power. In this paper, through careful analysis of these jokes, I posit that joke-telling in the face of uncertainty and precarity is a form of self- and collective empowerment.