TY - JOUR

T1 - Becoming Autonomous: Indigeneity, Scale, and Schismogenesis in Multicultural Mexico

AU - Pharao Hansen, Magnus

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Four towns in the state of Morelos, Mexico, are lobbying the stategovernment for the right to become independent “indigenousmunicipalities” operating under local customary law. Focusing on one ofthose five towns, that of Hueyapan, this article ethnographically andethnohistorically examines the process that has led the people of Hueyapanto overwhelmingly favor the decision to opt for municipal independence. Indoing so it attends particularly to the ways that discourses of indigeneityand sovereignty has interacted with local political conflicts between thetown of Hueyapan and the municipal seat, the Tetela del Volcán. Using ananalysis based on Bateson’s concept of schismogenesis, I argue that todayfor the first time, Hueyapan is in a position where demandingindependence is feasible, because as a consequence of local economicdevelopment it has successfully established itself as a competitor to themunicipal cabecera community of Tetela, rather than as a subordinate andmarginalized community. Nevertheless, by framing the quest forindependence within the narrative model of indigeneity and colonialoppression, Hueyapan is able to represent its demands with a strongerethical and historical force than it could otherwise.

AB - Four towns in the state of Morelos, Mexico, are lobbying the stategovernment for the right to become independent “indigenousmunicipalities” operating under local customary law. Focusing on one ofthose five towns, that of Hueyapan, this article ethnographically andethnohistorically examines the process that has led the people of Hueyapanto overwhelmingly favor the decision to opt for municipal independence. Indoing so it attends particularly to the ways that discourses of indigeneityand sovereignty has interacted with local political conflicts between thetown of Hueyapan and the municipal seat, the Tetela del Volcán. Using ananalysis based on Bateson’s concept of schismogenesis, I argue that todayfor the first time, Hueyapan is in a position where demandingindependence is feasible, because as a consequence of local economicdevelopment it has successfully established itself as a competitor to themunicipal cabecera community of Tetela, rather than as a subordinate andmarginalized community. Nevertheless, by framing the quest forindependence within the narrative model of indigeneity and colonialoppression, Hueyapan is able to represent its demands with a strongerethical and historical force than it could otherwise.

U2 - 10.1111/plar.12258

DO - 10.1111/plar.12258

M3 - Journal article

VL - 41

SP - 133

EP - 147

JO - PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review

JF - PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review

SN - 1081-6976

IS - S1

ER -