ABSTRACT
Indians in Mauritius are dependent on money incomes which they obtain from the sporadic sale of their labour and of seasonal crops. They face the problem of assuring themselves a livelihood throughout the year. This is not merely a matter of allocating their economic resources, but of entering into and maintaining a wide network of social relations. Without some form of credit day to day expenses could not be met. Yet credit relations are special and delicate social relations which involve careful assessments of many factors. Despite the economic hardships of peasant life, some individuals manage to achieve relative prosperity, and this is as much an achievement in social relationships as in economic management. In this essay I examine the demands of a cash economy on Indo-Mauritians : how they use their labour, accumulate capital resources, and earn and dispose of their money incomes. In particular I examine part of the network of credit relationships which permeates the economic structure of the island.
