Dependent labor in prehispanic Mexico

Abstract

The article "Dependent Labor in Prehispanic Mexico" by Frederic Hicks analyzes the forms and structures of dependent labor in Aztec society prior to the Spanish conquest. The author examines how the prehispanic economy, based on objects such as cacao and cuachtli as means of exchange but not as wages, conditioned labor relationships. Two central figures are highlighted: the mayeque, a peasant or tenant, and the tlacohtin, a pawned person or slave. Furthermore, the role of the state and the importance of land in labor organization are explored, as well as the mechanisms that led individuals to offer their labor in dependent contexts without a formal wage system. The study provides a complex view of the social and economic dynamics of prehispanic Mexico

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