Abstract

This work presents the results of an ethnographic investigation, complemented by documentary sources, into enablement processes in coastal economies based predominantly on artisanal fishing in north-central, south and far southern Chile. Enablement (habilitación) is the participation of an investor in the artisanal fisherman's activities by advancing capital for the purchase of consumables and equipment, against a share of the proceeds. Enablement is considered to be a basic form of structuring; its spatial-temporal expressions are variations of economic intermediation based on indebtedness. We have described the clearest and most strongly institutionalised form of enablement on the coast of the far south of Chile, but it can also be observed along the coast in other latitudes of the country and in other parts of Latin America. The principal historical background for the coastal regions comes from documentary and research work done in the area of Chiloé and Aisén, in association with the migrations of sea-lion hunters, lumberjacks and shellfish collectors to the south of Chile in the 19th and 20th centuries. In these cases, the gangs of workers were issued with consumables for their work and provisions to sustain their families during the season. The ethnographic data include witness reports obtained in Las Guaitecas Islands, Calbuco, Valdivia and Los Vilos; analysis reveals the origins of and changes in the enablement model as a persistent expression of economic intermediation in today's artisanal fishing partnerships