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We used social network analysis (SNA) to identify the types of water-related conflicts between the users and members of the institutional arena of the Rio Mayo Irrigation District (RMID) within the ancestral territory of the Yoreme Mayo indigenous group in Sonora, northeastern Mexico. We combined ethnography with an analysis and visualization of bimodal networks that consisted of 118 users and their connections to the institutional arena's 30 identified social actors who influence water management. Using a clustering algorithm, we identified four types of conflicts: (1) disputes between small- and large-scale farmers over (i) irrigation water and (ii) payments for water rights and land rental; (2) the struggle by large-scale farmers against the upper level of the water hierarchy, to obtain more water; (3) struggles by rural indigenous women against water providers, to conserve indigenous vernacular systems of managing water for domestic use; and (4) a "conflict" that turned out to be merely a structural remnant of the algorithm. We conclude that land- and water-grabbing in the RMID mainly affect indigenous small-scale farmers and that the combination of SNA and a clustering algorithm can identify the types of natural resource-related conflicts that might go undetected by other methodologies. However, SNA should in some cases be accompanied by a qualitative methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The eradication of poverty is one of Mexico's greatest challenges. This challenge is even greater for Indigenous communities, where seven out of 10 people were living in poverty in 2018. Despite the economic, social, and cultural impacts on Indigenous people, there has been scant literature addressing the determinants of Indigenous poverty in Mexico, while studies on the Guerrero Mountain Region (GMR) are scarcer still. Purpose: This study aims to identify the socioeconomic and contextual determinants of income and multidimensional poverty in the GMR, one of the poorest regions in Mexico and Latin America, inhabited primarily by Indigenous people. Methods and approach: We use data on 989 individuals in the GMR, collected during the 2018 Socioeconomic Conditions Module of Mexico's National Household Income and Expenditure Survey. To examine the main determinants of individual poverty, we use Bayesian logistic regression (BLR), which allows us to use the data to update information about the parameters and evaluate their distributional properties. The method simplifies multi‐causal elements by classifying them into categories of well‐being that incorporate more than economic factors. Finding s : The income‐poor population is also multidimensionally poor. Education helps to reduce poverty as households that spend more on schooling are less likely to be poor. Households with many members, those with high dependency ratios, and those with members living with disability all tend to be poor. Households with access to landlines and the internet are less likely to be poor. Policy implications: More diagnosis of poverty is needed. This should consider overlapping vulnerabilities (institutional, socioeconomic, environmental, and sociocultural) in this region for each Indigenous group. Public policies need to be monitored for performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the ethnic affiliation of anthropology students who participated in the 2019 Anthropology Student Survey in order to explore the elements that constitute their self-identification with an indigenous or Afrodescendant people. To achieve this, a methodological review of the principles used in the survey to generate ethnic recognition is initially conducted, with the purpose of exploring which variables influence these students to recognize themselves as part of an ethnic-racial group. Subsequently, a series of inferences are made based on the explored results to demonstrate the use of identities and the complexity involved in self-identifying with these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study divided the various chronicles of Nueva España into two periods (the conquest period, the mexican colonial period), and analyzed the characteristics and changes of each period, focusing on three themes (America, indigenous peoples, and history of conquest). The chronology of the first period began from the perspective of european supremacy based on christian centralism. The Americas were the object of conquest and looting under the pretext of christian propagation, and the natives were merely inferior species object to labor exploitation. Some chronicles took the lead in protecting indigenous peoples by informing the outside world of this reality. However, entering the second period, chronology became a tool of colonial authorities to redefine theological and legal status of indigenous peoples and justify spanish conquest and domination. Chronicles from mestizo also appeared, but they could not break away from the mainstream tone centered on christian denominations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the most devastating worldwide crises. The pandemic has heavily affected the most vulnerable groups, including Indigenous communities. Our study aimed to evaluate the attitudes and behaviors relating to care and prevention of COVID-19 in a predominantly Indigenous university population in Mexico. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in early February 2022 focused on university students in a predominantly Indigenous community in central Mexico. The survey addressed prevention, vaccination, anthropometric data, and food intake. Results: We obtained a high response rate of 71.6%, with 981 students (41.2%) identifying as belonging to an Indigenous group. In the sample, 3.1% (95% CI 2.07, 4.33) of the Indigenous group reported COVID-19 deaths among family members older than 18 years; this rate was 3% (95% CI 2.17, 4.03) in the non-Indigenous group. Whereas most of the students [98% (95% CI 97.62, 98.72)] reported having received COVID-19 vaccines, 36.6% (95% CI 33.57, 39.70) and 39.9% (95% CI (37.32, 42.52) of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous respondents, respectively, reported that their parents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Finally, we found important differences in weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) between pre-pandemic baseline and two years after confinement in the general population as well as between Indigenous and non-Indigenous: general BMI increased from 22.9 ± 4.1 kg/m2 to 23.6 ± 4.1 kg/m2 (Wilcoxon test; P < 0.001). The BMI for the Indigenous went up from 22.4 ± 3.8 kg/m2 to 23.1 ± 3.8 kg/m2 (Wilcoxon test; P < 0.001), and BMI for non-Indigenous rose from 23.2 ± 4.2 kg/m2 to 24.0 4.2 kg/m2 (Wilcoxon test; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study highlights significant vaccination disparities between our university population and their parents, although no substantial differences regarding attitudes and prevention of COVID-19 between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations were found. Findings suggest that efforts to expand prevention to students' families and surrounding communities could lead to significant public health gains and should be further investigated. Furthermore, the university setting may improve access to prevention tools against COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: In Mexico, 76% of water consumed is used for crop irrigation, and close to half of this is used in 86 irrigation districts for agroindustry throughout the nation. The present study combines a political ecology approach with social networks analysis to identify how water-use-related information networks are structured according to the ethnicity (indigenous and non-indigenous) of the users of the Rio Mayo Irrigation District 038 (RMID) and how these networks are influenced by users' type of land tenure and land use. (2) Methods: The study involved three stages: identification of social actors that influence water management (SAIWM); application of 118 structured interviews with users of RMID; and ethnographic fieldwork. (3) Results: Thirty SAIWM were identified. Only 11.8% of RMID users interviewed were indigenous farmers and only 5% were indigenous holders of collective landholdings. The information network metrics indicate that indigenous users have less access to information than non-indigenous users. (4) Conclusions: Ethnicity as well as land tenure and land use influence the structure of information networks and determine whether RMID users work as land-holding farmers or as hired labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real de Zimapán was a focus of attention for the Mexico's City Protomedicato in late 1793 and early 1794 due to an epidemic outbreak with no clear diagnosis. After several attempts to find a doctor to assist the sick, José Mustelier accepted the task and went to the Real. His medications and the installation of a temporary hospital worked, erradicating the disease in less than three months, benefiting above all the indigenous people of the area who were the most affected due to the conditions of poverty and hard work in the mines. Social and medical Histories are tied in this research showing the difficulties and benefits obtained in an alarm situation and in a specific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yoreme Mayo Indigenous people from Sinaloa, Mexico, have faced different forms of racism, and they keep fighting for their autonomy and acknowledgment at several levels: social, government, economic and educational. This micro-ethnographic study aims to explore these forms of racism, which can be seen in the educational system and exemplified by practices that occur in institutions such as the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico. As actors from within this institution, we have systematically observed and documented evidence on this. There are forms of racism related to (a) the historical process of the relationship of Indigenous people, (b) the territorial educational structure in Indigenous communities, (c) linguistic displacement, (d) the insistence of the non-Indigenous to remain in important positions, even in Indigenous institutions, (e) nationalism and intercultural racism that leave Indigenous issues in the background and (f) endo-racism, where some Indigenous individuals devalue their own culture from childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Indigenous populations are considered a vulnerable minority and have characteristics such as poverty, difficulties to access food, housing, and educational backwardness; these conditions make them prone to alcohol consumption problems. Dependence on alcohol consumption probably arises as a symbol of protest, challenge, and response to social anguish, which has in turn repercussions in marginal population sectors that have conditions of fragility due to exploitation and discrimination, such as indigenous people. Objective. To know the effect of perceived discrimination on alcohol consumption in Mexican indigenous population. Method. Research design was descriptive, correlational check-model, with a sample of 362 adults from two indigenous communities. Results. A simple linear regression model was performed, which shows a significant effect in the entire model (F[248] = 78.312, p = .001), which explains 49% of the variance of alcohol consumption. A significant positive influence was also found from the perceived discrimination variable (ß = .626, p < .001) on alcohol consumption. Discussion and conclusion. The studied indigenous communities had characteristics that the literature highlights as risk factors for developing addictive behaviors of alcohol consumption. These results coincide with those of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous population present discrimination problems that are associated with alcohol consumption problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous and Western communities are faced with increasing issues of sustainability compromising their natural resources and cultural heritage, for example, a cross-pollination/complementary approach in relation to their current knowledge systems and discourses on sustainability. There is a need for methods that integrate different discourses relating to sustainability to identify the most pressing needs in terms of sustainability. Sustainability assessments are a type of impact assessment that focus on enhanced sustainability both now and in the future; however, the literature on indigenous sustainability assessment methods, is scarce. To address this gap, we have developed a novel Sustainability Assessment method for Indigenous Communities (SAIC). The SAIC method combines Western and indigenous sustainability objectives and principles, in order to extend the range of options for action to address sustainability. The SAIC method consists of two sections (i) values and considerations and (ii) procedure. The "values and considerations" section establishes the fundamental participatory and ethical considerations for conducting sustainability assessments in indigenous communities, and the "procedure" section establishes a set of 55 indicators in eight categories. The method was tested in a Zapotec, indigenous community in México. Results show that this community was rated highly in all eight categories. However, indicators for family planning and access to health services were rated poorly. The identified issues can be used as guidelines for decision making in future regional projects and development plans. The results reveal further areas for improvement, such as strengthening the links to national or international networks and increasing the use of renewable energies. The method presented in this paper provides an assessment approach based on Western and indigenous sustainability discourses, which is suitable for assessing indigenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of transnational migrant governance is even more important when migration involves groups who are excluded and marginalized in the country of residence as well as in the country of origin. This is especially the case for indigenous Mexican migrants who have no full citizenship and no economic opportunities in Mexico and who are illegal and socially discriminated against in the United States. Therefore, the central question addressed by this paper is how indigenous migrants actually face these challenges and whether they organize and construct their own community governance as an answer to social exclusion and marginalization in ways which go beyond conventional "state" or "market" forms of organisation. Based on data collected from ethnographic research in Los Angeles, I argue that indigenous migrants from Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca build their own governance structures through a well institutionalized community based on a diverse network of migrant organizations, which open up wide transnational sociocultural and political spaces that connect their urban community in Los Angeles with their rural communities back in Oaxaca. Here, in contrast to other migrant groups, they apply their traditional indigenous community governance approaches, called usos y costumbres and tequio y cargo, as a means of sustaining identity and belonging, sharing social and economic capital and securing an independent toehold in the host nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the conception, advances, challenges and tensions that emerge from the proposal of an educational-pedagogical model for agroecology. For this, we present two educational experiences from micro-contexts in Mexico and Brazil, constructed by indigenous and peasant movements. One is the "U YITS KA'AN" Ecological Agriculture School, in Maní, Yucatán, Mexico, and the other is the São José High School, a rural school located in the 25 de Maio Settlement, in Madalena, Ceará, Brazil. We characterize the diversity, complexity, and combinations that permeate the strategies of the movements faced with the demand for agroecology education, and how these interface in the dispute for an educational model linked to the socio-historical context of the indigenous and peasant struggle in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The indigenous population is one of the most vulnerable to suffer from contaminated environments. One of the target organs to suffer early deterioration from exposure to toxins is the kidney. The objective of this article was to evaluate biomarkers of exposure to organic and inorganic toxins and biomarkers of early kidney damage in urine from an indigenous Tenek population in Mexico. The biomarkers of exposure were Li, Be, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Sn, Ba, and Pb evaluated by ICP-MS and hippuric acid for toluene exposure evaluated by UV-coupled with liquid chromatography; the biomarkers of kidney damage were cystatin C (Cys-C), osteopontin (OPN), retinol-binding protein-4 (RPB-4), and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL). Thirty-one urine samples were obtained from indigenous people; 16, 42, 45.1, and 45.2% of the population exceeded the reference values for Pb, Zn, As, and hippuric acid respectively. Our results demonstrate significant correlations between the metals tested and the proteins associated with renal damage; Cys-C, OPN, and RPB4 showed a significant correlation with Li, B, and Mo, as well as hippuric acid in the case of Cys-C and Zn in OPN and RPB-4; NGAL did not present significant correlations with any of the pollutants of the study. This pilot study contributes to the evidence of great inequity in health associated to environmental pollution matters faced by indigenous people and addresses the need of initiatives for mitigation under the perspective that health is a fundamental human right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal health is a complex issue. In Mexico, the population living in poverty and indigenous peoples are especially affected by health disparities, in particular, demonstrated by skilled birth attendance. The determinants mentioned by health professionals, especially structural barriers, characterize their perception. However, there are other barriers. The concept of intercultural medicine is understood as the adaptation of medical care to local reality to overcome cultural barriers. This article will conclude with a perspective that focuses on the possibilities and limitations of intercultural medicine for maternal health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Places with high species diversity have high linguistic diversity, whereas areas with low species diversity tend to have low linguistic diversity. Objective: To characterize the intriguing relationship between biological and cultural diversity, a correlation that has been discussed at a global scale, but here tested for the first time in Mexico. Methods: We compiled exhaustive databases on both endangered species and endangered languages, and reviewed available literature on Mexico's biocultural diversity with a focus on endangered and critically endangered species and languages. Results: With 364 living languages, Mexico is the world's fifth most linguistically diverse country, but 64 of these languages are facing a very high risk of disappearance and 13 have already disappeared. Mexico is also the fourth most biologically diverse country, but 1 213 species of its flora and fauna are threatened with extinction and at least 127 species were recently extinct. Conclusions: Indigenous peoples are custodians of much of the world's biocultural diversity. As the world grows less linguistically and culturally diverse, it is also becoming less biologically diverse. Mexico's biological and linguistic diversity show strong geographic overlap, with the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Guerrero, and Michoacán harboring most species and most languages. Similarly, Mexico's biodiversity hotspots mirror language hotspots, and areas with the highest number of endangered species overlap with areas where the endangerment of languages is also the highest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have long-term consequences. The ACEs model has been extensively used in high-income countries. However, its effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated in low and middle-income countries and marginalized social groups. In indigenous populations, research has found inconsistent results in the prevalence and the relationship between ACEs and mental health outcomes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were 1) to determine the ACEs frequency among indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican adolescents; 2) to test the association between ACE scores and symptoms of Mental Health Problems (SMHP) in both groups; and 3) to review the ACEs model adequacy for the indigenous adolescents. Data from an online survey in 20 of the 32 states of Mexico were analyzed. We selected an 87 adolescent sample from indigenous families and 174 non-indigenous matched for age, sex, and state of residence, with a mean age of 16 years; 60 % were women. ACE-IQ questionnaire and Youth Self Report instrument (eight SMHP) were used to collect data. ACEs' frequency was analyzed for each group, and Pearson correlations were used to identify the relationship between ACEs and SMHP. There was no statistical significance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adolescents in the ACEs report. ACE scores were associated with eight SMHP. Correlations between ACE score and SMHP were higher in non-indigenous adolescents. ACEs were experienced similarly by both groups and were associated with mental health in all participants. Further research is needed to improve ACEs measurement in indigenous populations. • There were no significant differences in ACE frequencies between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adolescents. • The ACE score positively correlated with symptoms of eight common mental health problems in indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican adolescents. • The ACEs model was appropriate for both population groups. However, it performed better in non-indigenous adolescents since correlations between ACEs scores and symptoms of eight common mental health problems were higher. For this reason, we consider more research necessary. • Derived from the above, we suggest that the most effective way of improving the ACEs model for the indigenous population is to ask them directly about relevant adversities they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mexico, Indigenous people were hospitalised and killed by COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate compared to the non-Indigenous population. The main factors contributing to this were poor health conditions and impoverished social and economic circumstances within the country. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which ethnic disparities are attributable to processes of structural discrimination and further explore the factors that exacerbate or mitigate them. Using administrative public data on COVID-19 and Census information, this study uses the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method to examine the extent to which disparities are illegitimate and signal discrimination against Indigenous people. The results show that although ethnic disparities were mainly attributable to observable differences in individual and contextual characteristics, 22.8% (p < 0.001) of the ethnic gap in hospitalisations, 17.5% in early deaths and 16.4% in overall deaths remained unexplained and could potentially indicate systemic discrimination. These findings highlight that pre-existing and longstanding illegitimate disparities against Indigenous people jeopardise the capacity of multi-ethnic countries to achieve social justice in health., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

In Mexico, where 15% of the population is indigenous, there is little literature that defines the characteristics of local indigenous leadership. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of Tsotsil indigenous leadership. We found an organizational system based on the leader obeying what is entrusted by the group he represents. The main motivational trait sought by the community is "sacrifice," exemplified by the concept of bankilal, i.e., the elder brother who takes care of younger siblings. In this sense, we confirm what the Zapatistas maintain: In indigenous communities, leaders command by obeying the community they represent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have long-term consequences. The ACEs model has been extensively used in high-income countries. However, its effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated in low and middle-income countries and marginalized social groups. In indigenous populations, research has found inconsistent results in the prevalence and the relationship between ACEs and mental health outcomes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were 1) to determine the ACEs frequency among indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican adolescents; 2) to test the association between ACE scores and symptoms of Mental Health Problems (SMHP) in both groups; and 3) to review the ACEs model adequacy for the indigenous adolescents. Data from an online survey in 20 of the 32 states of Mexico were analyzed. We selected an 87 adolescent sample from indigenous families and 174 non-indigenous matched for age, sex, and state of residence, with a mean age of 16 years; 60 % were women. ACE-IQ questionnaire and Youth Self Report instrument (eight SMHP) were used to collect data. ACEs' frequency was analyzed for each group, and Pearson correlations were used to identify the relationship between ACEs and SMHP. There was no statistical significance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adolescents in the ACEs report. ACE scores were associated with eight SMHP. Correlations between ACE score and SMHP were higher in non-indigenous adolescents. ACEs were experienced similarly by both groups and were associated with mental health in all participants. Further research is needed to improve ACEs measurement in indigenous populations. • There were no significant differences in ACE frequencies between Indigenous and non-Indigenous adolescents. • The ACE score positively correlated with symptoms of eight common mental health problems in indigenous and non-indigenous Mexican adolescents. • The ACEs model was appropriate for both population groups. However, it performed better in non-indigenous adolescents since correlations between ACEs scores and symptoms of eight common mental health problems were higher. For this reason, we consider more research necessary. • Derived from the above, we suggest that the most effective way of improving the ACEs model for the indigenous population is to ask them directly about relevant adversities they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition is a global problem that affects schoolchildren and can increase the risk of diseases in adulthood. Adult members of the Yaqui Indigenous group have been shown to have serious health problems, and Yaqui schoolchildren could therefore find themselves in a similar situation., Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status, lipid profile and associated factors in a sample of Yaqui schoolchildren., Material and Methods: A total of 109 Yaqui schoolchildren who lived in their localities of origin were recruited. Anthropometric measurements were carried out, a venous blood sample was extracted in fasting conditions, and several questionnaires were applied., Results: The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 38.5%, with no cases of chronic malnutrition being recorded; 38.6% of the children had dyslipidemia. Fiber consumption was a protective factor against overweight/obesity, while fat intake was a risk factor. The physical activity score was found to be a protective factor against dyslipidemia, and the risk factors were BMI-for-age Z-scores, waist circumference, family history of dyslipidemia, educational level, and permanent employment., Conclusions: Yaqui schoolchildren equally suffer from a high proportion of overweight/obesity and dyslipidemia. The associated factors may be useful for the design of contextualized interventions for this population., (Copyright: © 2024 Permanyer.)

The city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, is known as "The Land of Good People". This qualifying adjective has helped to shape a regional identity that, with an a priori judgment, disqualifies and rejects other identities. This article shows how there is discrimination and racism towards people who belong to other places and have other identities through the denial of public spaces, the counting in official statistics or the classification as migrants or floating population. Although this type of practice is directed to every person who was not born there, it intensifies towards indigenous peoples. This is a first approach to racism in Aguascalientes to make the phenomenon visible and might lead to more or deeper research of this problem. We used a documentary and qualitative non-representative research methodology that give us a general approach to the situation experienced by different communities and specifically the indigenous one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article attempts to respond to the following questions: 1) What is the weight of racial categories in day-­to-­day relations of young people in León? and, 2) What kind of racism exists in mestizo areas with little indigenous population? The study is done from a sociological point of view, conceptually distinguishing between racialism, racialization, and racism, and is based on surveys on racially discriminatory social representations and practices carried out in high schools in the municipality of León, Guanajuato. The results show the presence of a dual discourse: equality versus othering. It also uncovers the predominance of racializing language that ties together young people’s relations and social representations. In this context, racism is subtle; it becomes explicit when a possible close relationship projects a break in the social distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article situates the dramatic case of the forced disappearance of forty-three peasant and indigenous students from the teachers college, Ayotzinapa, in the city of Iguala, in Guerrero, on September 26, 2014, in a broader context of state violence in Mexico. What are the forces that operate to classify indigenous and peasant lives as waste, hence rendering permissible such atrocities? The article draws on ethnographic evidence collected over six years in La Montaña, Guerrero, Mexico. It points to the racialized spatial forms of governance that articulate state security punitive measures, to neoliberal antipoverty programs, and to the social imaginaries that represent indigenous regions as inherently backward, violent, and ingrained with cultural deficiencies. Drawing from Ruth Wilson Gilmore's definition of racism, this article argues that the effects of these racialized geographies engender the conditions for the permissibility of state-sanctioned death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Procesos Historicos is the property of Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article critically examines the Mexican southern borderlands, understood both as a concrete borderline region and as a concept constructed by scholars. Building on recent borderlands debates, the article constructs a decolonizing vision, which provokes us to ask: To what extent is the borderlands perspective colonialist? By dividing the world into centers and peripheries, do we automatically repeat the centrist interpretations? Are the habitants of the borderlands thinking they are living in a periphery? By exploring academic literature on Mexican southern borderlands and decolonizing criticisms set forward by the Zapatista movement, the article brings forth epistemological challenges related to colonialist imagery and vocabulary on borderlands, suggesting a decolonizing vision from which to shed a new light to the world political centers and peripheries. This way, the article attempts at bridging critical borderlands studies with the field of international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the events underwent by the indigenous community of Mezcala when the Mexican government decided to organize on the Isla de Mezcala one of many celebrations of the Bicentennial of Independence. It is through the narratives of comuneros and young supporters that the institutional networks of power and various governmental actions that allowed the material and symbolic appropriation of the celebrations are unmasked. Likewise, this article proposes to highlight the complexity and connection (global-national-local) of the networks of power and to show the negotiation points opened where different visions of 'development' are confronted that further outline community projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some political practices of indigenous education in the jungle valleys of Ocosingo in Chiapas are analyzed here from a sociological approach. The Zapatista experience of autonomy demonstrates a profound questioning of the educational policies of the nation-state. Education projects in indigenous peoples from Zapatista municipalities challenge the institutionalized practices of the dominant actors in this field in Mexico and in the Latin American context as one of the struggles of indigenous peoples to change the norms of educational policy. Furthermore, the Zapatista experience in the region of recovered land from the Lacandon Jungle questions the limitations of the national project of theories and practices inherited from the Mexican indigenismo. Today, those are immersed in the discourses of neoliberal multiculturalism that tend to avoid the social issue of political autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2001, Nature published a letter in which University of California Berkeley’s biologists claimed to have found evidence of genetically modified (GM) DNA in regional varieties of maize in Oaxaca, even though the Mexican government had banned transgenic corn agriculture in 1998. While urban protesters marched against the genetic ‘contamination’ of Mexican corn by US-based agricultural biotech firms, rural indigenous communities needed a framework for understanding concepts such as GM before they could take action. This article analyzes how the indigenous organization, the Zapatistas, mobilized a program to address this novel entity. Their anti-GM project entailed educating local farmers about genetics, importing genetic testing kits, seed-banking landrace corn and sending seeds to ‘solidarity growers’ around the world. This article explores material-semiotic translations to explain one of the central aspects of this project, the definition and circulation of Zapatista corn – an entity defined not only through cultural geography, but also technological means. Through its circulation, Zapatista corn serves to perform a biocultural engagement with Zapatista’s political project of resistance to neoliberalism. While much has been written about both regulatory policy and consumer activism against GM in the Global North, Zapatista corn also provides a case study in indigenous, anti-GM activism founded on biocultural innovation and the creation of alternative networks for circulating corn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies on the representation of minorities in the media show minority groups generally are underrepresented and stereotyped on television through minor roles and low-status occupations. There are very few quantitative Mexican studies on media representation of minority groups, such as indigenous peoples. A content analysis of fiction programs broadcast on national television in 2010 was conducted to understand the television image of the indigenous population. The results show a reduced presence of indigenous characters, usually cast in secondary or supporting roles. The physical traits, appearance and attitudes that determine their stereotypes were detected. The possible impact of this representation on the social imaginary of the collective is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Tiers Monde is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with the disappearance of indigenous villages during the colonial period in the region of Los Altos de Jalisco. Several authors have analyzed the catastrophic decline of this population following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas; however, at least for western Mexico there are no detailed studies that address the redistribution of space after the loss of population. Such a situation is even more obvious in the case of Los Altos de Jalisco, where, although there have been many studies aiming to understand the ranch property as a typical local settlement, the ancient indigenous villages in the area have been almost unnoticed, hence the relevance of this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1970s and 1980s, theDirección General de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociales, an agency within theSecretaría de Gobernación, produced hundreds of spy reports on theConsejo Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas(National Council of Indigenous People, CNPI), a national indigenous organisation that, in 1975, became part of the state's corporate structure. During a time when social and political realities in Mexico led a number of social sectors to emerge and challenge state power in a way that threatened to destabilise it, these reports indicate that indigenous organisations must now be added to workers, students and guerrillas as targets of intelligence agencies. Carrying out such surveillance on the CNPI reveals how the state was spying on the state. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with the disappearance of indigenous villages during the colonial period in the region of Los Altos de Jalisco. Several authors have analyzed the catastrophic decline of this population following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas; however, at least for western Mexico there are no detailed studies that address the redistribution of space after the loss of population. Such a situation is even more obvious in the case of Los Altos de Jalisco, where, although there have been many studies aiming to understand the ranch property as a typical local settlement, the ancient indigenous villages in the area have been almost unnoticed, hence the relevance of this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mexico, rural-to-urban migration is a clearly noticeable phenomenon. During the last few years, there has been spontaneous growth in the migration of indigenous people towards the northern cities of Mexico, especially to Monterrey, in search of employment. Once the migrants arrive in this metropolis, they face difficulties adjusting and adapting to the city environment because of hidden discrimination. The main argument and hypothesis of this paper is that indigenous people isolate themselves and segregate themselves socially due to fear of (cultural and racial) discrimination and violence. For this study, data were obtained from fieldwork carried out during 2009 and 2010 in Monterrey, Mexico, where we interviewed 350 indigenous people that had moved there from different parts of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past 25 years have brought upheaval to the indigenous people of Mexico due to two opposing forces: modernization and globalization, on the one hand, and indigenous uprisings on the other. Suddenly, the topic of indigenous languages and education was brought into official discussions at the national level. This paper examines the tensions that emerge between the political discourses which emanate from within the indigenous communities and from the national government, and the actual implementation of educational policy models. The political-educational discourse shifted from Spanishization [castellanizacion], assimilation, and integration to bilingualism, interculturalism, and participation. We demonstrate that this shift was not a smooth transition, but rather an abrupt change that occurred in the early 1990s. Further, despite the shift to new discourses that respected indigenous languages and cultures, institutional factors have not been altered sufficiently to improve the conditions of indigenous education or their well-being in Mexico. Thus, ultimately, the new discourse of bilingualism and interculturalism in education serves to obfuscate the socio-political-economic work that must be done to truly allow the indigenous people to participate in the nation's political life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the sustainability of traditional and alternative maize producing agroecosystems was assessed in three ejidos in the Selva Region of Chiapas, using an agroecological approach (MESMIS). The study was conducted over two farming cycles: milpa and tornamil. In the first, the slash, fell and burn (S-F-B) system was assessed, with no burning and in rotation with velvet bean (Mucuna deeringiana Bort.). In the second cycle, three systems with no burning and differing periods of velvet bean use were analysed, and plant density was modified to analyse its effect on production. Economic and social indicator values were found with participative techniques. During milpa, fire was found to have a positive effect on weed and pest (Diatraea liniolata Walker) control. The alternative systems with use of green manure showed better agronomic results. Grain yield was found to be higher, and profitability was greater in the systems with modification of plant density. In the final integrated analysis, the alternative systems obtained better results, although positive results were observed in some variables due to the S F-B system's adaptation to the environment. So, its use in the region constitutes an ethnocultural reality which is far from disappearing in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the problems that indigenous of Mexico find into the access to the existing legal system which in addition are strange for them, and contradict their own bases as a model apparently equal and fair. On the contrary State law discriminates and marginalized social subjects whose cultural characteristics are multiple and diverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multicultural discourse has reached Latin American higher education in the form of a set of policies targeting indigenous peoples. These policies are strongly influenced by the transfer of European notions of 'interculturality', which, in the Mexican context, are understood as positive interactions between members of minority and majority cultures. In Mexico, innovative and often polemical 'intercultural universities or colleges' are being created by governments, by NGOs or by pre-existing universities. This trend towards 'diversifying' the ethnocultural profiles of students and curricular contents coincides with a broader tendency to force institutions of higher education to become more 'efficient', 'corporate' and 'outcome-oriented'. Accordingly, these still very recently established 'intercultural universities' are often criticised as being part of a common policy of 'privatisation' and 'neoliberalisation' and of developing curricula particular to specific groups which weakens the universalist and comprehensive nature of Latin American public universities. Indigenous leaders, on the contrary, frequently claim and celebrate the appearance of these new higher education opportunities as part of a strategy of empowering actors of indigenous origin or African descent. Going beyond this polemic, this paper presents the first findings of an activist anthropological and ethnographically-based case study of the actors participating in the configuration of one of these new institutions of higher education, the Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural (UVI), located on the Mexican gulf coast. This article examines the way UVI has appropriated the discourse of interculturality on the basis of fieldwork conducted in the four indigenous regions where the UVI offers a B.A. in Intercultural Management for Development. The study focuses on the actors' teaching and learning practices, which are strongly shaped by an innovative and hybrid mixture of conventional university teaching, community-oriented research and 'employability'-driven development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocultural diversity is a concept that has been assimilated in a variety of scenarios, from conservative ecology to indigenous peoples. Its objective is to show the complex link between culture and nature. In this essay it is suggested that biocultural diversity should be orientated by critical environmentalism like political ecology so it can be placed in a context of constant critical analysis and be able to integrate theoretical mediations that show the complex environmental problem that indigenous people face. In this case, the study is based on the comcáac people, better known as "seris", who have lived for thousands of years in the Central Coast of Sonora's desert in Mexico. This essay is organized in three sections: 1. Origins of biocultural diversity; 2. Political ecology and ontological dualism and 3. Environmental issues in the comcáac people. In conclusion, biocultural diversity will only reach ethical legitimacy when it becomes a part of the Indigenous movements, which can be seen as an opportunity to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconstructs some findings of the project "Common arithmetic knowledge and productive and social practices"; the questions which direct it are: What sort of number and calculus problems its productive and social insertion poses to these organizations? IA/hat are the social worries that support the strategies in the solving of arithmetic problems? The empirical referent is constructed through the perspective of two women who lead two productive organizations (in Mexico and Argentina) of self-management linked to craft production. Some analytical advances referred to Mexico (Purepecha indigenous community) are reported. In particular, the uses of numeracy and their links to the community social criteria of extra mathematical order that underlie and cross different situations which are framed not in an individual action, but in a collective one. These criteria rule two kinds of relations: the inner ones and the outer ones, crossed by the concerns around power (the nice power) and the defence (to face the outside) of the organization. The reconstructing of these senses implies a positioning that redefines the polarity literacy! illiteracy, by asking how one can learn to read or write numbers under such circumstances, when the knowledge of the number writings is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I describe the use of indigenous-language swearwords by the younger generation in the Cucapá settlement of El Mayor in northern Mexico. I argue that this vocabulary functions as a critique of and a challenge to the increasingly formalized imposition of indigenous-language capacity as a measure of authenticity and as both a formal and an informal criterion for the recognition of indigenous rights. I argue that this ethnographic case can also be read as a critique of the notion of language as a cultural repository popularized in recent linguistic anthropological literature on language endangerment. For the youth in El Mayor, indigenous identity is not located in the Cucapá language but in an awareness of a shared history of the injustices of colonization and a continuing legacy of state indifference. [ language death, indigenous people, politics of recognition, Mexico, swearwords, identity, language ideology] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecology of maize (Zea mays L.) in Mexico, its center of domestication and diversity, has been researched for several decades. While the broad outlines of diversity and dynamics of native maize populations are known at the farm and national levels, these topics are less well known at the landscape level. Although environmental factors are the principal forces behind the overall diversity of the species in Mexico, recent research suggests that social origin, for instance community of residence or ethno-linguistic group, influences maize population structure at more local levels. A landscape perspective can help to determine whether these social factors operate in a consistent fashion across different environments. Case study data from Chiapas are presented and used to illustrate the role of ethnicity in understanding the ecology of maize diversity in Mexico. The paper contrasts the maize populations and management practices of Spanish speaking mestizos and Mayan language speaking indigenous people across four altitude zones in Chiapas. Environmental differences are primary in determining the overall pattern of maize diversity across the Chiapan landscape, but social origin has a significant effect on maize populations in all environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The increasing feminization of migration from Oaxaca, Mexico, in a context of economic globalization has profound implications for the emotional and psychological health of indigenous transnational immigrant women, who often arrive in the United States (US), having left family members or their children behind in the care of relatives. Simultaneously, indigenous women who are left behind on the migration trail also grapple with the suffering of separation and persistent undercurrents of sorrow because of an increasingly dangerous and intransigent US-Mexico border that makes family reunifications so difficult. The public policy discourses surrounding unauthorized immigration across the US-Mexico border tend to neglect attention to the mental and social health effects on families and communities. This article describes their experiences by sharing their voices, and challenges us both to shape new clinical responses, international connections, and solidarity in efforts humanize immigration policy, and to transform the dynamics of economic globalization that contribute to these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares child mortality rates of Indigenous people with national rates. A long history of discrimination and exclusion experienced by indigenous residents of Mexico has created substantial disadvantage in terms of living conditions, education, and access to state resources. Recent policy efforts have been designed to address issues of poverty and inadequate health care. This paper uses data from the 2000 census of Mexico to examine: 1) the relative risk of child mortality among indigenous people, 2) the influence of living conditions, education and demographic characteristics on mortality differentials, and 3) the role of government programs in reducing mortality differentials. Results indicate that poor living conditions, low education and concentration in rural areas account for higher indigenous mortality. National programs have played a modest role in reducing mortality differentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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