During the rise of pyramid moneylending, it seems as people put their trust in those 12 moneylenders based not really on gender but on the ideal that they could trust in their fellow Albanians to invest their money wisely, and with good return. However, as the these pyramid firms started to collapse due to their unstable financial practices, the opinion of the people who invested turned less optimistic and more frustrated. To the point where the woman running “Sude” was labeled a gypsy and a false mystic in the way she practiced speculations of the market. Not to say that the anger and frustration was not warranted, as these pyramid firms had to know what they were doing. They basically made themselves the borrowers while all potential investors were in actuality the lenders, without them ever knowing. This in and of itself is one reason why this system of pyramid schemes works. Leading to the fall in which people completely removed all trust in the failing post socialist system in place. They looked for people to blame and it didn’t matter whether they were men or women even though it did seem as women were more targeted as maybe they were seen to some as inferior financial speculators to that of men. Even with the history of high risk involved and cultural mysticism that played into this period; it seems as if Albania along with many other countries worldwide today still practice these high risk speculative investments and non bank moneylending. This article showed a good localized example of how these pyramid schemes can take root with in a community, a country, and even worldwide, when the right cultural and socio-economic factors are in place.
Essentially, the pyramid scheme's rise was put in motion by the intriguing and cryptic motivations of Maksude Kadëna. She (as the head of the now infamous firm, Sude) had her name slandered by being accused of resorting to an occult practice to fuel the financial boom of Albania's economy. This was not until after the bust. Beforehand, it was understood that she had ties with unnamed government officials and was directly involved with "faide" which describes the type of firm that would typically take part in commerce, real estate, and tourism (large economy markets country wide). This is how she was able to quickly establish strong trust. She had high profile publicity, lots of money associated with her name, and a good history with politics. These are qualities on which she founded Sude, so it honestly makes sense if you look at these reasons for people to take part in her lending firm. However, once the firm started to fail, Maksude's position of power was disregarded. Accusations of occult practice along with ethnic discrimination became the main topic to follow her name. The issue in with Sude came into play once it became a pyramid scheme as opposed to a lending firm. A common scapegoat for economic and political failure among lay people is race. This explains the negative reputation about Sude being a Roma woman, which was a tie in to the accusations of occult practice because it stems from gypsy stereotypes associated with people of her ethnicity.
At the time pyramid moneylending was rising in Albania, citizens put their trust into the moneylenders based on widespread beliefs that they could trust fellow Albanian's to invest their money wisely. When these firms started to collapse however, those who invested became frustrated at the situation. Maksude Kadena, head of the firm Sude, had the blame shifted upon to her. She became labeled a gypsy, which stemmed from associations with her ethnicity, and was accused of participating in occult practices to aid the economy. These accusations only came after the crash though. With the fall, those angry needed to place blame, and this is where the blame fell. I believe this article brings light to how when the socio-economic factors in a society are just right, there's fuel to the participation in pyramid schemes and moneylending and thus,for these schemes to arise.
extentention of practices and ideas about the free market during the communist regime and externalization of post socialist forms of credit and investment extended beyond the firms; this combination of heterogeneous cosmologies and repertoires of speculation and credit made the firms attractive and credible to a broad base of investors. the pyramid firms emerged at a time of deep socio-economic changes. Among others, the collapse of the command economy and the adoption of structural adjustment policies was connected to Albania's first IMF loan in 1993. so, in the early years of postsocialist transformation, Albania got alot of praise for "quickly adopting key tenets of the Washington consensus." (pg. 5) The frims were formal and part informal, all were legally registered as fondacione or shoqueri; these firms didnt function ilke most typical pyramid schemes because investors werent obliged to purchase a specific product; nor were they forced to bring in a number of other investors to the firms. Sude's experience with and access of her modest llotari provided her with the resources necessary for running fajd. Anthropologists Caroline Humphrey and Katherine Verdery note that the market economy carried hints of ‘speculation’ for many former-socialist citizens. "Such views were supported by an economic ideology that privileged production and redistribution as a source of value."(pg.10)
During the rise of pyramid moneylending, it seems as people put their trust in those 12 moneylenders based not really on gender but on the ideal that they could trust in their fellow Albanians to invest their money wisely, and with good return. However, as the these pyramid firms started to collapse due to their unstable financial practices, the opinion of the people who invested turned less optimistic and more frustrated. To the point where the woman running “Sude” was labeled a gypsy and a false mystic in the way she practiced speculations of the market. Not to say that the anger and frustration was not warranted, as these pyramid firms had to know what they were doing. They basically made themselves the borrowers while all potential investors were in actuality the lenders, without them ever knowing. This in and of itself is one reason why this system of pyramid schemes works.
ReplyDeleteLeading to the fall in which people completely removed all trust in the failing post socialist system in place. They looked for people to blame and it didn’t matter whether they were men or women even though it did seem as women were more targeted as maybe they were seen to some as inferior financial speculators to that of men. Even with the history of high risk involved and cultural mysticism that played into this period; it seems as if Albania along with many other countries worldwide today still practice these high risk speculative investments and non bank moneylending. This article showed a good localized example of how these pyramid schemes can take root with in a community, a country, and even worldwide, when the right cultural and socio-economic factors are in place.
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ReplyDeleteEssentially, the pyramid scheme's rise was put in motion by the intriguing and cryptic motivations of Maksude Kadëna. She (as the head of the now infamous firm, Sude) had her name slandered by being accused of resorting to an occult practice to fuel the financial boom of Albania's economy. This was not until after the bust. Beforehand, it was understood that she had ties with unnamed government officials and was directly involved with "faide" which describes the type of firm that would typically take part in commerce, real estate, and tourism (large economy markets country wide). This is how she was able to quickly establish strong trust. She had high profile publicity, lots of money associated with her name, and a good history with politics. These are qualities on which she founded Sude, so it honestly makes sense if you look at these reasons for people to take part in her lending firm.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once the firm started to fail, Maksude's position of power was disregarded. Accusations of occult practice along with ethnic discrimination became the main topic to follow her name. The issue in with Sude came into play once it became a pyramid scheme as opposed to a lending firm. A common scapegoat for economic and political failure among lay people is race. This explains the negative reputation about Sude being a Roma woman, which was a tie in to the accusations of occult practice because it stems from gypsy stereotypes associated with people of her ethnicity.
At the time pyramid moneylending was rising in Albania, citizens put their trust into the moneylenders based on widespread beliefs that they could trust fellow Albanian's to invest their money wisely. When these firms started to collapse however, those who invested became frustrated at the situation. Maksude Kadena, head of the firm Sude, had the blame shifted upon to her. She became labeled a gypsy, which stemmed from associations with her ethnicity, and was accused of participating in occult practices to aid the economy. These accusations only came after the crash though. With the fall, those angry needed to place blame, and this is where the blame fell. I believe this article brings light to how when the socio-economic factors in a society are just right, there's fuel to the participation in pyramid schemes and moneylending and thus,for these schemes to arise.
ReplyDeleteextentention of practices and ideas about the free market during the communist regime and externalization of post socialist forms of credit and investment extended beyond the firms; this combination of heterogeneous cosmologies and repertoires of speculation
ReplyDeleteand credit made the firms attractive and credible to a broad base of investors.
the pyramid firms emerged at a time of deep socio-economic changes. Among others, the collapse of the command economy and the adoption of structural adjustment policies was connected to Albania's first IMF loan in 1993. so, in the early years of postsocialist transformation, Albania got alot of praise for "quickly adopting key tenets of the Washington consensus." (pg. 5) The frims were formal and part informal, all were legally registered as fondacione or shoqueri; these firms didnt function ilke most typical pyramid schemes because investors werent obliged to purchase a specific product; nor were they forced to bring in a number of other investors to the firms. Sude's experience with and access of her modest llotari provided her with the resources necessary for running fajd.
Anthropologists Caroline Humphrey and Katherine Verdery
note that the market economy carried hints of ‘speculation’ for many
former-socialist citizens. "Such views were supported by an economic ideology that privileged production and redistribution as a source of value."(pg.10)