The Mixe of Oaxaca and the cultural meanings of indigenous autonomy in Mexico: An ethnographic portrait of a social movement

The indigenous autonomy movement in Mexico challenges indigenous peoples\u27 second-class status by proposing that cultural pluralism—the recognition of, and respect for, cultural difference—should form the basis for citizenship, equal rights, and full political participation in the nation-state. Conservative factions within in the political elite strenuously object to the notion of indigenous autonomy, claiming that it is “illogical” and would “balkanize” the nation-state. By framing the question of autonomy as nonsensical, the Mexican government is able to dampen public debate on the question of whether indigenous autonomy should be legalized. If we assume that a strong and vibrant democracy is dependent upon poly-vocal debate in civil society, and if we wish to place anthropology in the service of the public interest, we must ask: What is the other side of the story? Why, from the autonomy activists\u27 point of view, is it feasible to assert one\u27s difference from the majority in the pursuit of equal rights? These questions can only be answered through an ethnographic account of the cultural meanings of the autonomy movement, from the point of view of the indigenous peoples who support it. Accordingly, the dissertation draws on fourteen months of ethnographic fieldwork among the Mixe, an indigenous people residing in the state of Oaxaca. It shows that the various specific demands of the autonomy movement—all of which ultimately rest in the demand for recognition group rights within the nation-state—resonate with Mixe cultural norms and everyday practices that value the collectivity over the individual. Such an ethnographic portrait of the relevance of cultural forms to the autonomy movement\u27s agenda and strategies is necessary, not just because it exposes power structures that facilitate the state\u27s control the terms of public debate, but also because the social movement literature has placed great emphasis on discovering “the cultural in the political” but has, for the most part, failed to describe exactly how cultural factors influence a given social movement