Abstract
This chapter engages some key questions posed by feminist and ethnographic political economy, asking about the who, what, when, where, and how of material politics and privilege – most notably, cui bono? The specifically feminist aspect of this is that we focus in particular on gendered inequality and struggles in society and economy and their intersection with other subjectivities, such as race, sexuality, and religion. Our case study will examine circus in Colombia. We shall set out how to undertake ethnographic feminist political economy; explain the material setting of gendered inequality in Colombia; and offer an analysis of the struggle for equality as expressed in circus, which highlights female leadership of cultural organizations and productions via an ethos of collectivity and caring for one another. Our contribution will combine political-economic and ethnographic analysis.