Paper short abstract:

Anancy the spider is a distinctly Caribbean folktale hero. His antics embody a Creole counter-cultural ethic of autonomy & cunning, & can be seen in the 'hustling' practices of informal traders. But in the perplexing neoliberal age of private microfinance, his practices are becoming co-opted & tamed

Paper long abstract:

Anancy the spider man is a distinctly Creole Caribbean folk-tale hero. Born a deity in West Africa and transformed by 'the middle passage' into the folk tale trickster of Caribbean slaves; he survives to the present day in the popular imagination of the Caribbean and its diaspora. Growing out of the privations of slavery his antics have traditionally embodied an anti-colonial subaltern ethic of autonomy, adaptivity, cunning and intelligence. These 'Anancy tactics' have for centuries underpinned the 'reputation' orientated informal economic activities of market 'higglers', 'hucksters', 'hustlers' and 'middlemen', exchanging goods and services on the margins of the market, outside of the regulatory gaze of Caribbean states. However, in the paradoxical millennial age of private microfinance and the downsizing of state budgets, Anancy tactics are becoming co-opted, captured and tamed to further the elaboration of neoliberal logic into the Caribbean region. Despite their utopian claims, the effects of private microfinance initiatives are ambivalent at best: offering recognition of female higgling, yet indebting and disciplining cultural practices of those they claim to help. However, amidst this perplexing moment of neoliberal contradiction a genuine spirit of subaltern Caribbean autonomy continues to live on.

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