When it comes to debt, everyone has something to say about female indebtedness in the city of Manaus

sobre o endividamento feminino na cidade de Manaus

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss how the indebtedness of electricity bills in the city of Manaus acquired by low-income women affects the domestic life of their families. Kolling (2022) states that women's indebtedness has received little attention in ethnographic literature, yet these debts are not something new for these women. For Rodriguez (2020), indebtedness is an old process and well known by the population, but it is currently taking on an increasing volume and importance in the daily lives of families. Therefore, one of the main questions and problematizations of the research is to understand who these indebted women are? How do they deal with their electricity bill debt? Do these women have a formal or informal job? Where do their main financial resources come from? Are there other debts besides electricity bills? Have these women ever taken out a loan to pay these debts? (Thus causing one formal and one informal debt?) What are the main strategies they use to deal with money, debts and house maintenance? These questions allow us to begin an analytical overview of debt, to characterize it, to detail it, to understand the dimension caused by debt for these women and their families in the city of Manaus.