Abstract This paper explores the connections between indebtedness, discipline and economic growth in the context of rural Colombia. It investigates the expansion of interest-bearing debt and the transformations that this has elicited on the lives of peasants in the country's most important hub of cocoa production: El Carmen de Chucuri. Within a framework combining agrarian studies, political economy and economic anthropology, the study is based on ethnographic data which allowed a nuanced understanding of the phenomena at play. In order to comply with timely debt repayment, peasants have been forced to adopt “maximizing strategies” based on a specific (capitalist) form of economic rationality, and to extend their work routines at the expense of their health. Theoretically, I argue that these transformations of their mindsets and bodies, respectively, can be understood as part of the overarching disciplining effects of debt. In particular, the changes brought about by debt have materialized in a renewed push towards increasing cocoa's productivity and profitability. By focusing on the consequences of indebtedness on the debtors' lives, this paper challenges the conventional idea that economic growth is only the outcome of a “natural desire” for improvement. Instead, rising productivity of cocoa can also be read as the result of a compulsion for growth in order to repay loans. This has important implications for analysing the rise and evolution of capitalism. In advancing some of its key imperatives (i.e. accumulation and profit maximization), debt repayment can be seen as a major channel for the reproduction of capitalism in the countryside.

中文翻译：

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如果你不欠，你就没有拥有：哥伦比亚农村的债务、纪律和增长

摘要 本文探讨了哥伦比亚农村背景下债务、纪律和经济增长之间的联系。它调查了有息债务的扩张以及由此引发的对该国最重要的可可生产中心 El Carmen de Chucuri 农民生活的转变。在结合农业研究、政治经济学和经济人类学的框架内，该研究基于人种学数据，可以对正在发生的现象进行细致入微的理解。为了及时偿还债务，农民被迫采取基于特定（资本主义）经济理性形式的“最大化策略”，并以牺牲健康为代价来延长他们的日常工作。从理论上讲，我认为他们的思维方式和身体的这些转变，分别可以理解为债务总体约束作用的一部分。债务带来的变化尤其体现在重新推动提高可可的生产力和盈利能力的过程中。通过关注债务对债务人生活的影响，本文挑战了传统观念，即经济增长只是改善的“自然愿望”的结果。相反，可可产量的提高也可以被解读为为了偿还贷款而被迫增长的结果。这对于分析资本主义的兴起和演变具有重要意义。在推进其一些关键要求（即积累和利润最大化）时，债务偿还可以被视为资本主义在农村再生产的主要渠道。可以理解为债务总体约束作用的一部分。债务带来的变化尤其体现在重新推动提高可可的生产力和盈利能力的过程中。通过关注债务对债务人生活的影响，本文挑战了传统观念，即经济增长只是改善的“自然愿望”的结果。相反，可可产量的提高也可以被解读为为了偿还贷款而被迫增长的结果。这对于分析资本主义的兴起和演变具有重要意义。在推进其一些关键要求（即积累和利润最大化）时，债务偿还可以被视为资本主义在农村再生产的主要渠道。可以理解为债务总体约束作用的一部分。债务带来的变化尤其体现在重新推动提高可可的生产力和盈利能力的过程中。通过关注债务对债务人生活的影响，本文挑战了传统观念，即经济增长只是改善的“自然愿望”的结果。相反，可可产量的提高也可以被解读为为了偿还贷款而被迫增长的结果。这对于分析资本主义的兴起和演变具有重要意义。在推进其一些关键要求（即积累和利润最大化）时，债务偿还可以被视为资本主义在农村再生产的主要渠道。