Rice Bundles and Banknotes : Economic Mutations and Social Change around Rice Production in Ifugao, Philippines[Boisseaux de riz et billets de banque. Mutations économiques et changement social autour de la production rizicole en Ifugao (Philippines)]

Value, a property of things and people, appears in all forms of social interactions; food, however, is a privileged area of investigation for the study of its redefinitions. Focusing on the trajectory of a specific edible item thus allows for the description of mutations in economic values and the reshaping of everyday norms. In the Philippine Central Cordillera, rice production and consumption norms clearly reveal the change of social interactions in Ifugao society. Following the fluctuations of values attached to the rice, the article tries to shed light on economical adaptations as well as on the daily making of social belonging in Ifugao society. It describes a "desingularization" of an edible in favor of money, a type of good representing exchange value par excellence. The shift of symbolic eminence raises questions about the ways social change manifests in the rethinking of economic values, and about the consequences of worldwide monetarization.