Scholarship of ancient Mesoamerica has traditionally focused on ruling institutions and elite culture, contributing to the often-unchallenged assumption that elites dominated their unwitting commoner subjects. Similarly, the political economy is typically conceived of as an exclusive product of elite strategies. Researchers are now paying greater attention to commoner lives, yet many continue to think of social relationships dichotomously, in terms of elite domination and commoner resistance. I argue that an analysis of political economy through the lens of social negotiation, as informed by postructural theory, encourages more dynamic characterizations of commoner-elite social relationships. I utilize this approach to examine the political economy of Late Postclassic Tututepec (Oaxaca), drawing on the results of household excavations and ethnohistoric data. I argue that commoners may have negotiated a favorable position with Tututepec elites by offering their support in return for a range of benefits, including a measure of economic autonomy and wealth.
