Can ancient Meso-American markets " Tianguis" be considered as a successful informal settlements in the Latin American society now a days?

Professor Ivan Kucina

Carlos Alejandro Naranjo Astorga  Matriker-Nr 4058985

to explain this situation now a days it is necessary to understand what is the role of this kind of informal structured commercial phenomena work and what is the importance of this markets in the Mexican economy.

Before anything, to understand what is a Tianguis and how it has been developed through time it is needed it to be defined; the word Tianguis comes from the Nahuatl tiyānquiztli 'market', the Nahualt language is one of the Native American more spoken languages in Mexico and it comes from the heritage the Aztec culture, but Tianguis is the traditional market that has existed in Mesoamerica since pre-Hispanic times and has evolved in form and social context over the centuries. In other countries it has received various names, for example in Spain, especially in Andalusia, is known as souk or market and the US adopts the name of flea market (flea market); these establishments are mainly in the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, although there are in other states. In Costa Rica they are known as "Tilicheras" or "Chinese". Because most of the things sold are imported from China, poor quality and low prices, or, flea markets, auctions, agricultural fairs (if food), mainly pirated discs or DVD.

The heritage of the Tianguis is a mixture of commercial traditions of prehistoric peoples of Mesoamerica, including the Aztecs and the bazaars of the Middle East arrived in America via Spain. Flea markets are characterized by semi fixedly located in streets and on days designated by customs, varying them in every town, where the local community acquires various products, from food and clothing to appliances.

Prehispanic Examples:

.."Llaman tianquiztli al mercado. Cada barrio y parrocha tiene su plaza para contratar el mercado. Mas México y Tlatelulco, que son los mayores las tienen grandísimas. Especial lo es una de ellas, donde se hace mercado los más días de la semana; pero de cinco en cinco días es lo ordinario, y creo que la orden y costumbre de todo el reino y tierras de Moctezuma. La plaza es ancha, larga, cercada de portales, y tal, en fin, que caben en ella sesenta y aun cien mil personas, que andan vendiendo y comprando; porque como es la cabeza de toda la tierra, acuden allí de toda la comarca, y aún lejos. Y más todos los pueblos de la laguna, a cuya causa hay siempre tantos barcos y tantas personas como digo, y aún más"...

English Ttranslation:

.. "They call tianquiztli market. Each neighborhood has its place parrocha to hire market. Mas Mexico and Tlatelolco, which are the largest of having very great. Special what is one where the most weekdays market becomes but every five days is the ordinary, and I think the order and custom of the whole kingdom and lands Moctezuma the square is wide, long, screened porches, and maybe, finally, that fit in her sixty. even a hundred thousand people, walking selling and buying, because as is the head of all the earth, go there for the whole region, and still far and over all the peoples of the lagoon, whose cause there are always so many ships and so many. people like say, and even more "...

 General History of the Indias Francisco Lopez de Gomara.

 In the fifteenth century, the Tianguis  was set at certain periods during which the sellers of the surrounding villages gathered to offer their products in a square. The flea market was established in cities that were important, including Huejotzingo markets, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlaxcala and Xochimilco were. Approximately 50 000 people concurred to buy or sell various products grouped by streets: vegetables, herbs, beans, corn, cotton, poultry, fish, obsidian, pottery, axes and minerals.

There were judges to administer justice in business dealings guarding products. Transactions are mainly effected through barter or by cacao seeds as commodity money.

In the chronicles of Indias sixteenth century, Diaz del Castillo in True History of the Conquest of New Spain, Hernán Cortés in his letters of relationship and Francisco Lopez de Gomara in General History of the Indias include extensive descriptions of tianquiztlis Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

Now a Day Mexico Examples:

Today, Tianguis is the "mexicanismo a word that distinguish the Mexican form everything else" and is used to designate a walking (or fixed) Mexican public market that is installed on the streets of a city. It is known in some parts of northern Mexico, as farmers' market. It is said that the biggest Tiaguis markets of Latin America is located in the San Felipe de Jesus, north of Mexico City,  Because of its enormous size also the Tianguis El Baratillo, in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Another of the most popular and largest flea markets are the Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City, the Las Vias in the area of La Raza, auto parts and chatter of El Salado, that Seccion Bosques of the colony of Morelos, and the Sunday market for Enlargement Tulpetlac colony in Ecatepec, State of Mexico and Handmade Tianguis market of Tonala Jalisco.

Tianguis  is the market whose trade is usually set to the size of the city understood as the rural areas surround it,  The domestic market is formed when the economic space of that city is informal.

It can be also define that the Tianguis market system in which the price of goods is agreed by consent between sellers and consumers, through the laws of supply and demand. Required for implementation of the existence of free competition, which in turn requires that participants of a commercial transaction no coercion or fraud, etc, or, more generally, that all transactions are voluntary, this usually happens several times in a day at in can go up or down, this deepens for example of some buys a lot, if they day is going to end or depending of the aspect of the costumer, but it leaves freedom to the costumer to fight and low the prices.

Wrong?

Available products

It consists of tens or hundreds of individual stalls that sell fruits, vegetables, spices and other foods of the season. Normally many other products like fabrics, clothes, traditional medicines or herbs, flowers, live for pets, or slaughter animals and sell later consumption.

The most traditional flea markets are usually very colorful, as can be seen in certain works by Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo, as both blankets are used to cover the sun positions, such as flowers, fruits, spices, etc they are rich colors. It is also common for swap meets are frequented by traditional ensembles, making them be a living example of traditional Mexican culture.

Negatives Issues

In modern flea is common selling products imported mainly from China at low prices but of poor quality; and traditional music has been replaced by tape recorders playing at full volume.

The sale of pirated products is also one of the issues that have caused controversy.

Because the underground economy, the flea market vendors are in conflicts with established vendors in fixed premises.

Reaches in these markets have adulterated, as liquor, drugs and some close to expire or already outdated perishables. This represents a risk to the health of the population and so far, authorities have failed to regulate the whole trade of these products. These cases are visible in the flea Santa Cruz and Las Torres in Iztapalapa.

Another negative aspect is reflected in the caption of informality, as most of these are not regulated in any respect, both in health, whether regulated by local authorities where they pay only a small fee for land use, thereby harming trade and established public finances by not paying taxes and they do not guarantee the legality of the products dispensed there.

Description

These main examples of Tianguis are just the most popular and biggest cases all over the country, but what it really functions is the Tianguis that is a moveable market that goes all over the city, changing the conception of groceries where the costumers go to a structure commercial point to buy what they need, to make the market movable to different neighborhoods of the city to supply the people living there cutting the distance for the costumers to the markets.

This moving concept is working in Mexico for a long time now, it is running not for the costumers but for the suppliers of different kind of food, electronics, cloths, ect., that need to find where and who to sell all their merchandise in order to survive the low economic stability of the country, for the reason that for them it is really expensive to find a formal location to arrange a business where they have to pay a monthly rent that will only decrease their earnings. Instead they have no location, no structure point of selling and for this reason no monthly rent to pay which for them gives more opportunities of raising the incomes of the business.

It has been started as an illegal settlement by a group of people, but after the success and the response of the costumers it has been several plan to make it legal to help the group of markets involved  and to create and order and structure organization that bring opportunities to anyone willing buy any kind of product to sell.

For this reason I have been in  Mexico in the last months and went to ask in different Tianguis how does the system works, and the answers where surprising.

First once one Tianguis in completely structured by its needs for example; different kind of meet like chicken, beef, fish, fruits and vegetables, seeds, electronics, accessories, music, etc. This means that it has all the supplies required for a completely formal supermarket, it starts going one day per week from Monday to Saturday ( this means that there are also Sunday special Tianguis) to one specific point of the city, which would be repeated every week, making used to the people to go and buy there.

After this that the Tianguis takes one road per day and get it closed making the near people surrounding getting use to this fact and when the public entity cannot do anything to take them away because the Tianguis is already a informal structured commercial settlement, that when the legacy of the Tianguis comes.

The public entity been unable to cancel the Tianguis, find a form to interact with it and to charge a small quantity for the use of the public space, with this the vendors do not pay a big rent for one place but pay a small amount of money for six different sports in the city, so everybody wins.

also the vendors do not pay taxes for the sold items because they receive all the earnings in cash, so by this mean it is not possible to calculate how much earning they have per day, in this case the public entity agrees, because they have certain control of them and at least they can know who is selling what and where.

The way it works is the when the public entity gives and order certain number of free spaces for selling according to the size of the street and the Tianguis, this should be organize to be balance with all the different kind of groceries to allow the costumer to have an option to supply everything they need there, once this balance list it is ready, the places get in to sell. This means that once you have bought your place no one else can take it away, but you have to pay the daily fee and to have a constant assistance to the market, if not you may lose you spot. every time that one vendor is not present that spot goes to another vendor that has to be waiting for the day, so in this sense all the spots are full every day.

In the formal situation that a  vendor does not want to continue in the Tianguis his sport goes to the next vendor in the waiting list and so on. But in the informal situation the new vendor in the "waiting list" has to buy the spot to the vendor that does not want to continue, giving to this reason a formal but at the same time an informal rules that the Tianguis has to follow to have and structured order.

the injection  that these little business economy gives to the social economy situation of the city is really important because it helps the traders to have their own business and to gain some space to the big market companies reaching all the space in this sector and that every day are ending with the small entrepreneur that is its own boss that enriches the social economy of the city, giving personalized attention. It is the obligation of the small business owner to know the social and human environment of the company and thus the aspirations and expectations among existing staff, must know how to sell on staff social policy deal, paying constant attention to the development of everyday relationships knowing the problems generated schedules, To handle personal attention is essential that the director feel a sincere concern for his men.

in conclusion to the question posted at the beginning, the answer is yes, the ancient Meso-American markets " Tianguis" can be considered as a successful informal settlements in the Latin American society now a days, they change the way of how do markets work in these days, allowing the costumers to have and approach of a moving store that comes to them, avoiding transport issues, improving the relation between neighbors, but the most important point is that it improves the local economy where the public entity has control on them but at the same time give them the freedom to sustain a small business that helps families and let people to have a better option to decide in the market.

The Tianguis have been successful through ancient times and the have been modernized by the new costumes of the Latin American way of life, that proves the Thianguis as a changing and adapting informal settlement that with it recent legality it improves the order and condition to make it better and to help to order and hopefully to start gaining space as a cultural market made for people by the people to the big market companies that are just trying to homogenous all the products quitting the importance of regional and handmade products.