Belinda Uy
Jenny Lien
Tanya Kim
A: For money.
Q: Well, is there a special reason? Or is that the only reason?
A: We need money. That’s it.
Q: For bills? For anything in particular?
A: For getting money. That’s it! Simple. We need it. We get it.
Does anything dealing with money simple? In this capitalist society money ensures survival. Without it, some of life’s rewards, luxuries, and even necessities shall be denied. Money as the American cultures knows it; is one, if not the, facet that determines one’s status in life. However, a practice a few centuries old, have allowed people to accumulate riches. That practice is named, tontine. Tontine, in its purest form, really does bring truth to the statement that time truly does mean money. Those who come together for a tontine all share and invest their riches, but after time passes, the last person in the pact, gains all the money. To better comprehend tontine, its history must be understood. The history reveals the origins of the scandals and deceit tontine has bestowed upon the world. Its dramatic past only confirms the varied and complex behaviors that money has over people. Along with the many reactions, also comes with the many forms of tontine. This paper shall showcase the Cambodian Tontine and divulge the intricacies within it. The Cambodian Tontine allows people to realize that the evolution and goals of tontine varies within every culture and even with every group that takes part in one. It is a reminder that certain traditions, customs, and practices can not be forgotten, but certainly modified. Click here to learn more about tontines.
2 comments:
YAY! Finally up! Make me happy. What a very fun project! I can't wait to read through the other ones.
Thanks Professor Maurer for posting them! (:
So, what did you think of Tontine?!
This is a fascinating paper on one of those phenomena that you've always heard about but never really had the change to delve into: the tontine. We probably all know the Simpsons episode that the group writes about, as well as some of the old movies from the 40s and 50s - often murder mysteries, and comedic ones, too, like The Wrong Box - but Cambodian tontines? Only in southern California could a group of students set about to research the transformation of this form of rotating credit association by a southeast Asian immigrant group. Only in southern California, too, would they students also be able to research a reality TV show based on the tontine. This paper is a great example of how in anthropology we are often led down unanticipated paths and make new discoveries in the course of our research that we never could have anticipated.
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