La emergencia del cuarto nivel de gobierno y la lucha por el autogobierno indígena en Michoacán, México

In the following contribution I analyze the emergence of a new indigenous self-government model at a sub-municipal level. In only three years, this model has spread to indigenous communities in different Mexican states such as Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Jalisco, and in Mexico City. In particular, I analyze the judicial precedent that opened up this possibility; the political and legal struggle of the Purépecha community of San Francisco Pichátaro. From an approximation based on my double participation in this process (as lawyer of the community and legal anthropologist), I focus on the development of this struggle in a regional context by showing the novelty elements of this process for indigenous mobilization in general, explaining the judicial strategies used in the trial, evaluating the disruptive potential of this experience to face a colonial Mexican state, and, finally, discussing the challenges that this indigenous self-government faces