Who exactly is in debt - and what is inside it? Authors from many disciplines come together in this volume to ask about the ways in which debt is shared out, and the constraints implied in it. The dimensions explored are not merely economic, but also political and symbolic - with special attention being paid to the gendered debt that burdens women.

Bernard Hours is Director of Research at the Research Institute for Development (Paris, France).

Pepita Ould Ahmed is a socio-economist at the Research Institute for Development (Paris, France).

1. Introduction: Debts Shared and Imposed, Political and Gendered Bernard Hours and Pepita Ould Ahmed 2. Paying What One Owes... or Carrying Out One's Obligations Pepita Ould Ahmed 3. Debt: The Price of What, Exactly? Bernard Hours 4. Incompatibility and Complementarity of the Chicago Plan and Alternative Monetary and Financial Mechanisms Jean-Michel Servet and Tom Moerenhout 5. Why Are Poor People Reluctant to Borrow?: Microcredit in Rural Morocco Jean-Yves Moisseron and Pepita Ould Ahmed 6. Debtors and Creditors: Constructions and Delegitimization of Powers in Mali Françoise Bourdarias 7. The Indebted State in Algeria: State Demand, Social Conflict and Imaginary Sources of Power Laurent Bazin 8. The Imaginary Debt of Communism: Political Conflicts and Historical Legitimization in Romania Antoine Heemeryck 9. Indebtedness and Women's Material, Monetary and Imaginary Debts in the Era of Globalized Gender Isabelle Guérin, Magalie Saussey and Monique Selim 10. Debt, or How to Get One's Neck Out of the Noose Tassadit Yacine 11. Perceptions of Debt and Microcredit in Senegal Eveline Baumann and Mouhamedoune Abdoulaye Fall 12. Conclusion: Debt Without End Bernard Hours and Pepita Ould Ahmed