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Экономика Чуда: Ротационные Кредитно-Сберегательные Ассоциации в тауншипах Йоханнесбурга
This article examines the phenomenon of South African stokvels and burial societies and the transformations these associations are currently undergoing. Drawing on the socio-culturalist analysis of economic action (Neves, du Toit, 2012: 131, van Donge, 1992), the article investigates the topic of mutuality through looking at the contemporary development on the field of rotating savings and credit associations in South Africa. The article is based on a field study conducted in Gauteng Province, South Africa, during two months stay in October–November 2014, 2015, 2017. Authors claim that in the mid-2010s conventional stokvels and burial societies are becoming the characteristic feature of the ‘normalized’ life of the middle classes, whereas the representatives of the urban underclass are increasingly engaging in the digital Ponzi schemes as a means of day-to-day survival, but also in the pursuit of the magical ‘instant enrichment’.